McCoy - 30th Ranked in Arm Strength ::cough::

[Greythan]

NFL: Power Ranking the Arm Strength of All 32 Starting Quarterbacks | Bleacher Report

When I found Drew Brees as the 2nd rated in "arm strength" and Cam Newton in the mid teens, I closed my browser.

McCoy may very well have the 30th ranked arm in terms of pure velocity, however, Brees does NOT have the 2nd ranked arm in terms of arm strength. Just goes to show what a red herring this attribute can be.

[Brownie-_-]

Arm strength is overrated. See Anderson, Derek

[Brown Warrior]

I posted this in an overly loaded thread... and when I saw Brees at 2 and Rodgers at 12, I just laughed. Uhhhhh... okay.

[Riffer X]

Arm strength is hugely important----see Jay Shroeder and or Dan McGuire and or Jafaticuss and or.......

[Greythan]

For me it just goes to show how poorly understood "arm strength" is even with the supposed pundits/journalists. I'd love for a real student of the game to analyze two really great QB's with a larger differential in true arm strength (i.e., velocity) to show what arm strength truly provides.

My belief is that it absolutely helps as a QB with superior arm strength can make a decision a little later than one with lesser strength. However, accuracy, poise, decision making, and the other items on the laundry list of key QB attributes play a massive (I'd argue majority) role.

So, if all other things are equal and you can throw a football with more velocity than the next guy.... you'll be better. Its probably that simple.

[hammertime]

Your saying Colt can ride bulls better then throw a football???

[Alo]

One of the BR guy's biggest mistakes is that he conflates arm strength with downfield accuracy. Having one doesn't mean you've got the other.

[Greythan]

Exactly Alo. I truly don't even see the correlation as much as I see it with intermediate routes.

[Brown Warrior]

Agree, agree, agree. Fouts is the first to tell you he didn't have a big arm, just accuracy and anticipation. Kosar didn't have a gun and Madden called him the most accurate downfield passer he'd ever seen. He could've been talking about Montana, who also didn't have a big arm.

As players get faster, windows (spatial and chronological) get tighter and we have phrases like "NFL open," which is different than "college open." It's more and more important to get the ball from the QBs hand to the receivers number in a, uhm, timely fashion. As in, with zip.

So yeah, the passes that show off an arm the best, or matter the most, are between defenders and/or levels, 20-40 yards downfield. Nobody does it with more zip than Rodgers. He has the quickest release in the history of the league and throws fastballs at a crazy distance.

Also agree: Of course arm strength matters. You'd much rather have it than not have it. Nobody goes looking for quarterbacks with weak arms. Nobody watches a workout to make sure the passer doesn't have too much arm.

It's just not at the top of the list, especially in today's league. Gotta have enough and it's better to have more... but intelligence, accuracy, anticipation, quick release, mobility, and ability to throw on the move are all tremendously important, too.

Rarely do you get it all in one guy.

[Bandaid]

Where's Roman Gabriel on the list!?!?!?! Supposedly he could throw from endzone to endzone!!! That's right!!! He's long been retired and so should this hack!

[Greythan]

Nice post BW. Aside from someone choosing to debate where Rodgers ranks on release/strength, I don't see anything in your post that isn't consistent with the reality of quarterbacking.

[Brown Warrior]

Thanks, Grey. On Rodgers, they timed his release next to Marino... the fastest ever... and Rodgers is even faster.