HAPPY FEET (and I ain't talkin' penguins)

[DawgFan]

This is going to be a different kind of thread for me. As most of you know, I am usually pretty consistent with defending our QB's...even Charlie Frye. So bear with me...

Colt McCoy is regressing.

I see it every game, and it is getting downright maddening. Here is a guy with pinpoint accuracy coming out of college. He had great footwork. And he had great ability to see the entire field.

As of now, Colt has NONE of those things.

First and foremost he has HAPPY FEET. He never plants his back foot. He gets to the back of his drop and almost immediately starts bouncing around. This has to stop. I get it, he has been hit far more than he should, and his receivers are not exactly breaking out into wide open spaces. I understand that this can make you a bit jittery.

BUT...

When your feet never plant you cannot drive the ball. That effects your velocity. That means that Colts arm is effectively WEAKER than the "average" arm he already has.

When your feet never plant you cannot be accurate. The ball is coming out on all kinds of different angles and positions because you are not set. You cannot use your legs to help direct your throw, meaning the accuracy must derived solely from your arm...and that takes a lot of arm strength ala Aaron Rogers (see above).

It also effectively makes you SHORTER (and Colt, as many stated before, is not tall) because you are often between hops/steps/skitters. Because of this, Colt is seeing the field much more like a 5'11" guy instead of the 6'1" he actually is.

All of this, the loss of velocity, accuracy, and vision... well, they add up to Colt's inability to see and fit the ball through the tight windows of the NFL. But those aren't his only problems.

He has yet to learn anticipation, mainly because he is having the above issues. Without anticipation (i.e. knowing your receiver will be cutting at point A and throwing to point B before the cut), you become a LINE OF SIGHT QB. That is a typical first year QB issue, but Colt should be at least partially outgrowing that by now.

As I said above, the OL problems (RG/RT/and now LG) are partially to blame for the early jitters. And I know, the WR corp leaves something (ok, quite a bit) to be desired.

But if Colt would settle into the pocket now, the OL will know where he is and be better able to protect him. He will be able to SEE his WR's in their routes. He will be able to ANTICIPATE their cuts. He will be able to DRIVE the with ACCURACY into those tighter windows.

To me, the #1 issue on our offense, the one that will get this offense to actually look like it can do more than sputter and burn out, is for Colt to just settle down, relax a little, and LET EVERYONE ELSE DO THEIR JOBS so he can do his.

He is trying to do too much, MAKE things happen, and he is not that type of QB. He is regressing into (dare I say it) Charlie Frye... and if he doesn't watch out he will follow him out of town.

Remember before you blast me, I WANTED to draft Colt. I thought he was the PERFECT QB for our team. And I still do. I just see a guy getting rattled and not only not playing to his potential, but getting away from what he was as a QB.

Hopefully the next few weeks will help we will see a turnaround.

[DirtyDawg]

I agree with your post. Our pass protection hasn't been great, and as a result Colt is in a hurry back there in the pocket. He doesn't trust the pocket to hold up and he's having trouble having patience back there.

[Enigmatic Evil]

I agree 100% and I've been saying that Colt needs to calm down every single week as well. When Colt's calm he plays a lot better and when he's having disco fever his play hits the shitter faster than John Pinette at a Chinese food buffet. It's Shurmur's job as the "offensive guru" of the team to help Colt fix his mistakes that he's making.

Great post DF

[Brown Warrior]

If Colt could get the ball out on that first quick read (Shurmur bitches about it every Monday)... and if he could read and beat an obvious blitz... the pass protection would suddenly look a whole lot better.

Everything affects everything on offense, but nothing affects anything so much as the QB. Guys like Manning and Rodgers make everything look better by making line reads and getting the ball out really fast. They literally bitch slap a DC for having the audacity to call a blitz, so they almost never see them.

