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The Ringer article on the continued ascendency of the mobile NFL Quarterback


Sierra Foothills

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18 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

First of all, if you like good writing, good journalism, and a modern perspective on analytics... but don't like paying for it you should bookmark and regularly visit The Ringer. This is Bill Simmons' newest sports and pop culture website and the successor to the now-defunct "Grantland." As I said, it's free.

 

https://www.theringer.com

 

Today's edition had an excellent article that specifically addressed the Indy/Matt Ryan situation but more broadly addressed the continued ascendency of the mobile NFL quarterback.

 

https://www.theringer.com/nfl/2022/10/25/23422203/indianapolis-colts-sam-ehlinger-matt-ryan-scrambling

 

The Simple Math Behind the Colts’ Decision to Turn to Sam Ehlinger:

Benching Matt Ryan isn’t about trying to find a better passer—it’s about trying to find a better runner. Indianapolis looks poised to show us the true value of a quarterback who can escape pressure and scramble.

 

"This is related to, but not completely the same as, the league’s move toward mobile quarterbacks in the past decade. After spending the 2000s chasing cerebral, statuesque quarterbacks in the Peyton Manning–Tom Brady mold, the NFL started to find competitive edges with dual-threat quarterbacks such as Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III, and expanded on those edges with Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and others. In 2022, it’s known that the league’s elite quarterbacks—Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen—can beat you with their arms, no problem. But if you somehow manage to quiet them in the air, they’ll just beat you with their legs instead." .

 

"Consider a quarterback with little to no scramble ability at all. Quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo, Davis Mills, and Matt Ryan. When they are pressured, they are almost certainly not going to try to break the pocket. Instead, they’ll throw the ball away or take a sack—or attempt a pass, but one that is far more likely to be inaccurate. No matter what, it’s a win for the defense, and we can see it in the performance of these stationary passers. With pressure, Brady falls from 17th in EPA per dropback to 31st; Garoppolo from third to 32nd. (Houston QB Davis Mills weirdly goes from 33rd in EPA per dropback without pressure to 12th with pressure. Don’t ask me what’s going on there. I have no idea.) But most importantly for our conversation today: Matt Ryan falls from 11th to 33rd."

 

There's some additional discussion of case studies like Jalen Hurts and Daniel Jones and then some analytics thrown in for good measure.

 

It's a pretty good read.

 

I'm guessing the $17.5 million in injury guarantees they would be on the hook for if Matt Ryan isn't healthy enough to cut him come Day 3 of the next league year played a lot more into that decision than Ehlinger's mobility.

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19 hours ago, Coffeesforclosers said:

Back in the day, teams got a lot more practice time in the off-season. Successive CBAs have chopped back the number of practices and the number of padded practices.

 

There arent many workforces that get better with less training and less experience. 

 

I think Olines and QBs should get an extended training camp. Like pitchers and catchers. That should help. 


They should attempt to have more practices in the off-season. I get that players have wear and tear on their bodies but the decline in quality of play needs to be addressed by the league in some capacity. Even if it is just the addition of some workouts and film study getting players together more in the off-season will only help.

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11 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

I'm guessing the $17.5 million in injury guarantees they would be on the hook for if Matt Ryan isn't healthy enough to cut him come Day 3 of the next league year played a lot more into that decision than Ehlinger's mobility.

 

Disagree.

 

Matt Ryan would still be starting if he were playing well and the Colts were winning.

 

It was Ryan's poor play that made the injury risk intolerable.

 

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14 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I'd rather be a team with a Justin Fields than a Mac Jones/Bailey Zappe. The Bears need to inquire if Jordan Palmer can take on another student.

 

Fields work with Quincy Avery who has as much of a track record (Watson, Hurts) as Palmer does.. 

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Early in his career, Elway ran too. 

 

I was at the Bills-Eagles game, sitting in the end zone where Randall Cunningham, with eyes in the back of his head, ducked Bruce's sure safety and threw a 95 yard touchdown. Cunningham was awesome. He's still a top 10 all-time *rusher* for the Eagles. And he should have had a Super Bowl in Randy Moss' rookie year, when the Vikings went 15-1. They scored 556 points in 16 games!

 

Still I'd say Steve Young was the one who combined running and passing the best in regular season and playoffs, before Allen and Mahomes.

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20 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

 

check downs...

 

Tampa has ZERO running game and almost every one of their offensive yards is Brady throwing short passes. Brady got his yards even last week in a 21-3 loss, but no TDs

 

Between FA and injuries they are a shell of their previous oline.  Same with the rams.  It gets better over the year as the new guys seem to gel so those are a couple teams that i think improve in the NFC as the season progresses.  

20 hours ago, TheFunPolice said:

 

check downs...

 

Tampa has ZERO running game and almost every one of their offensive yards is Brady throwing short passes. Brady got his yards even last week in a 21-3 loss, but no TDs

 

Between FA and injuries they are a shell of their previous oline.  Same with the rams.  It gets better over the year as the new guys seem to gel so those are a couple teams that i think improve in the NFC as the season progresses.  

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It is a misnomer to assume it is all about the QB running these days.

 

That's a part of it, but make no mistake, ALL of the top quarterbacks, most of whom are mobile, are first and foremost very good passers.


The one who isn't IMO, is the weakest overall QB of the bunch, despite being the best runner: Lamar Jackson.

 

You have to not only be able to throw in this league to be a top QB, you have to do it exceptionally well.

 

 

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28 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

It is a misnomer to assume it is all about the QB running these days.

 

That's a part of it, but make no mistake, ALL of the top quarterbacks, most of whom are mobile, are first and foremost very good passers.


The one who isn't IMO, is the weakest overall QB of the bunch, despite being the best runner: Lamar Jackson.

 

You have to not only be able to throw in this league to be a top QB, you have to do it exceptionally well.

 

 

Jalen Hurts is an improved passer this year.  He’s not, first and foremost a very good passer.  Definitely first and foremost a very good runner. 
 

He may very well be a very good passer now….but it’s secondary to his run ability which was the reason he was drafted. Which makes it, first and foremost

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