QB Guru's

Submitted by swoosh on

Not a QB guy, but can someone who is talk about Speight throwing mechanics.  I am wondering if it is Speights mechanics that cause him to "sail" the ball high and over throw his fades.  

On his long balls they tend to have a lot of hang time, even his TD pass I thought the defender was going to get back to the ball.

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PapabearBlue

September 3rd, 2017 at 9:17 AM ^

He just seemed too excited. I almost think Harbaugh sat him for those drives just to get him to chill out.

Joined: 07/19/2011

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A2toGVSU

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:18 AM ^

Have always been a little wonky. He's past the point where you can really overhaul his mechanics, though. He's shown the ability to be an excellent passer despite the mechanics. On the Black TD, you dont want to lead a guy who is that wide open. He threw it to the middle of the end zone and let the reciever track it. I'm fine with that when the guy is that wide open. I think the first pick 6 rattled him a bit. It wasnt his fault (Crawford needs to make that catch), but Speight got way too amped up to get back out there and score and his next pass sailed over Perry for the second pick 6. After sitting for a couple drives, I think his only thought was "dont turn it over" and you saw 3 or 4 fades in the second half that took the receiver completely out of bounds. Better for no one to catch the pass than for the defense to have a shot. He also had the seam route to Perry. That was an NFL throw. Overall, there were some worrying signs from Speight. I want my veteran quarterback to shrug off a mistake and not let bad things snowball throughout a game. He's still the best QB we have. He has shown the ability to be great when things are going well for him. I need to see him keep control when things dont go well.

Joined: 09/30/2009

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UMForLife

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:50 AM ^

This is a great take. I saw the same. He looked like he was playing safe. He alluded to that in his post game. The play calls in the second half tells me it was all very conservative. Well, at least I want to believe it. It means he can improve quite a bit.

Joined: 11/04/2013

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Zeke21

September 3rd, 2017 at 12:24 PM ^

I think Speight makes himself small with his mechanics.  When he stands tall steps in and delivers he is fine.  But yes, he needs to settle down, do his thing and be more Griese like and manage this team.  With our defense if we don't beat ourselves, we will be tough to beat. 

Joined: 12/20/2016

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Mr. Yost

September 3rd, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^

I'm not a QB guru but for me it's his footwork. You can just watch him and see the result of his throws when he steps in and does what he's coached to do versus when his feet aren't set.

I'd be interested to know about his throwing mechanics as well.

And it's not when a play breaks down, because there's still proper footwork for throwing on the run. I'm just saying when he's clean to go through the footwork mechanics he seems like he's good to great Speight. When his feet are all wonky and he throws with all arm it's like an arm punt.

Prime example was when he made that BEAUTIFUL check at the line to get a WIDE open touchdown...he gets the snap and just stands up and slings it to a spot. That spot is 3 yards out of bounds over his WRs head.

Joined: 07/25/2011

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Term

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:27 AM ^

Sometimes it seems that instead of REALLY stepping into his throws, he kinda just raises and plants his left foot, and instead of pivoting on his right leg and bringing it around his hips, he almost hops and brings that back foot to the same level (so his shoulders are square to the target instead of rotating his whole upper body). That would definitely cause the ball to sail on him. I've seen and coached alot of qbs who have a problem rotating their whole body around because they think they can throw with 'all arm', even though it's really your legs and hip rotation where you get your power from

Joined: 01/05/2012

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Double-D

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^

fully step into his throw. You can see it a bit on the TD throw. I think he was late on that toss and it was a pretty long ball to get there. The miss on the wheel route was just a pants crapper. Once again we saw his ability to buy time in the pocket and pick up yards with his feet if the defense gives it up. He has some things to work on. I think he's going to have a good year.

Joined: 12/21/2013

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bcnihao

September 3rd, 2017 at 11:09 AM ^

I agree with your notes about the TD throw, and about what should have been a TD throw to Crawford.  My point was that he didn't have pressure in his face during the two pick-6 throws.  (There was a defender who was coming in unblocked late on the second one of those, but Speight was far enough away from him that he didn't have to rush that throw.)

Joined: 10/05/2015

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corundum

September 3rd, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^

The first pick was a good throw in my opinion, just a bit high. He put it in a toght window and Crawford needs to come down with that. The second pick was a terrible throw and caused because he abandoned his arm mechanics to pull down quickly so he wouldn't get laid out with is throwing arm extended. He also couldn't step into his throw. He either has to eat the sack or put the ball low and outside. He still tries to make the perfect pass every time, much like Rudock in the first half of 2015. Sometimes you just have to put the ball right on the numbers when the WR is so open, that or just toss a marshmallow that you know your guy can get under. He can't throw the fade so those plays need to be straight up eliminated until he figures it out, those are down wasters. The deep TD to Black was way late and would have been broken up if the coverage wasn't a total bust. The deep ball to Eubanks was his best throw of the night. O'Korn's bomb to Black was a thing of beauty, hopefully he can continue to work on his pocket presence in case he's needed this season.