We can talk like drafting a RT will change something... except that Pashos has graded out as our best lineman over the past 8 quarters so it's gonna be tough to move the dial that way. We could trash our guards and get two new ones but DCs will send blitzes up the middle on those kids, too, until McCoy can read it and beat it.

Don't mistake me pointing out the reality of it for not wanting McCoy to get better. I really, truly DO want to see him play well. I'd love it. I cheered like crazy on here after his VERY FIRST START!! I'll absolutely do it again. I'm not Lumbergh hating on Quinn. I'll give him what he's owed and probably more.

But he has to actually earn it.

[Greythan]

Let's not forget part of the OP's message: McCoy has plays where he looks like he's regressed; looks like a different QB.

That, for me, is actually a potentially positive thing about what we've seen. One could make an argument that all the factors around McCoy have thrown him off a bit. And, if you'll take that lens on the thing, that if our offense can get a rhythm and flow; McCoy might look much much better.

Of course, the alternative is that we're seeing the kid's limitations (i.e, low ceiling).

Who knows? It will likely play out for us over the remainder of the season.

[Brown Warrior]

THAT... is a great post (Chelsea Handler emoticon not available).

I actually think it's both... but I could end up being wrong and it wouldn't be the first time (!). I welcome it with all my heart.

Originally Posted by Greythan

Let's not forget part of the OP's message: McCoy has plays where he looks like he's regressed; looks like a different QB.

That, for me, is actually a potentially positive thing about what we've seen. One could make an argument that all the factors around McCoy have thrown him off a bit. And, if you'll take that lens on the thing, that if our offense can get a rhythm and flow; McCoy might look much much better.

Of course, the alternative is that we're seeing the kid's limitations (i.e, low ceiling).

Who knows? It will likely play out for us over the remainder of the season.

[Masters]

This would go back to what MH talked about in his presser and what Shurmer has said recently. This all goes back to fundimentals/bad habits.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by DawgFan

This is going to be a different kind of thread for me. As most of you know, I am usually pretty consistent with defending our QB's...even Charlie Frye. So bear with me...

Colt McCoy is regressing.

I see it every game, and it is getting downright maddening. Here is a guy with pinpoint accuracy coming out of college. He had great footwork. And he had great ability to see the entire field.

As of now, Colt has NONE of those things.

First and foremost he has HAPPY FEET. He never plants his back foot. .

Sometimes PLANTING the back foot means you cannot be running from a TON of pocket pressure all game long or the toll it tales isn't what you want. In saying such a thing, I need an example to show how easily bad mechanics can be habitual as evidenced in the video below when New Orleans pinned their ears back and hit Favre before, during and after seemingly EVERY throw.

Brett Favre interception by Saints Tracy Porter NFC Championship. Paul Allen's Call - YouTube

Here's more ability of a young QB on his 2nd offense to step into the throw:

2010 Game 1: Bradford sacked by Adrian Wilson - YouTube

For those of us that could stomach watching last week's game more than once, there was a compelling statement made by Rich Gannon. It followed a deep throw Greg Little was unable to run under at 18" away from Little's hands. He said, and I emphasize "You HAVE to make that CATCH." I replayed it because I wanted to make certain I caught where the former AFC MVP QB was specifying the problem. He said CATCH not to be confused with THROW. Politically correct method of subliminaling this team doesn't have a legit deep threat on the field that play. Replay confirmed a corner was right on the inside hip stride for stride. Meanwhile the throw went over the sideline shoulder of OUR guy depicting it was accurate for ANY WR that can run at least that can run UNDER a 4.5 forty (forget the JERRY RICE exception when he's clearly not employed here).

