Stephan Savoia / AP

Bill Belichick says the skills of his running backs, Laurence Maroney (right) and Kevin Faulk, must overlap in some fashion. Otherwise an injury can be devastating to the system.

Not too far, says Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

"You've got to be careful with how many (specialized) guys you have because you still need players to do the things everyone else at the position does," he explains.

Belichick uses his team's running backs to illustrate his point.

"Even if you have Laurence Maroney (a semi-rugged everydown back) and Kevin Faulk (a slight and quick third-down back), you still need a backup that can do what Laurence does and if that's not Kevin, then you need somebody else," he explains. "When you have a really specialized player that's a lot different from the other players at the same position it gives you flexibility situationally but it would be hard to have Laurence, Kevin and another different style player. Then what do you do if something happens to Laurence? Now you can't do what Laurence does and you have no backup to Kevin. You can only go so far."

Unique skills are nice. But not too unique, Belichick explains.

"Say you have a blocking tight end and a receiving tight end," he begins. "You run one set of plays with the blocker and then these other plays with the fast guy. Then something happens to one of those guys. Then what do you do? Do you have the blocking guy do the receiving? Do you have the receiving guy do the blocking. Now you need two more backups. You need an overlap of skills so it doesn’t eliminate half the plays if you have guys go down."

It may seem that dressing 45 players for every game should give a coach plenty of depth. But it doesn’t. A team really needs the 22 starters, the three dedicated special teams players (kicker, punter, long snapper) and backups to each position if someone goes down. Using a roster spot for someone with unique skills is a luxury. 

Belichick explains that, a few years back, the team procured a defensive lineman to create speed mismatches. When it became clear that he wasn’t able to give an appreciably better result on the plays he was used, the cost-benefit of keeping him made him expendable.

"He's got to be productive or it's not worth it," Belichick notes.

Special feature NFL's most exciting players Take a look at the 10 players you need to watch each week.

Which is why the search is always on for players who can be chameleons.

"The way to balance specialization on your roster is with versatility," says Packers coach Mike McCarthy. "Players who can do more than one thing well are vital. It's like in any business: The more you can do, the more valuable you are."

The start of the NFL season is upon us. We in the media are getting ready to bayonet the wounded every Monday, laying blanket blame and calling for change. Fans are preparing their vocal cords for the chance to loudly lodge complaints with the playcalling, the kicker, the punter, the quarterback and — of course — the coach.

But the reality is that, in a league in which the majority of games are decided by less than a touchdown, one play on which one player wasn't able to keep up with another is where the game turned. And the decisions or circumstances that led to those players being there – the scouting, the drafting, the signing, the teaching, the injuries – are what led to the win or loss. It's that simple. And that complex.

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