Joined: 05/10/2012

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corundum

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:08 AM ^

It was more late than underthrown. Black had already been open for ten yards when it was thrown and he literally had to stop in the end zone and wait for it. If Speight put much more on it then we'd be counting it as another overthrow out of bounds.

Joined: 05/10/2012

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sum1valiant

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:03 AM ^

Some things aren't "fixable". A good portion of our fanbase expects our QB to be able to make every throw, make every right decision, and lead the team to perfection. Harbaugh has found his guy, will continue developing him, and some mistakes will happen. Bottom line is we have a career 60% passer with a 2:1 td:int that just started his 13th career game. It's a safe assumption that he will continue to improve under Harbaugh.

Joined: 09/01/2009

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AA Forever

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:09 AM ^

We don't expect a 100% completion rate with no INTs. That's just dopey to even claim that. We do expect that a QB that has been coached up for three years should be able to hit easy throws at a very high percentage and avoid throwing multiple INTs in every tough game. And here's the thing-when your QB is no threat as a runner, 60% completion rate and 2:1 TD to INT ratio is not good enough. Not even close, not in today's game. Not if we want to win games that really matter, and win championships.

Joined: 08/14/2016

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Don

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:43 AM ^

Yep. God knows Lloyd Carr completely failed to coach up this other QB who in his third season compiled a craptastic stat line of 61.1%, 15 TDs and 12 INTs. Guy was obviously a loser with no real skills who should have been benched, and Carr just failed to coach him up.

 

Joined: 06/30/2008

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sum1valiant

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:50 AM ^

"Not if we want to win games that really matter"? how quickly we forget that he was 21/34 for 190 w/ 1td and 0 ints against a PSU team that finished in the top 10 last year. Or 20/32 for 220 w/ 1 td and 1 int against a top 10 Wisconsin team. You also curiously mentioned Colorado, where he went 16/30 for 230 with a 1td and 0 ints. That's three games against top 25 competition where he did plenty to win the game, and once again, he just started his 13th career game.

Joined: 09/01/2009

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Crootin

September 3rd, 2017 at 11:06 AM ^

the Wisconsin game is actually similar to the Florida game in some ways. we dominated but couldn't put them away due to Speight overthrowing sure TDs. Funny that you're using that as an example of Speight playing well. we settled for three FG attempts (which we missed). not finishing drives or putting away a team that was beat. That's partially how we lost to Iowa and OSU too

Joined: 02/15/2016

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sum1valiant

September 3rd, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^

So what's your solution, other than hoping Speight continues to develop? O'korn hasn't looked better according to the coach (whom I trust more than anyone on this blog), the young bucs aren't ready, and Henne's out of eligibilty. The armchair QB's sure come out in full force on Sunday mornings. According to a few on here, there's no reason to play the rest of the schedule as we're completely incapable of beating anyone with a pulse with Speight running the show (other than the top 25 team that we beat yesterday, of course).

Joined: 09/01/2009

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bamf16

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:14 AM ^

True. But I'm not sure how much needs to be "fixed" by a coach.

 

Speight's 2nd down pass to Perry on the first drive of the second half was an NFL throw. Speight has the ability; he needs to develop the consistency. Unfortunately for all of us who trust Harbaugh more than Speight, tha'ts not necessarily a "coaching fix."

 

Sometimes it's mechanics, sometimes it's just player execution, though yesterday we saw a bit of both.

Joined: 01/05/2014

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jabberwock

September 3rd, 2017 at 9:29 AM ^

footwork, arm strength, ? but yes, his long balls are thrown WAY TOO HIGH and take FOREVER to get to their recievers.

It's like he's trying to hit the ceiling when he throws and they are either overthrows, or the receiver has to wait, wait, . . . wait.

He's been doing it his whole carrer but I'm clueless as to why he throiws like that.

Joined: 07/04/2008

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Texagander

September 3rd, 2017 at 9:31 AM ^

I rewatched this morning and he missed each one. With these receivers if he can get that fixed we will be dangerous. At least he has 3 bye weeks to work on it.

Joined: 03/30/2014

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Fieldy'sNuts

September 3rd, 2017 at 9:53 AM ^

He also missed an open Tarik Black on the fade that Crawford caught out if bounds. Black and Crawford ran a crossing route and Black had two steps of his defender right over the middle. Would have been the easiest 6 of the game for Wilton.

Joined: 09/01/2016

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DairyQueen

September 3rd, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^

The upside is that on all 3 endzone overthrows (and 1 or 2 sideline attempts too), the targeted WRs made text-book toe drag catch attempts. It was actually a thing of beauty, especially for true freshman and true sophomore.

No joke our WRs really looked quite amazing.

And for what it's worth, during the 1st game of 2016, when I saw Devin Bush first play, I said that he's the closest thing we have to another Jabrill Peppers. And if you look at his measurement times, he specs out as just a hair under his physical abilities. Of course, Jabrill has a football IQ of 100%, but Bush is a beast.

What I'm trying to say is, I'm right about the freshman wide-receivers, they will be awesome.

This is all about me

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