I'm old enough to remember HOW MANY QBs learned the hard way on bad fracnhises. Bradshaw took 6 years while Dan Fouts wasn't a whole lot quicker so the following guys represent newer versions yahoo could accommodate statistically. If you want get a birds eye view of the difference between throwing off the back foot habits developed/reinforced vrs when changing them was possible look below (while never losing sight of ANY former Tampa QB going to more reasonable environments for success):

Steve Young:

Season	Team	G		QBRat	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	Int		Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD		Sack	YdsL		Fum	FumL
1985	Tampa	5		56.9	72	138	52.2	935	187.0	6.8	3	8		40	233	46.6	5.8	1		21	158		N/A	N/A
1986	Tampa	14		65.5	195	363	53.7	2282	163.0	6.3	8	13		74	425	30.4	5.7	5		47	326		N/A	N/A

John Elway:

Season	Team	G		QBRat	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	Int		Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD		Sack	YdsL		Fum	FumL
1983	Denver	11		54.9	123	259	47.5	1663	151.2	6.4	7	14		28	146	13.3	5.2	1		28	218		N/A	N/A
1984	Denver	15		76.8	214	380	56.3	2598	173.2	6.8	18	15		56	237	15.8	4.2	1		24	158		N/A	N/A
1985	Denver	16		70.2	327	605	54.0	3891	243.2	6.4	22	23		51	253	15.8	5.0	0		38	307		N/A	N/A

Troy Aikmen:

Season	Team	G		QBRat	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	Int		Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD		Sack	YdsL		Fum	FumL
1989	Dallas	11		55.7	155	293	52.9	1749	159.0	6.0	9	18		38	302	27.5	7.9	0		19	155		N/A	N/A
1990	Dallas	15		66.6	226	399	56.6	2579	171.9	6.5	11	18		40	172	11.5	4.3	1		39	288		N/A	N/A
1991	Dallas	12		86.7	237	363	65.3	2754	229.5	7.6	11	10		16	5	0.4	0.3	1		32	224		N/A	N/A

Drew Brees:

Season	Team	G		QBRat	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	Int		Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD		Sack	YdsL		Fum	FumL
2001	SD	1		94.8	15	27	55.6	221	221.0	8.2	1	0		2	18	18.0	9.0	0		2	12		1	0
2002	SD	16		76.9	320	526	60.8	3284	205.3	6.2	17	16		38	130	8.1	3.4	1		24	180		1	0
2003	SD	11		67.5	205	356	57.6	2108	191.6	5.9	11	15		21	84	7.6	4.0	0		21	178		5	3

Carson Palmer (1 year after not playing 1 down as a rookie):

Season	Team	G		QBRat	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	Int		Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD		Sack	YdsL		Fum	FumL
2004	Cincinnati	13		77.3	263	432	60.9	2897	222.8	6.7	18	18		18	47	3.6	2.6	1		25	178		2	2

Brett Favre:

Season	Team	G		QBRat	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	Int		Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD		Sack	YdsL		Fum	FumL
1991	Atlanta	2		0.0	0	5	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0	2		0	0	0.0	N/A	0		1	11		N/A	N/A
1992	GB	15		85.3	302	471	64.1	3227	215.1	6.9	18	13		47	198	13.2	4.2	1		34	208		N/A	N/A
1993	GB	16		72.2	318	522	60.9	3303	206.4	6.3	19	24		58	216	13.5	3.7	1		30	199		N/A	N/A

Drew Bledsoe:

Season	Team	G		QBRat	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	Int		Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD		Sack	YdsL		Fum	FumL
1993	NE	13		65.0	214	429	49.9	2494	191.8	5.8	15	15		32	82	6.3	2.6	0		16	99		N/A	N/A
1994	NE	16		73.6	400	691	57.9	4555	284.7	6.6	25	27		44	40	2.5	0.9	0		22	139		9	4
1995	NE	15		63.7	323	636	50.8	3507	233.8	5.5	13	16		20	28	1.9	1.4	0		23	170		11	6
1996	NE	16		83.7	373	623	59.9	4086	255.4	6.6	27	15		24	27	1.7	1.1	0		30	190		9	3

Vinny Testaverde:

