Taming Josh Allen’s arm: How mechanical tweaks are setting the Bills QB up for an improved 3rd year

[Straight Hucklebuck]

Mechanics?

 

Let’s call up Gailey’s favorite David Lee, maybe we can get Scott Van Pelt.

 

[Troll Toll]

It was a fun article. 

[BarleyNY]

16 hours ago, Bruce Harper said:

I have to say that I am extremely skeptical of these types of articles.  I remember almost every off season there would be some article int he New York papers about how Chad Pennington and his coaches had found some way to make his arm stronger.  It never happened, of course.

That’s the big risk associated with QBs who need to make a substantial mechanical improvement.  There’s a huge payoff if it happens, but it usually doesn’t.  Fixing a throwing motion is like fixing a golf swing - except that a bunch of 265 pound men are trying to destroy you and you only have 2.5 seconds to look at the fairway and take your swing before that happens.  Pennington got destroyed physically before he improved enough.  I didn’t watch his career closely enough to be able to tell how he was handled by the Jest so I don’t know if they ruined him or if he didn’t have a chance. 
 

The weird thing will Allen is that he was such a mess mechanically, but did better than expected with that considered.  So what happens if his mechanics don’t ever get “fixed” but get improved somewhat.  Where does he land performance-wise with that?  With everything else he can do, will that be good enough?  I just hope we have football this year and can find out. 

[Penfield45]

we will see what happens

 

there is a reason most big armed athletic project QB's never amount to anything in the NFL, and the more accurate smaller QB's are the ones with all the success. next season is make or break for Josh. 

[Shaw66]

8 minutes ago, Penfield45 said:

we will see what happens

 

there is a reason most big armed athletic project QB's never amount to anything in the NFL, and the more accurate smaller QB's are the ones with all the success. next season is make or break for Josh. 

Yes there is a reason, and that reason is between their ears.  

[Mr. WEO]

7 hours ago, Sherlock Holmes said:

?

?

 

Man, WEO you are really starting to get me hot and bothered lately

 

I'm here to help...

[eball]

11 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I hate to be the party pooper here, but I think this article is a lot of wind that doesn't add up to much at all.  

 

Bottom line, I think Josh Allen's future is all about his ability to read and understand defenses and make decisions.  If his mechanics never improve at all, he's still going to be one of the best throwers in the league, and if his understanding and decision making improve, as they should, he will have a great career. 

 

First of all, this guy does not have a coherent theory of what Allen has to do to "correct" his mechanics.   The article is all over the place.  At one point it quotes one expert who says mechanics start with the feet and work through the thighs, hips and body to the arm.  At another point he quotes an expert who says it's all about the head down.  Well, which is it?  At various points in the article it says his stance is too wide, his feet aren't lined up correctly, his footwork isn't right, his left arm isn't tucked.  It goes on and on.  Have you ever watched the guy throw?  He's a great thrower.  Great.  Right now he throws better than most QBs in the league.  The article makes it sound like every aspect of his throwing motion needs to be rebuilt.   It's nonsense.

 

Now, I understand that at this level, coaches work with QBs on little aspects of their mechanics.  I get it. I have no doubt they work with Allen on one thing or another, but Josh Allen is not some kind of rebuilding project. 

 

Now's when someone chimes in and says, "well, if he fixed his footwork, he'd be more accurate, and if he's more accurate he'd get more yards after catch" or my personal favorite "he'd throw more receivers open."   Please.  Just give him time to develop into a better decision maker.

 

Look at the stats.  He had an 85 passer rating.  If he completed two passes a game more for 6.7 yards per pass (that was his average last season, he'd have a 93 passer rating and he'd be 12th in league, with Matt Ryan, Carson Wentz and Aaron Rodgers and on the heels of DeShaun Watson.   He can complete two more passes a game just by understanding that checking down is the right throw.   He might complete two more passes a game just by having Stephon Diggs on the field.  When he's really learned to read defenses and made decisions, he's going to complete five more passes a game, his passer rating will be 104 and he's solidly in the top 10 in the league. 

