Someone on Reddit had posted this and I wondered why it wasn’t a more common strategy in the NFL (apparently, Richard Sherman had once complained about such a tactic):
The strategy was that you target the opposing team’s best cornerback. Whichever WR is being guarded by that CB would be told to just play decoy and run a straight-up deep fly route. The opposing cornerback has no choice but to keep up step for step, of course. And then, once that play is over, the WR promptly goes to the sideline to get rest while the next WR (whomever he is) that is guarded by that CB then does the same - run a deep fly route as a decoy, then head to the bench right after. Rinse and repeat, over and over again.
In this way, you’d theoretically fatigue that opposing CB - be he Revis, Sherman, Ramsey, Slay, etc. - and force the other team to either sub him out, or have him be totally gassed by the second half/fourth quarter. And of course, there’s always the chance that one of these deep fly routes - meant only to be a decoy - would actually lead to the WR being wide open, at which point the QB can chuck it up.
That relegates your best wide receiver to being a decoy, which will not endear him to the team.
This reminds me of something I saw on the Manning cast this past MNF. On Allen’s second or third interception, the one he threw deep to the end zone to Diggs, one of the three commented something I found interesting. (I think it was Eli, but could have been Peyton or Ryan Fitzpatrick.) They said that when you have a star wide receiver, you have to make sure they’re involved in the offense to keep them happy. Sometimes that means you have to throw to them even when they’re covered. Even if they don’t make the play, the opportunity matters to them. Sometimes what seems like a bad decision is intentional. They wondered if that might have something to do with that interception intended for Diggs. The other two agreed that that’s a real thing.
Other things to consider are the average speeds of the players, the amount of time a play takes, and the types of plays that you will be running.
The players in these positions are basically the same speed so it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to tire a CB out just by sprinting at them with rotating WRs. The average 40 speed for CBs and WRs is about the same, and the fastest 40 speeds of all time are a mix of the two positions (with some RBs sprinkled in).
The average play in the NFL is about 4-5 seconds long. For passing plays you may be able to keep a CB moving for a portion of that time, but the defender is going to break in the direction of the ball as they see the offense throw or run. That means that a sprinting WR is only going to be able to make it so far before the CB leaves them in pursuit of the ball.
Defenders are usually in a position where they can see what’s going on in the backfield. Even in press coverage the CB is going to bring their eyes into the backfield pretty quickly so they can tell if you’re running the ball or throwing it before that 4-5 seconds has elapsed. You may get 3-4 seconds of the defender actually sprinting but that isn’t much over the course of the entire game even if it’s happening every play.
Zone is going to kill this experiment pretty quickly. Even if the defense stays in man, they’re just going to make sure CB1 isn’t playing on the line so they will have plenty of time to read and react to the play as it develops.
I don’t think the OP’s hypothetical is intended to include running plays. Just pass plays, which will mostly be missing a potential receiver, since your star receiver will be running the decoy go routes. And as a general rule, when playing man you can’t watch the quarterback.
Note that a star CB will generally only shadow the opposing team’s star WR. Once that receiver rotates off the field, he’s not going to keep chasing some scrub down the field on decoy go routes.
I guess if it’s someone with a fixed side like Sauce Gardner you could just flip your offensive personnel. But covering go or fly routes probably isn’t going to tire the CB that much. They are generally going to be giving a cushion so they’re not running as far as the CB.
Yeah, the cornerback’s job is to run around the field chasing wide receivers for 60-70 snaps per game, and the premise for the question is that he’s so incredibly elite at it that you’re trying this strategy on him. Unless you’re willing to waste offensive possessions and sacrifice the scheme entirely to this goal, even with this strategy you’re only going to be able to make him cover 5-10 extra 9 routes instead of whatever route your receiver would normally be running. Assuming the extra sprints fatigue him extra compared to covering other routes (unclear!), he’s still going to be on the field, just slightly more tired, not rendered completely inert.
If you are willing to waste offensive possessions entirely–have your quarterback take repeated 7 step drops, run whatever motion is required to make sure he’s in man on someone, have that guy running the 9 route, don’t run the ball and don’t have the quarterback release the ball until Sauce has sprinted 40 yards–you’re going to be down 30-0 when Sauce takes a series off in the late 3rd, your offensive line is going to be gassed, and your quarterback might be concussed.
It seems like NFL offense is complicated enough that either way, you aren’t gaining more than you lose compared to just running your offense and trying to score all game long.
After a couple of plays like that they’ll shift the zone and make it pointless. Usually they do the opposite and stay off the side of the field with the best cornerback. Quarterbacks don’t usually face anything like the Legion of Boom, they’re looking for vulnerability to exploit on both sides and down the middle and usually only have to avoid one of those lanes because of a top quality cornerback. Maybe send your best running back downfield as a decoy to break the zone coverage and connect with a short pass to someone else instead.
It’s funny that Sherman griped about this. Seattle ran zone defense a lot in the Legion of Boom days, and in Sherman’s case he basically had one half of the field. He was good enough in his prime that eventually QBs would just stop throwing on his part of the field, and then he’d gripe about being alone on an island.
Here is an example:
The All-Pro Seattle cornerback was thoroughly avoided when his Seahawks beat the visiting Green Bay Packers, 36-16, in this season’s Kickoff Opener. Sherman was the dreadlocked elephant in the room — the he-who-must-not-be-named, lurking on the left side of the defense — and he never saw a pass thrown in his direction.
The only time Aaron Rodgers looked as if he might throw Sherman’s way came on a corner route in the third quarter, when Seattle’s Michael Bennett interrupted the play with a strip sack.
Although his team was winning, and avoiding him was a sign of respect, Sherman felt irritation bubble up inside of him.
“On a scale of 1 to 10? 12,” Sherman said Wednesday of his frustration level, giving new meaning to 12th man.
I would say that I’d be surprised that Sherman of all people would gripe about this subject, considering how he usually had the opposite problem, but I watched him enough times over the years that I know quite well that he likes to contradict himself a lot. So no, not surprised.
But yeah, if a CB is that good and you want to eliminate them from being a factor, just stop throwing at them.