An 18th game? And no preseason? Former Bears receiver Waddle gives his thoughts

Coming to an NFL season in the near future: 18 regular-season games ... and no preseason?

That's what NBC analyst and former wide receiver Cris Collinsworth said during the Falcons-Browns telecast Aug. 29.

What would be the ramifications? Former Bears wide receiver and ESPN radio's Tom Waddle has some thoughts.

What happens to bubble boys?

Waddle played in 60 games from 1989-94, catching 173 passes for 2,109 yards. Owning some of the best hands of his time, QB Jim Harbaugh would almost always look to the scrappy, undersized Ohio native to snare passes in tight coverage on third-and-6, etc.

Waddle spent most of his first two seasons on the practice squad before emerging in 1991 as a go-to guy. But what if there were no preseason games? Would coach Mike Ditka have seen enough out of the undrafted free agent to give him a chance?

"I've seen plenty of guys that excel in practice, but when the lights get really bright and the stage is big they don't have nearly as much success," Waddle said. "Look, I lived for preseason game No. 4. That was my time. It was insignificant to most, but it was very significant to me."

One solution is to practice more with other teams, like the Bears did recently with the Dolphins. Waddle said that should be enough to form accurate assessments of most players.

But what about scouting bubble guys on other teams? Wouldn't the elimination of the preseason make that next to impossible?

"It's gonna be hard," Waddle said. "At that point you're going to rely on what you've seen from team practices against other teams. The system is not built for the rank-and-file guys - and it never will be. Yes, it would make it much more difficult for guys like me, but that's the direction it's going."

Assuming the league expands to 18 games, Waddle said rosters should be expanded from 53 to 58 or 60.

"Guys are too big, too fast, too strong and the collisions are too violent," Waddle said. "There will come a point where you can't field enough good players if you keep expanding the regular season."

Will product suffer?

The beginning of each NFL season can be quite painful.

The number of false starts, offsides, illegal motions and delay of games are enough to make you want to scream. But there's also plenty of dropped and off-target passes, botched protections, poor run blocking and overall mind-numbing, boring play.

With no preseason games, won't this just exacerbate the problems? Possibly, but Waddle figures by November everyone will remember why the "NFL is king and the product is fantastic."

"I would say it's a fair criticism that early on the product isn't great," Waddle continued. "But that's one of the necessary evils of how they do business now. They walk through training camp.

"We did it wrong. I don't think they get it 100 percent right, but we were jealous back in the day of the model that the 49ers or the Packers were using. You'd face them and they were fresh and we were dog tired and it was the second game in September.

"So I'm an advocate of how things have changed in that manner where you're not just beating the crap out of each other for six weeks in Platteville, Wisconsin."

What about the records?

While single-season NFL records generally aren't memorized by fans the way they are in baseball, there are still plenty that likely won't survive an 18-game season for long.

Eric Dickerson's rushing record of 2,105 yards was set in 1984, and it's held up nearly four decades. While teams don't run as much, the Titans' Derrick Henry did pile up 2,027 yards last season. With two more games, he could have hit 2,300.

Then there are the passing records, like Peyton Manning's 55 TDs and 5,477 yards, both set in 2013. And receiving records like Calvin Johnson's 1,964 yards (2012) and Randy Moss' 23 TDs (2007).

These marks are destined to fall.

To which Waddle says, "So what?"

"I guess if you're Eric Dickerson or the holder of an existing record, it's meaningful to you," Waddle said. "But I have the same approach to the baseball guys. I think 162 games is too many and one of the arguments for not cutting the regular season is what it would do to some of the historical records.

"Who cares? It doesn't mean Stan Musial wasn't a great baseball player or Hank Aaron wasn't one of the best home run hitters in the history of the sport. I don't mean to sound callous in disregarding the accomplishments of some really great players, but that is not the reason why I wouldn't make a change."

One record that may stick around for a while is LaDainian Tomlinson's 28 rushing TDs from 2006.

My 2 cents

I hate the idea of no preseason games. They whet our appetite and are an important evaluation tool for coaches.

So play two of them. With the added revenue of an 18th game, owners could cut the fans a break and offer tickets for $50 or less and (gasp!) maybe even sell concessions at reasonable prices.

Just a thought.

A second bye week should also be added.

As for those who worry about 18 games being too much for players to endure, remember that training camps of 30 or more years ago were absolutely brutal.

"Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, there's no reason to be in camp for six weeks practicing minimum twice a day with pads on," Waddle said. "By the time you got to the regular season I don't think anyone was better than 75 or 80 percent healthy."

Now? Players are barely hitting each other.

Bottom line: It will be interesting to see when the 18-game schedule happens.

But bank on this - happen it will, and likely sooner rather than later.