Snyder stood there, a little overwhelmed.

It had always been known in the team that the rookies, led by Lu Ke, held weekly playbook study sessions to try and integrate into the team and adapt to the league's pace as quickly as possible. Now, in the San Francisco 49ers, Lu Ke, Logan Newman, and Marcus Lynch from the offense and Aldon Smith from the defense were all in the starting lineup. In addition, running back Kendall Hunter, safety Colin Jones, and cornerback Chris Culliver also became relatively stable rotational players.

This year, there were a total of 15 freshmen, including undrafted rookies, and seven of them made it to the starting lineup. Such a draft result was gratifying. It also showed that the team under Jim Harbaugh was indeed very young and had a strong and vibrant presence that contributed to their excellent performance this year. Objectively speaking, the private playbook study sessions were a great help. But this was only an activity for the rookies. Other veteran players had never participated until today.

Snyder was already on the fringe of the team. He had been with the team for six full years, and his presence was still negligible. Even when he attended the team's post-game parties, he could never find his place. But now, he had become a member of a tactical meeting. At least, when Lu Ke invited the offensive line, he included him. Even if it was a mass email, this was an unprecedented event. This was a situation that never happened during the Alex Smith era. Snyder's heart was immediately filled with excitement.

In fact, after the whole story was explained, everyone, including Lu Ke, looked away and went back to their discussion. On one hand, they didn't want to put pressure on Snyder and force him to join the tactical meeting. On the other hand, the discussion that was just interrupted had to continue.

But Snyder didn't care. His eyes fell on Chilo Rachal. Rachal's injury had completely healed, and he could play in this week's game against the Steelers. Even if he didn't play in this game, he could definitely return to the starting lineup in the next one. This meant that the competition for the starting position between Snyder and Rachal had officially begun. The question was, after being silent for many years, could Snyder seize this opportunity?

In the first half of the season, although Rachal was a starter, his performance was only mediocre and never truly shined, especially as Iupati was slowly catching up to the team's strength. Rachal's progress was still limited, so could this be a good opportunity for Snyder to take his place? At this moment, Rachal was intently listening to Lu Ke's explanation. It was clear that he also felt the pressure of the starting competition. The two of them seemed to be analyzing the tactical changes that had occurred in the two games against the Cardinals, both their own and the opponent's.

Tactical analysis! This immediately made Snyder's blood boil and made him eager to try. Objectively speaking, Snyder is not a player with outstanding talent, both physically and tactically. It can be said that he doesn't have the posture of a leader, but he is an excellent soldier. In an official game, Snyder doesn't have the ability to make his own judgments, and the limitations of his physical talent also restrict his advantage in instinctive confrontations. He relies more on the quarterback's on-the-spot command to cooperate with his teammates and achieve pocket protection.

Just like Peyton Manning, every quarterback must read the defense before the snap and then arrange the tactical changes of the offensive line according to the opponent's defensive formation. If they can get a quarter or a half of a beat ahead of the opponent, they can complete a solid pocket protection. Snyder has mediocre talent, but he is a very good tactical enforcer. In particular, he has tried every position on the offensive line, which has further improved his understanding of tactics. On offense, after receiving instructions, he is often able to burst out with more energy in a well-coordinated manner, truly embodying the meaning of "team" and achieving a "one plus one is greater than two" effect.

But the problem is that there is only one Peyton Manning, and there are only a handful of quarterbacks at his level. For most quarterbacks, reading the defense, making a prediction, and making an adjustment is a very difficult task, because the playbook system and problem set are so huge. Even just memorizing them and understanding them takes up all their energy, not to mention making corresponding plans based on the ever-changing situation on the field.

Alex Smith is a quarterback who has reached a certain level, and his tactical awareness is quite good. During a game, he can successfully read the opponent's defense and make relative adjustments, but this is still a rare occurrence. Most of the time, he still advances according to the coaching staff's tactical arrangements. In addition, Alex's passes are mainly short, and he has a certain ability to move with the ball. The requirements for pocket protection are relatively relaxed, and the requirements for the running routes of short passes and reading the passing gaps are more strict. So, when directing the offense, Alex will put more effort into choosing the passing routes rather than adjusting the offensive line's tactics. This is a tactical choice. It adapts to the situation and the person. There is no right or wrong. It fully utilizes Alex's strengths and advantages to move toward victory.

