Giving Sproles His Space

Great article posted by Chris Brown on Grantland.Com about how effective the Saints have been in creating the necessary space for Darren Sproles to best utlize his speed, and how this trend has spread with small, lightening quick running backs across the NFL.

NFL Strategy: Darren Sproles and the Rise of the Space Player

Saints coach Sean Payton knows how to use space players. Before Sproles, New Orleans had Reggie Bush, whose career has been disappointing given the massive hype with which he entered the NFL. But even though Bush hadn't developed into the star they hoped he would be, New Orleans wanted to keep him because he was the kind of space player that their system needed. Bush left for the Miami Dolphins during the frenzied fall free-agent season, so the Saints found a new space guy: Darren Sproles.¹ The ex-Charger signed within 24 hours of Bush's departure, on the explicit rationale that Sproles would be the new Bush.
For full article: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7064975/darren-sproles-rise-space-player