redneckjedi wrote:
The dink and dunks have to have touch. Even in the pros. Yes, the receivers need to catch the ball. Even John Beck had to learn that you just cant bring the heat.
I think most linebackers fantasize about a quick slant or a bubble screen thrown with a nice touch on it. To them, that means either a pick 6 or a highlight reel hit. On those routes, the ball needs to be there fast. You need touch when you're throwing a fade or dropping the ball over a defender or into a seam in the zone. Now, you're probably not wind up and chuck it like you would a 50 yard bomb. But it still has to be a fast release and be thrown on a line so that the defense can't react and the receiver isn't hung out to dry.
A ball thrown too fast is just as bad as a ball thrown too soft. We used to coach it as the difference between putting zip on the ball and putting the ball through a brick wall. Yes, receivers are supposed to catch everything, but a bullet-pass needs to be all the more accurate because the receiver's effective range is significantly reduced. A hard-thrown ball that is in finger-tip range but beyond the palms has three negatives that come from that little fact--(1) the receiver is less likely to be able to make the catch as a matter of physics as the fingers give in to the force, (2) you are more likely to injure your receiver with a forceful but slightly off center pass with broken/jammed fingers, and (3) you are more likely to see tip ups and ricochets that lead to interceptions.
When young quarterbacks take a step up to another level, high school to college, college to NFL, there is an instinctive tendency to throw the ball harder to deal with the defensive speed. It happens to almost every quality quarterback making a step up, but one way to measure how well they'll perform is their ability to adjust to the speed with their brain instead of their brawn. Instead of throwing the ball harder, learn to read the defense quicker. Learn to put 18 more inches of air under the ball and put it 3 yards farther into the route--still with zip, but only throwing at 85% (100% is only used for Hail Marys). Learn to throw the ball before the receiver breaks. The quarterbacks that learn those skills at each level and the great ones. The ones who never learn to play smart against speed are the busts.
All that said, don't get me wrong--there are times where you bring the heat. Those times are end of game scenarios and third-downs situations where the nickel package is in and you just don't have a choice but to rip it in there.
Finally, let me make absolutely clear that this post isn't a criticism of Jake Heaps by any means. I don't know if players are dropping his passes more often or if the press (who is feeding the Heaps fascination) is only reporting those drops. It could very well be that we have equal drops across the board but we just don't hear about the Nelson, or Lark ones because those stories don't sell ad space. This is all just some supposition we have conjured up in the forums to try and explain why it seems receivers drop Heaps' passes more than others--it could just be a reporting issue.
My best guess is that we have 3 quarterbacks fighting for position, and that they are pressing to gain an advantage. Under the microscope of the coaches and media in this environment, every pass is like a third and long with their career on the line. I don't think we have any long term concerns about Heaps and his ability to deal with speed the right way if that is in fact a problem. If balls are being thrown too hard, I would expect it to abate once a pecking order is established and the kids settle into their roles.