But the reality is that football is a team sport. When one link goes wrong, it will inevitably trigger a chain reaction in other links. The San Francisco 49ers have a terrible offensive line. In the past few years, they have always been at the bottom of the league. On one hand, their chemistry is not good enough. On the other hand, when rookies join the team, their strength cannot be improved. Snyder is one of them. His strength was not outstanding to begin with, and he gradually became mediocre among the crowd. This is also one of the reasons why the San Francisco 49ers have been struggling in the past few years.

Now, Lu Ke has changed this situation. In contrast to Alex, Lu Ke is a player who has extremely strict requirements for the playbook. In Lu Ke's offensive system, the arrangement and execution of tactics, and the prediction and interpretation of the defense, are of utmost importance. If the Cardinals' John Skelton relies on Larry Fitzgerald to force a play, then Lu Ke relies on the cooperation of the entire team to complete the offense. The individual strength of each teammate may not be the top in the league, but their understanding of the playbook is definitely thorough, and they can cooperate well during a game. The most obvious examples are Vernon Davis and Logan Newman.

In terms of pure strength, Logan is not as good as Vernon, whether it's his ability to block or catch. That's a fact. But on the team, Logan has been more effective than Vernon and has become the team's number one scoring option. The reason is that all of Lu Ke's plays require very strict execution. He needs his offense to get into a tactical state. Compared to individual strength, the team as a whole is the most important thing. After getting into a tactical rhythm, Lu Ke then fully utilizes the individual abilities of different players according to their personal styles to complete the play. This is true for Logan and also for Ted Ginn Jr.

Now, in the San Francisco team, there are still only two players who can be called stars: Vernon Davis and Patrick Willis. But now, they have become the second-best team in the league, after only the Green Bay Packers. This is the reason. In other words, Snyder is more adaptable to Lu Ke's tactical system. This can be seen from the two games against the Cardinals. Rachal played in the first game, while Snyder played in the second. In the second game, Lu Ke's blindside protection was significantly improved. However, Snyder's understanding of the playbook was not thorough enough, and he couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the other offensive linemen, which also led to a lot of mistakes.

But from another perspective, this also means that Snyder still has room for improvement. Now, Snyder finally understands where the nickname "Training Maniac" came from. Without waiting for Lu Ke to ask any more questions, Snyder voluntarily walked over, sat down on the other side of him, and joined the discussion between Lu Ke and Rachal. Since the competition for the starting position has begun, he will give it his all! Only by trying will he have no regrets.

"..." But when his eyes fell on the tactical analysis all over the floor, Snyder was completely lost. All the papers in front of him were screenshots of game videos. After taking screenshots from the computer video, they were printed out, and the key points were circled with different colored pens, and arrows were drawn to mark the opponent's movement lines. The screenshots themselves were not scary. They could also be seen in the team's daily training. But the point was that these were not screenshots of the San Francisco 49ers' games, or even the Pittsburgh Steelers' games!

"What's wrong?" Lu Ke turned his head and saw Snyder's face full of surprise, with his jaw almost dislocated. Snyder held up the screenshot in his hand, his face full of confusion. "Are we playing the Packers next? And... the Saints?" In the screenshots, it was the games of the Green Bay Packers and the New Orleans Saints. If Snyder remembered correctly, in the last three weeks of the regular season, they would play against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the St. Louis Rams. As for the Packers and the Saints, even if they were to play against them, it would be in the playoffs. Is it too early to start thinking about the playoffs now?

"Haha, no, our opponent next week is the Steelers," Lu Ke said with a smile. "You didn't remember it wrong. The last two games are division games, and they are not the Packers or the Saints." Faced with Snyder's confusion, Lu Ke didn't wait for him to ask and immediately explained, "These are the two best offensive lines in the league right now. We should look at their tactical combinations."

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