Why are all NFL lineman tall?

[sevensages]

The average man in America is 5'10". But the average NFL lineman is around 6'5". Ask AI if you don't believe me. Last year, there was not a single lineman who played in a regular season game in the NFL last year who was below six feet tall. Before anyone says that statement is wrong because Willie Lampkin is 5'10", let me say this: Willie Lampkin was drafted by the NFL, but he never played in a single regular season game last year. And Willie Lampkin is the shortest lineman drafted into the NFL in decades, not just years but decades. Willie Lampkin is a EXTREMELY RARE anomaly.

Why are all NFL lineman who played in a regular season game last year taller than six feet tall? There are three reasons: 1# There is more potential room to fit muscle mass on a tall skeleton than an average height skeleton or a short skeleton. There is more potential room to fit muscle mass on a 6'5" skeleton than a 5'10" skeleton. So tall people tend to have more absolute strength. 2# Tall people tend to be heavier. So it is harder to push a tall person backwards than a short person. 3# Taller people tend to have longer arms. Longer arms make it easier to reach someone to push them backwards or to block them. This applies to both offensive lineman and defensive lineman.

99% of the reason that NFL lineman are tall are due to #1 and #2. #3 is a very tiny factor.

Now I know that it is possible for a short person to be stronger than a taller person. Anyone who has ever been inside a weightlifting gym before knows that. I'm not saying that all tall people are stronger than all short people. I just said that there is more potential room to fit muscle mass on a tall skeleton than a short skeleton. The key word there is potential. Just because there is more potential room to fit muscle mass on a tall skeleton than a short skeleton does not mean that there is more actual muscle mass on a random 6'5" skeleton than a random 5'10" skeleton. This thread is kind of a spinoff and kind of my football equivalent to my thread "A good big man will beat a good little man in boxing" thread.

Do you people agree with me?

 

[256bits]

How tall are Sumo wrestlers?

 

[sevensages]

How tall are Sumo wrestlers?

There is no maximum or minimum heights for NFL Lineman. So NFL Lineman is far better for my point.

People are not allowed to compete as sumo wrestlers in Japan unless they are 5'8" or taller. So the answer to your question is 5'8" or taller .

 

[Astronuc]

There are 32 NFL football teams, with an average roster of 53 persons. If one takes half the roster (say 26) for both offensive and defensive linemenn, then 32 x 26 = 832 persons, compared to lets say half the adult population in the US in the age range of 20-34 years, or about 35 million persons, or about 0.0000238 of the male population. NFL linemen represent a very skewed portion of the population, so comparing the heights of NFL football linemen to the general population isn't very helpful. The selection process starts in high school and continues through college.
Ref: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241488/population-of-the-us-by-sex-and-age/

It's probably a combination of height, mass, strength and skill, and likely the heavier (and probably taller) and stronger athletes perform better than shorter athletes on a one-to-one basis.

At university, the football athletes tended to be taller than the average student, and most were stronger than the average. One of my close friends was a tight end who weighed approximately 100-110 kgs with a height of 6 ft 5 inches (195.6 cm). He could bench press about 160 kgs, but his nominal work out was about 100 kgs. I'm about average height, and during university, my weight maximum was about 185 lbs (~84 kgs), and I managed to lift (military press) about 240 lbs (109 kgs) and bench press of about 300 lbs (136 kgs). I could dead lift the front and back ends of a VW Beetle (Bug). I was too small for the football team.

 

[256bits]

Does Sumo have height-weight categories - if not then a 5ft8inch against a larger opponent would need better technique, or something else, quickness, agility, to overcome against a heavier opponent, who may not be stronger just due to the size differential.

 

[sevensages]

There are 32 NFL football teams, with an average roster of 53 persons. If one takes half the roster (say 26) for both offensive and defensive linemenn, then 32 x 26 = 832 persons, compared to lets say half the adult population in the US in the age range of 20-34 years, or about 35 million persons, or about 0.0000238 of the male population. NFL linemen represent a very skewed portion of the population,

I agree with EVERYTHING you wrote in the above quote 100%. However, I am totally baffled as to how what you wrote in the quote above makes you think that comparing the heights of NFL football limemen to the general population isn't very helpful.

so comparing the heights of NFL football linemen to the general population isn't very helpful.

It is very helpful for making the point of why NFL Lineman are taller than the average man in America. If one is going to write about why NFL Lineman are taller than the average man, first one needs to establish that NFL Linemen are taller than the average man.