 

 Sure, Palmer and others are working with him on mechanics, just as someone pointed out they still work with Rodgers.  And they work with Brady.  They always work on mechanics, with every quarterback.   But that work doesn't make big changes in a QB.  That work results in a better throw once in a while.  Allen came into the league a better thrower than Rodgers or Brady.  The mechanical improvements Allen will make pale in comparison to what football maturity is going to do for his game. 

 

I had to quote the entire thing because it should be read over and over.  Kudos, sir.

[hemma]

His 'coachability', undeniable work ethic + arm talent are special.

 

Please stay healthy.

[IDBillzFan]

1 hour ago, Shaw66 said:

Yes there is a reason, and that reason is between their ears.  

 

And while Allen has things to work on, the 'between the ears' issue is not one of them, in my opinion. 

[ILBillsfan]

really good article and seeing the improvements that have been made.  look forward to many more years of Josh as he has shown improvement every year and I do not expect to see anything less moving forward

[JESSEFEFFER]

19 hours ago, Rc2catch said:

Fantastic article.. 
I don’t worry about the completion % much even though it’s harped on like crazy by a select few on here. He doesn’t check down, which we’ve seen articles about now. Couple check downs a game and his completion % would go up a ton. He’s a raw kid who absolutely loves the big plays so I’ve accepted ignoring some dump offs. 
If there is one Improvment I want to see this season it would be dumping off to singletary in space more. Allen has MVP potential and I don’t see any reasons outside of injuries he can’t jump into the Lamar/Mahomes/Wilson category in the future. 

 

I agree with what you posted.  Imo, Josh's accuracy problem(s) is/are overstated by many who still cling to their predraft evaluations of him.  It's the go to explanation for lazy analysts for every errant throw he makes to the point where it becomes irritatingly tired.   See the thread about Cian Fahey's video of Josh's "bad" throws where over half were tipped balls or his arm being hit mid throw.   He completed 62.1% in the 8 road games and only 54.9% at home.  Why is that?  The Ravens, Pats and the very windy Eagles game are my first thoughts.  

 

He generally attempts tougher throws than most, often while on the move outside the pocket and was in a "go route" slump for most of the year until he began hitting some starting with the Broncos game.  He plays home games in a place where passers and kickers often face extra challenges related to the weather.  His power arm results in more drops just because the pass catcher has less time to adjust and the ball is tougher to secure.  It probably hurts more to catch.

 

His scramble runs can be a more productive choice than a checkdown pass attempt as long as he protects himself and the ball.

 

Yes, he should acknowledge his deficiencies both physical and mental processing, fine tune and tweak, and become the best version of Josh Allen/Buffalo Bills QB he can be.  His completion % will go up but only part of that will be due to improved accuracy. 

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, IDBillzFan said:

 

And while Allen has things to work on, the 'between the ears' issue is not one of them, in my opinion. 

If by "between the ears" you mean attitude, I agree completely.  Josh has the right attitude.

 

If by "between the ears" you mean brains, I agree completely.  Josh has the brains.

 

But a junior high schooler with attitude and brains still isn't an astrophysicist. The brains and attitude have to be applied to fill his head with calculus and the theory of relativity and lot of other stuff before he becomes what attitude and brains can help him become. 

 

Josh is working on becoming an astrophysicist, and that growth is what is going to make him great, not getting his left elbow under control. 

[Buffalo716]

7 hours ago, BillsFan17 said:

There was so much more to the article than just fixing his footwork.

Basically The whole article was all about mechanical deficiencies which everybody knows Allen has

 

I mean the main talking points were, footwork, left hand tighter , and head control.   All mechanical things in the body

 

It's nothing new in football 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by Buffalo716

[BillsFan17]

3 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

Basically The whole article was all about mechanical deficiencies which everybody knows Allen has

 

I mean the main talking points were, footwork, left hand tighter , and head control.   All mechanical things in the body

 

It's nothing new in football 

 

 

Sure it is nothing new, but having the nuances of how to correct those deficiencies was very informative. If it was so cut and dry than why would hall of fame level QBs be seeking out approaches to correct/improve their craft?