Season	Team	G		QBRat	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Y/G	Y/A	TD	Int		Rush	Yds	Y/G	Avg	TD		Sack	YdsL		Fum	FumL
1987	Tampa	6		60.2	71	165	43.0	1081	180.2	6.6	5	6		13	50	8.3	3.8	1		18	140		N/A	N/A
1988	Tampa	15		48.8	222	466	47.6	3240	216.0	7.0	13	35		28	138	9.2	4.9	1		33	292		N/A	N/A
1989	Tampa	14		68.9	258	480	53.8	3133	223.8	6.5	20	22		25	139	9.9	5.6	0		38	294		N/A	N/A
1990	Tampa	14		75.6	203	365	55.6	2818	201.3	7.7	17	18		38	280	20.0	7.4	1		38	330		N/A	N/A
1991	Tampa	13		59.0	166	326	50.9	1994	153.4	6.1	8	15		32	101	7.8	3.2	0		35	234		N/A	N/A
1992	Tampa	14		74.2	206	358	57.5	2554	182.4	7.1	14	16		36	197	14.1	5.5	2		35	259		N/A	N/A
1993	Cleveland	10		85.7	130	230	56.5	1797	179.7	7.8	14	9		18	74	7.4	4.1	0		17	101		N/A	N/A
1994	Cleveland	14		70.7	207	376	55.1	2575	183.9	6.8	16	18		21	37	2.6	1.8	2		12	83		3	2
1995	Cleveland	13		87.8	241	392	61.5	2883	221.8	7.4	17	10		18	62	4.8	3.4	2		17	87		4	1
1996	Baltimore	16		88.7	325	549	59.2	4177	261.1	7.6	33	19		34	188	11.8	5.5	2		34	270		9	7
1997	Baltimore	13		75.9	271	470	57.7	2971	228.5	6.3	18	15		34	138	10.6	4.1	0		20	129		11	3
1998	NY Jets	14		101.6	259	421	61.5	3256	232.6	7.7	29	7		24	104	7.4	4.3	1		19	140		7	3

[Brown Warrior]

QBs seem to be getting it quicker these days. Peter King (EXPERT!!) talked to some GM who said it's because QBs are being professionally trained at the myriad of camps by high-level coaches... starting at about eight years old. They're being taught how to play a "pro style offense" at those camps through their teens and in highly competitive "all star" passing league tournaments.

I have a feeling Colt, as both a son of a coach and a kid in football-crazed Texas who grew up in a big house with financial resources, has received a TON of high-level coaching since he was a toddler.

I'll say something good about McCoy here: His best attributes (other than his nimble feet) are not physical. He isn't big, he doesn't have a lightning quick release, he doesn't have a Rodgers arm, and he doesn't throw Warren Moon's spirals. Basically, he isn't a high-end passer of the football.

His greatest attributes are his mind, his work ethic, his intangibles, his anticipation, and his accuracy (which had been "high end"). Right now, he seems overwhelmed by the pace of the WCO and he's losing the chess game to the DCs who are blitzing the crap out of him... and he's too busy flinching and ducking to learn how to BEAT those blitzes.

But I think he will. Then we'll find out if he can make it work at a high level without high level physical skills. Hell, scouts are already saying that about Barkley and he's an inch taller with a bigger arm.

[Flugel]

Originally Posted by Brown Warrior

QBs seem to be getting it quicker these days. Peter King (EXPERT!!) talked to some GM who said it's because QBs are being professionally trained at the myriad of camps by high-level coaches... starting at about eight years old. They're being taught how to play a "pro style offense" at those camps through their teens and in highly competitive "all star" passing league tournaments.

I have a feeling Colt, as both a son of a coach and a kid in football-crazed Texas who grew up in a big house with financial resources, has received a TON of high-level coaching since he was a toddler.

I'll say something good about McCoy here: His best attributes (other than his nimble feet) are not physical. He isn't big, he doesn't have a lightning quick release, he doesn't have a Rodgers arm, and he doesn't throw Warren Moon's spirals. Basically, he isn't a high-end passer of the football.