The selection process starts in high school and continues through college.
Ref: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241488/population-of-the-us-by-sex-and-age/

It's probably a combination of height, mass, strength and skill, and likely the heavier (and probably taller) and stronger athletes perform better than shorter athletes on a one-to-one basis.

At university, the football athletes tended to be taller than the average student, and most were stronger than the average. One of my close friends was a tight end who weighed approximately 100-110 kgs with a height of 6 ft 5 inches (195.6 cm). He could bench press about 160 kgs, but his nominal work out was about 100 kgs. I'm about average height, and during university, my weight maximum was about 185 lbs (~84 kgs), and I managed to lift (military press) about 240 lbs (109 kgs) and bench press of about 300 lbs (136 kgs). I could dead lift the front and back ends of a VW Beetle (Bug). I was too small for the football team.

 

[256bits]

It's probably a combination of height, mass, strength and skill, and likely the heavier (and probably taller) and stronger athletes perform better than shorter athletes on a one-to-one basis.

One would think that against a heavier brute, one could just outrun them.
Looking a brute athlete, that is an invalid assumption, as they have a fair chance of outcompeting 99% of the regular population, in general categories of speed, agility, strength, quickness, explosive power, quick thinking.

 

[sevensages]

Does Sumo have height-weight categories -

No

if not then a 5ft8inch against a larger opponent would need better technique, or something else, quickness, agility, to overcome against a heavier opponent, who may not be stronger just due to the size differential.

Yeah

 

[sevensages]

There are 32 NFL football teams, with an average roster of 53 persons. If one takes half the roster (say 26) for both offensive and defensive linemenn, then 32 x 26 = 832 persons, compared to lets say half the adult population in the US in the age range of 20-34 years, or about 35 million persons, or about 0.0000238 of the male population. NFL linemen represent a very skewed portion of the population, so comparing the heights of NFL football linemen to the general population isn't very helpful. The selection process starts in high school and continues through college.
Ref: https://www.statista.com/statistics/241488/population-of-the-us-by-sex-and-age/

It's probably a combination of height, mass, strength and skill, and likely the heavier (and probably taller) and stronger athletes perform better than shorter athletes on a one-to-one basis.

At university, the football athletes tended to be taller than the average student, and most were stronger than the average. One of my close friends was a tight end who weighed approximately 100-110 kgs with a height of 6 ft 5 inches (195.6 cm). He could bench press about 160 kgs, but his nominal work out was about 100 kgs. I'm about average height, and during university, my weight maximum was about 185 lbs (~84 kgs), and I managed to lift (military press) about 240 lbs (109 kgs) and bench press of about 300 lbs (136 kgs). I could dead lift the front and back ends of a VW Beetle (Bug). I was too small for the football team.

So your one rep maximum bench press was 300 lbs? That's pretty strong. How many years did it take to get up to a 300 lb bench press?

 

[256bits]

No



Yeah

Chances are that the larger person can also have attributes of agility and technique and win every time from advantage in strength.
=======================================================
For a population categorized according to criteria such as smart, quick thinking, quick, strength ( arm, leg, torso ), etc, the distributions may come out as normal, with some correlations and overlap between the groupings.

A good athlete may have attributes better than average of A, B, C. A different good athlete may have better than average attributes of A,, D, E. Another A, B, E. and so on.
If A seems to be the commonality for success in any particular sport, then athletes with that attribute will be chosen first.
For the linesman example, size, particularly height, would be looked at first fore the next recruits, since that would have been seen to have been the one criteria that allowed excellence. Anyone who does not have the size criteria is not selected for tryouts even if they might gave been amongst the top performers if given the chance.

Seems utterly biased no doubt.
50% of the population is immediately excluded from being a linesmen. ie women

As in everything, there are exceptions.
Not all basketball players are exceptionally tall.

 

[BWV]

The missing element here is opportunity cost- the undersized guy who could make up the deficit through athletic talent is better off playing a different position. The very gifted athletes will find their highest and best use - maybe 5’9” Emmitt Smith could have been a decent lineman, but would have been a waste of his talent

 

[Astronuc]

One would think that against a heavier brute, one could just outrun them.

Defensively linemen push/run at the offensive linemen in order to prevent the defenders getting to the quarterback, or one of the running backs (halfback or fullback). The offensive linemen have to push back, or maneuver the attacking linemen into each other.

Certain the receivers have to run as fast as possible to outrun or outmaneuver the back field defenders. One of my college roommates was a wide receiver, and he was fast but not bulky.

Most of the linemen I encountered were large dudes.