[Buffalo716]

24 minutes ago, BillsFan17 said:

Sure it is nothing new, but having the nuances of how to correct those deficiencies was very informative. If it was so cut and dry than why would hall of fame level QBs be seeking out approaches to correct/improve their craft?

Of course it can only help a quarterback. Fundamentals are always key

 

And that's why there are coaches because even Tom Brady needs someone giving him structure and advice

 

As for the article, for A modern piece of football writing it's solid but its nothing that any high School coach wouldn't know

[YoloinOhio]

I mean ... on one hand 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by YoloinOhio

[bills11]

Good Read...what I took from the article I already knew..Josh has a solid foundation to build on he's not the first or last qb to come out with erratic footwork or arm slots watch mahomes in college his footwork was atrocious  .... ....the mechanical tweaking is really something all qbs go through..his mechanics will become more consistent with repetition and mastery of the mental aspects of being a qb. Josh's mechanics often fall apart because he doesn't trust what he sees completely yet...and the protection around him hasn't been ideal ..when he knows what he's doing pre snap and trusts where he's going with the football which will happen his true accuracy will go up and so will his completion percentage...he's already made great strides..

[Thurman#1]

On 6/19/2020 at 7:00 AM, zonabb said:

I rarely take time to read any article online, I get what I can from the radio in spurts and here, of course. But this article's first sentence exemplifies how little skill it takes these days to have a bad opinion, soaked in hyperbole of course. Instead of letting data and facts guide analysis, which should be the course taken, this guy's first sentence can only spell a piece of garbage article. So here is it:

 

Of all the quarterbacks who have come out of the NFL Draft over the last few years, none had more work to do than Josh Allen. 

 

So this guy wants me, and others I assume, to read an article about Allen with a first sentence that employs hyperbole and overstated to drum up interest. So of ALL the quarterbacks, he needs the most work? Making this idiotic statement a first year journalism student would get slayed for even worse, he makes this bold (and incorrect) statement with a temporally vague argument. "...the last few years"? Way to nail it down. 

 

So no I didn't read it because I can't lend any credence to this kind of sloppy, sophomoric, lazy, writing.  

 

This is the era we are in... overstatement and sensationalize. But all that does is undercut your credibility and show your lack of skill.

 

The sentence would be better as follows;

Of all the QBs to come out of the NFL Draft since Josh Allen's draft year, he was undoubtedly one of the QBs with the most work to do, especially given his high draft position.

 

Here's a sampling of scrubs taken just in Allen's draft year:.... tell me "none [of them] had more work to do than Allen"

 

Luke Falk (out of league)

Tanner Lee (out of the league)

Daniel Etling

Alex McGough

Logan Woodside

 

Good lord reporting and journalism is lost, destroyed by the "I am right if I yell louder than you" or have a hotter take than you. 

 

 

 

Yeah, disappointing when the first sentence goes so far off course in terms of hyperbole and garbage. Much better when they get all the way to the second sentence before the nonsense starts, as you did.

Edited June 20, 2020 by Thurman#1

[Shaw66]

4 minutes ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Yeah, disappointing when the first sentence goes so far off course in terms of hyperbole and garbage. Much better when they get all the way to the second sentence before the nonsense starts, as you did.

LOL funny!   That's great. 

 

That post was such a total head scratcher, I didn't know how to respond. Glad you found a way. 

[CEN-CAL17]

I don’t believe in this stuff all that much.... yes you have to have a good base, feet set when you throw, all that stuff....

 

But watch how Marino, Kelly, Aikman and all those guys from the 80s dropped back in the pocket, it was basically a back pedal to get depth. Just set your feet and throw. 
 

I just think some QBs are more naturally gifted and can throw accurately regardless of setup....or biomechanics