In baseball, the "five-tool player" is someone who can hit for average and power, has speed on the bases, and can throw and field at his position. In football, that expression doesn't translate. The closest thing is a guy that can rush the football, catch it after running a crisp route, block, return punts and kicks, and break tackles. NFL players are a gifted athletes by nature, but the ones that separate themselves have all that kind of "five-tool" talent.Three NFL teams, the Chiefs, Seahawks and Saints, all have their own "five-tool" offensive weapons, Jamaal Charles, Golden Tate and Darren Sproles. All three teams feature those players in their game-plans.
Sproles, Charles, Tate, C.J. Spiller, LeSean McCoy, Randall Cobb, Shane Vereen, Percy Harvin and rookies like Tavon Austin, Giovani Bernard, Andre Ellington, etc. are finding themselves more valuable to offensive coordinators that have to deal with increasingly complex, innovative and versatile defenses. The ability to move players around formations and use them in multiple roles helps teams become more multiple in their attacks and more difficult to defend.
Let's take a look at a few examples from Week 3 to see how offensive coordinators use their "five-tool" players.Charles, 26, has already played six seasons in the NFL, but he shows no signs of slowing down. He's technically a running back, taking most of his snaps in the backfield, but has a penchant for playmaking in the pass game with his open field running ability.Last week, in Kansas City's win over Philadelphia, Andy Reid and company rode Charles as he carried them for 172 all-purpose yards, 92 yards and a touchdown on the ground, plus seven catches for another 80 yards. If you go back and re-watch the game, Charles makes it look easy.