Read Keep Your Eye off the Ball. Read The Essential Smart Football. Pay for NFL GamePass. Watch the Coach's Film (All-22). They've archives going back to 2011. It's especially helpful if you watch a game (or series of plays) you're already familiar with. Get pen and paper out and take notes. Watch what each player is doing, both before and after the snap, and be ready to rewind over and over and over and over.
There's a lot of good analysis on YouTube too, if you are a learn-by-watching type.
>Start here, on Brett Kollman's channel. He's a former NFL Network production assistant. Most of his videos are story heavy and analysis light, but that video is about how to watch film.
>
>Sam's Film Room, with Samuel Gold, a writer for the Athletic. Good for beginners. I think he started out at r/nfl.
>
>The QB School, with former Patriots QB, JT O'Sullivan. Focuses on quarterback play, both good and bad.
>
>Dan Orlovski's Twitter has a bunch of quick analysis videos, usually focusing on QB play.
>
>Peyton Manning's Detail is wonderful show, but is stuck behind a paywall at ESPN.com. There are two short videos free on YouTube. Resourceful people can find it elsewhere as well.
>
>Strong Opinion Sports, with Division III NCAA QB Zac Shomler. He has a lot of football video podcasts, but also a QB film analysis playlist.
>
>Baldy Breakdowns, with former Cowboys OLineman and current NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. No true focus, but has great insight into offensive line play.
>
>Gamepass Film Sessions. NFL Players and coaches analyze their own plays. The full version is on NFL Gamepass. I'm a particular fan of the one with Joe Thomas.
>
>Voch Lombardi. Focuses on talent evaluation and line play. Funny as fuck.
>
>The New England Patriots YouTube channel has Belichick Breakdown and Coffee with the Coach. Breakdown is the more analysis focused of the two.
If you're REALLY interested, the resources are out there. Good hunting.
by _edd 2021-12-10
Take Your Eye Off The Ball is pretty much the go to literature on this.
by Seanspeed 2021-12-10
Comes with experience. It's probably the most complex team sport there is, with games being more chess matches than anything.
You can accelerate your learning by reading books like Take Your Eye off the Ball if you're really invested in learning more, but even something like getting into the Madden games can help a lot. Plenty of online resources as well for concepts and formations and whatnot.
While you'll learn plenty just by watching, without a bit of background on the fundamentals, a lot of stuff is gonna be lost on the average viewer.
by bob_3008 2019-11-17
In addition to the previously-mentioned Youtube and Madden, I'll recommend a book, Take Your Eye Off the Ball. It's excellent at explaining the general responsibilities of every player on the field, and what teams look for when drafting them.
by rsmseries 2019-11-17
Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0 - Pat Kirwan
That’s a great one.
by nolookz 2019-07-21
Love Movin' The Chains on SiriusXM. Here's the 2nd Edition of Pat's excellent book:
Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look
Goes into detail about the game both on and off the field. The book comes with a DVD as well.
Read Keep Your Eye off the Ball. Read The Essential Smart Football. Pay for NFL GamePass. Watch the Coach's Film (All-22). They've archives going back to 2011. It's especially helpful if you watch a game (or series of plays) you're already familiar with. Get pen and paper out and take notes. Watch what each player is doing, both before and after the snap, and be ready to rewind over and over and over and over.
There's a lot of good analysis on YouTube too, if you are a learn-by-watching type.
>Start here, on Brett Kollman's channel. He's a former NFL Network production assistant. Most of his videos are story heavy and analysis light, but that video is about how to watch film.
>
>Sam's Film Room, with Samuel Gold, a writer for the Athletic. Good for beginners. I think he started out at r/nfl.
>
>The QB School, with former Patriots QB, JT O'Sullivan. Focuses on quarterback play, both good and bad.
>
>Dan Orlovski's Twitter has a bunch of quick analysis videos, usually focusing on QB play.
>
>Peyton Manning's Detail is wonderful show, but is stuck behind a paywall at ESPN.com. There are two short videos free on YouTube. Resourceful people can find it elsewhere as well.
>
>Strong Opinion Sports, with Division III NCAA QB Zac Shomler. He has a lot of football video podcasts, but also a QB film analysis playlist.
>
>Baldy Breakdowns, with former Cowboys OLineman and current NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. No true focus, but has great insight into offensive line play.
>
>Gamepass Film Sessions. NFL Players and coaches analyze their own plays. The full version is on NFL Gamepass. I'm a particular fan of the one with Joe Thomas.
>
>Voch Lombardi. Focuses on talent evaluation and line play. Funny as fuck.
>
>The New England Patriots YouTube channel has Belichick Breakdown and Coffee with the Coach. Breakdown is the more analysis focused of the two.
If you're REALLY interested, the resources are out there. Good hunting.
Take Your Eye Off The Ball is pretty much the go to literature on this.
Comes with experience. It's probably the most complex team sport there is, with games being more chess matches than anything.
You can accelerate your learning by reading books like Take Your Eye off the Ball if you're really invested in learning more, but even something like getting into the Madden games can help a lot. Plenty of online resources as well for concepts and formations and whatnot.
While you'll learn plenty just by watching, without a bit of background on the fundamentals, a lot of stuff is gonna be lost on the average viewer.
In addition to the previously-mentioned Youtube and Madden, I'll recommend a book, Take Your Eye Off the Ball. It's excellent at explaining the general responsibilities of every player on the field, and what teams look for when drafting them.
Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0 - Pat Kirwan
That’s a great one.
Love Movin' The Chains on SiriusXM. Here's the 2nd Edition of Pat's excellent book:
Take Your Eye Off the Ball 2.0: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look
Goes into detail about the game both on and off the field. The book comes with a DVD as well.
https://www.amazon.com/Take-Your-Eye-Off-Ball/dp/1629371696
There's a good book called Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look . I read the first edition, but I link the latest one I could find. It's the book I recommend to people if they want to learn about the nuts and bolts of football. And it's been my experience, the more you know about the sport you're watching the better the overall experience is.
Edit: Thank you for the gold anonymous redditor
I would check out the slight more up to date version.
I've been reading Take Your Eye Off the Ball . It's definitely NFL-focused, but really gives a lot of insight into the things going on that we don't normally look at during the plays--specifically O-Line and D-Line gamesmanship and QBs reading coverage and pressure pre-snap. I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it, but I'd recommend it so far.