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Gabriel: Gamesmanship Abounds In Preseason Football

By Greg Gabriel--

(CBS) The Bears open their preseason slate by hosting the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night at Soldier Field. While fans often want to see their team win in the preseason, most coaches couldn't care less. These games are nothing more than a glorified practice session. The preseason is really more about evaluation than anything else. Winning all four games has no relation as to how that team will do in the regular season.

In the early preseason games, clubs rarely game plan. It's more about finding out about individual players than it is winning or losing. The only game that teams really game plan for is the third preseason game, which for most is the dress rehearsal for the regular season in which starters play into the second half.

In the opening game, starters usually play just a few series, enough to get some good contact work in. The following week, they may play one or two more series but rarely a half of the game. In the third game, most clubs have their starters play the first half and then play one series in the second half. The fourth game is almost a joke as very few starters even suit up for that game.

With that in mind, here's some more advice on how to assess what you'll see in the preseason.

Depth charts

You can't put any stock into the preseason depth charts. What's on the depth chart and what's reality are two different things. The preseason depth charts usually have a lot to do with veterans and their seniority more than anything else. If a young player is having a strong camp, coaches don't want to bring attention to it by showing that player as a possible starter on the depth chart. The thinking is to try and keep it a secret as long as you can.

What clubs will often do is put together a package for that young player for some time in the early games so the player is in for some snaps with the starters. Anything more than that can bring attention to the player, especially if he's a later-round draft pick.

The few snaps the young player gets gives the coaches an idea of what to expect from him once the regular season begins.

Play selection

If you have watched enough preseason games, then you know that there's no sophistication to the play-calling. You seldom see any exotic formations on offense or defense, and the play-calling is vanilla. On offense, it's usually just base packages with two- and three-receiver formations. On defense, it's again mostly just base schemes, with maybe a few blitzes shown but nothing out of the ordinary. While you will often see nickel in the preseason, you seldom see dime packages.

Playing time

The only real planning fans will see is how playing time is divided. Coaches usually want to see the young players in certain types of situations, so that they can evaluate their overall playing time based on that. Where it can change is if events that are out of the coaches' control change the flow of the game.

By that, I mean if a coach wanted to see his backup quarterback play perhaps 20 snaps in the second and third quarter, he may have to carry that player's playing time into the fourth quarter if his team lacks possession time during the game. You always have to be ready to improvise and adjust the plan.

Fans often want to see how the young players will play when in game situations. While coaches want to see the same, they might hold out a player who impresses in practice but isn't quite ready to make the final 53-man roster.

The reason for that is they may want to keep him on the practice squad after the final cut, and they don't want to risk losing him on waivers. Showing well in a game would expose the player -- likely a lower-round pick or an undrafted free agent -- to more attention. Every team in the league studies the preseason game tape hard, trying to find a young player with traits to fit their scheme. While that may upset the player because he feels he isn't being given a chance, that may not be the case because of the plans the club may have for him.

There's a lot of gamesmanship that goes on in the preseason, and clubs have to find a way to keep the players they feel can help them either now or in the future.

Greg Gabriel is a former NFL talent evaluator who is an on-air contributor for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @greggabe.

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