Posts tagged Greg Cosell on Bridgewater

Reads Listens Views 4/25/2014

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Weebles wobble, but they don't fall down. Photo by Fraser Elliot.
Weebles wobble, but they don’t fall down. Photo by Fraser Elliot.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the Wobble Masters and Teddy Bridgewater, Donny Hathaway, and a good daddy.

What is Reads Listens Views?

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Listens/Views

[youtube=http://youtu.be/KEeBPSvcNZQ?start=3689]

Neil deGrasse Tyson was asked about Harvard President Lawrence Summers’ comments about genetic differences with men and women in science and gave a compelling answer about race in America. A great listen that only takes a few minutes.

 Opinion

I read Greg Cosell’s take on Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles two days ago and there were two things that surprised me about Cosell’s views. The first was this quote:

Bridgewater doesn’t spin it very well; too many passes came out wobbly. If you don’t think that’s a concern for NFL coaches, then you are not watching the NFL.

I watch the NFL. In fact, I watch this guy a lot who has been known for his wobbly throws since his days as a Volunteer.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/1aq_VzigxHo]

This guy that Cosell has great affection for as one of the best pocket passers in the game. A guy, whose wobbly passes in the video below are harder to see here, but the Boston Globe’s beat reporter seemed to have no problem seeing them (or dozens of fans and writers and Twitter) all season when in January, he said that “Rivers hasn’t thrown a perfect spiral in forever…”

[youtube=http://youtu.be/-wMEVeiYl28&start=74]

Here’s a guy who threw flocks of baby ducks interspersed with some aesthetically beautiful passes throughout his MVP career.

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Xau9mcAXhz4&start=300]

And I grew up on this guy who said “I’ve never been a guy who threw a tight spiral. Everyone who plays with me says I throw a tight wobble, not a tight spiral.”

[youtube=http://youtu.be/nkKHj7TmJt0]

And if you think he’s kidding, here’s another quote from Joe Montana talking about his wobbly passes.

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s no question that a tight spiral is preferable on a deep ball.  And I’m not attacking Greg Cosell, who is a fine analyst of the game–I’m questioning his points.

Cosell is an aesthete when it comes to quarterbacking. While it’s a fantastic quality to possess and it comes from three decades of experience studying football, there’s a degree of nitpicking with the wobbly pass analysis.

In light of Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Steve McNair, and Joe Montana’s work, I think his inference  if you don’t agree with me then you aren’t watching football is melodramatic.

I also have questions about what Cosell means when he  says Bridgewater and Bortles can be starters, but not “top quarterbacks” if they don’t improve their deep game. I don’t know what his definition is for a “top quarterback.”  Is it a handful of passers or half the starters in the league?

If it’s the latter, I could find more NFL successful quarterbacks who throw wobbly deep balls as supporting evidence–and I don’t have to go back to Billy Kilmer’s era to do it–but I want to address the second piece of this analysis of Bortles and Bridgewater that runs counter to what I’ve seen on film.

Cosell says Bridgewater “had to put a lot of body into those [deep] throws; as a result, he struggled with trajectory and accuracy.” In contrast, he said, “Bortles will improve his lower body mechanics with more coaching and more refinement.”

Did Bridgewater “put everything” into this throw that covered 48 yards from the line of scrimmage and 56 yards from his release point?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZzmXxB64ec&w=560&h=315]

I don’t see an overcompensation to drive the ball. If anything, there wasn’t enough use of his legs to drive through the pass.

TBDeep

On the other hand, I see Bortles putting far more into his throws to deliver a downfield pass. This one is a 34-yard throw from the opposite hash covering 43 yards from the release point.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6JLz-M9E8E&start=380w=560&h=315]

In fact there are numerous opposite hash throws in the short and intermediate range where Bortles wheels his entire body through his release with the hope of generating momentum.

BortlesDee

 

When I watch Bridgewater, I see a player who had smaller adjustments to make with his throwing motion than Bortles to deliver a ball with greater velocity. If I’m right, add it to the list of reasons why people are grossly underestimating Bridgewater. If I’m wrong, this will be another learning opportunity for me with quarterback mechanics

Listens

[youtube=http://youtu.be/9eotl7otdlo]

Thanks, Bloom . . .

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In Case You Missed It/Coming Soon

Reads (Football)

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Views

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Bpu0TIXzI1w]
This dad clearly knows how to talk to his kid like a human being in an age-appropriate manner that’s not condescending. Also, he obviously spends a lot of time with her. Great video.