 

[Astronuc]

So your one rep maximum bench press was 300 lbs? That's pretty strong. How many years did it take to get up to a 300 lb bench press?

I started weight training when I was 15, but it was sporadic, since I was either in school or working, although I rode a bicycle, ran distance by myself and played soccer (football). I started university at 17, so academics and work were priorities. I transitioned from a physics program to nuclear engineering during my undergraduate year, and during summers and holidays, I did iron work (structural iron), which gave me a chance to do heavy lifting and getting paid for it. After work, I'd go running some miles and finish with a quarter mile sprint. It probably took several months to work from benching 240 (about 1.5 x my body weight) to 300 lbs (about 1.67 x my body weight), since I wasn't training every day, nor every other day (my weight increased from about 160 to 180 lbs). I didn't want to bulk up, but rather remain fast and flexible.

 

[sevensages]

Defensively linemen push/run at the offensive linemen in order to prevent the defenders getting to the quarterback, or one of the running backs (halfback or fullback). The offensive linemen have to push back, or maneuver the attacking linemen into each other.

I am totally baffled by your quote above this sentence. First of all, what the heck does "the defenders" mean?

I think you might have got the words defensive and offensive mixed up in the first sentence. Offensive Linemen push/run at the defensive Linemen to prevent the defensive Linemen getting to the quarterback.

Defensive Linemen run towards the quarterback to try to sack the quarterback or to force the quarterback to try to make a pass before a receiver can get open.

Certain the receivers have to run as fast as possible to outrun or outmaneuver the back field defenders. One of my college roommates was a wide receiver, and he was fast but not bulky.

Most of the linemen I encountered were large dudes.

 

[Astronuc]

I am totally baffled by your quote above this sentence. First of all, what the heck does "the defenders" mean?

I think you might have got the words defensive and offensive mixed up in the first sentence. Offensive Linemen push/run at the defensive Linemen to prevent the defensive Linemen getting to the quarterback.

My words do look awkward. The offensive linemen defend the quarterback and running backs. The defensive linemen try to get to the quarterback or running backs, or make a path for the linebackers to get through to the quarterback or running backs.

In the NFL, offensive tackles often measure over 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) and weigh over 300 lb (140 kg).

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tackle_(gridiron_football_position)

Offensive linemen are limited with respect to the line of scrimmage depending on whether the play is a passing play or running play.

Offensive linemen are not eligible to receive forward passes and are not allowed to advance more than two yards past the line of scrimmage at the time a pass is thrown, whether they are engaged with a defensive player or not.

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineman_(gridiron_football)#Offensive_line
Two yards is roughly two steps.

In the same article,

An offensive lineman's motion during a play is often limited to just a few quick steps (typically from a three-point stance) to establish position, followed by a wrestling match similar to sumo. Offensive linemen thus tend to be the largest and strongest players on the field with excellent agility and balance, but limited straight-line running speed and stamina.

Defensive linemen, particularly defensive ends are typically lighter and faster than defensive tackles and offensive linemen. Defensive tackles weight averages between 260 and 310 lbs.

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lineman_(gridiron_football)#Defensive_line
I knew some large guys like that. They had a competition to see who could bench press the most, and as I recall, one was up to 450 lbs (~204 kgs); most were pressing in the range of 400 to 450 lbs (180 to 200 kgs).

 

[Hornbein]

If you are interested in small men in sumo, look at Enho. He did quite well until the larger men learned to counter his skills.

The current big deal in sumo is Aonishiki, a young man from Ukraine. He did extremely well until others learned to counter his skills.

One reason linemen are tall is because it makes it harder for the quarterback to see downfield. Doug Flutie had great trouble getting accepted as a quarterback in the USA because he was considered too short to see over the linemen.

 

[sevensages]

One reason linemen are tall is because it makes it harder for the quarterback to see downfield. Doug Flutie had great trouble getting accepted as a quarterback in the USA because he was considered too short to see over the linemen.

If you are the coach of the team on offense, you want the quarterback to see downfield . So you would not pick tall offensive Linemen for the purpose of blocking the quarterback's view downfield. So that reason would only apply to defensive Linemen. Frankly, the height of the defensive Linemen to block the quarterback's view is a negligible factor. The reason defensive Linemen tend to be tall is that taller people tend to have more push strength on average because there is more room to fit muscle mass on a tall skeleton than a short skeleton and secondly tall people tend to be heavier, and even if two opposing lineman have the same amount of push strength, it is easier to push a lighter person backwards than a heavier person.

 

[berkeman]

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