His greatest attributes are his mind, his work ethic, his intangibles, his anticipation, and his accuracy (which had been "high end"). Right now, he seems overwhelmed by the pace of the WCO and he's losing the chess game to the DCs who are blitzing the crap out of him... and he's too busy flinching and ducking to learn how to BEAT those blitzes.

But I think he will. Then we'll find out if he can make it work at a high level without high level physical skills. Hell, scouts are already saying that about Barkley and he's an inch taller with a bigger arm.

Shep, I think you made some good points; but 1 thing time won't/can't change is bad teams will continue to draft QBs meaning there's inevitable growing pains ahead for MOST of them.

That list I compiled wasn't tough by any means. ALL Tampa QB were described as disgusting choices inclusive of Steve Young by Tampa media ver to be confused with Peter King. Vinny was the only one not bright enough to get out there at warped speed. That said, I think we witnessed the truest colors for guys like Doug Williams, Steve Young, and Vinny Testaverde. In Dallas, I'm pretty sure the Herschel Walker trade speeded up how quickly they could surround Troy Aikmen with protection from Bounty Ryan's concussion-inducers.

I'd REALLY like to add the speed dimension on the perimeter which is why I researched Julio alot for us 2 months before the combines enhanced his popularity. I'd also LOVE to encorporate more swing passes around/over edge rushers to challenge flats and create a need for secondary to come up off downfield coverages to make tackles. That'll HAVE to loosen things up. We're terrible at screen passes and I think the intrigue of such a pass is getting outdated. The swing pass attacks the flats where our defense just so happens to be most vulnerable every week. It's amazing we can't pick up how intriguing such a pass/concept could be when we see how often it beats our defense on film. It's like we're turning down divine intervention right after we've proclaimed Heaven help us. I can't blame Heaven when we have a film room that's supposed to be an ideal teaching tool and quality improvement process. There's seemingly a TON of very correctable mistakes these guys are repeating.

I NEVER mind when a guy tries and just gets beat physically. When I lose patience is when we get beat mentally like NOT getting out of the huddle vrs a no huddle offense or Licknuts Lauvao decides he wants to do a personal foul at the end of a first down conversion where we march back 15 yards to take the next snap. Another play we had 2 guys moving at the same time to nullify another first down. That doesn't help a young QB trying to find his way in a brand new offense.

[TheBestPlayersPlay]

The question is why is he regressing?

Why is he showing lack of fundamentals when it seemed McCoys fundamentals were rock solid in his rookie season?

Why is McCoy no longer calling audibles at the line like he seemed so fond of doing rookie year?

How does McCoy go from being really good at reading defenses and putting the ball where it's supposed to be, to the opposite of both?

McCoy had to run for his life quite a bit his rookie season too, and it didn't seem to effect him much ....seemed like a tough kid.


I personally think play calling and design are handcuffing the kid to an extent. How about taking the training wheels off, he looked damned good his rookie year calling plays at the line, and more often than not checked into the right call after reading the D.

Does he even have the green light to do that now? Doesn't seem like it.

By the way, have we seen one play action pass all year?

[Brown Warrior]

First, all good questions, BPP.

Second, Tom: The "modern era," say the post rules changes or after 2002, has seen a lot of rookie or 2nd year QBs hitting the ground running... an unprecedented number, really. Dalton and Cam are this year's examples... and even though the numbers aren't great and he's had weak second halves, Gabbert has NOT looked bad or overwhelmed. The team is happy with him and they brought Sims-Walker back to stretch the field and take advantage of his big arm. Now we'll see about Ponder.

BTW, remember "big arm." Alo read somewhere, I think Matt Williamson, that Browns scouts are being told to absolutely consider arm strength and "arm talent"' when scouting QBs this year. Holmgren/Heckert have become convinced that it actually does matter in outdoor stadiums in the AFC North.

That puts Barkley in a jam because he has an average arm... unlike Luck, Jones, Tannehill and Foles, who can seriously wing it.