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The Duke
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Last night on dcfanatic's radio show we talked about what could the coaching staff possibly have seen in Brad Johnson that he is in uniform this year. I thought I'd share with you my opinion last night.
We have now reached analysis paralysis.
In my opinion fans often under rate intelligence in a Quarterback as an intangible. At the same time Coaches over rate it.
Take Brad Johnson, even those of us who dislike him (that would be me) have to admit that he is a smart QB. I am quite sure that the coaches see a lot more of that than we do because they sit in film sessions with him.
Quarterbacks have to go through reads. Pre-snap they need to see how the Defense is lined up and right away find out if there is a mismatch. Is a LB trying to cover a WR because of the Offensive set? That kind of stuff. Then as the ball is snapped the QB has to know who the primary, secondary, tertiary and check down targets are for each play call. It is a lot to know. In a complicated Offense like Jason Garrett's it becomes even more important to the coaches.
So if they see in the film sessions that Brad Johnson is making the proper reads and knows the assignments, it elevates him in their views of his worth.
So you ask, "what about practice? Can't they see in practice that he has no arm?" It is pretty obvious to us in the actual games that he does not. Why is it not noticeable then in practice? Well, part of that is probably that in practice the Defense is not going full out to get to the Quarterback. He's wearing a red jersey which means "don't hit" and the players are going through drills at 75% speed. My theory is that Johnson is going at 100% in practice so to the coaches it looks like he still has more in the tank.
Game time, and he is now 25% too slow for a live Defense. The noodle armed dinosaur we have all come to loathe shows up. Now he does still make pretty decent reads. I can't deny that as I watch him. However, he cannot get the ball downfield so he is in constant check down. This draws the Defense in tighter and a lollipop throw is now a jump ball. Whoever gets the first break to the catch point has the advantage. Even if the WR is there first the ball is traveling slow enough that the DB should be able to make a play on a pretty fair percentage of passes.
Point blank, if the WR is not wide open, that pass is a crap shoot.
There are two types of backup Quarterbacks usually. One is a guy who has unreal physical skills. The other is the smart guy. If you have a smart guy with unreal physical skills he is a star, not a backup. It is very rare that a team will have two Quarterbacks with both attributes at the same time.
What we've been wanting is a backup Quarterback with the unreal physical skills. What the coaching staff wanted was a smart Quarterback who knew the Offense and could take advantage of the weapons we possess on the Offense. What they thought they had in Brad Johnson was an illusion. It was all done with smoke and mirrors. Don't get me wrong, he is a smart guy. But there isn't enough fiber in the world to unclog his arteries and bowels and give him a spring in his step. The man is shot. He has over stayed his welcome.
So the question becomes, why didn't Jerry and Wade do more to add a backup Quarterback this year? Well, they did try to build towards the future as Romo's backup. However, in my not so humble opinion they didn't try hard enough. Why not? Well, I think the answer to that lies in what we have as starters. Along the O-line we had 3 returning Pro Bowlers and 2 solid veterans. Behind them we had an elusive play making Quarterback. I think it never really dawned on them that Tony Romo would get hurt.
Naive? Oh heck yeah it is. No other way to spin it. I didn't want Bollinger and I never wanted Brad Johnson in the first place. I've been wanting us to Draft a Quarterback to groom forever. If they can't draft him, make a trade. The ironic thing is the guy I wanted us to Draft is the guy they've tried twice to trade for, John Beck. I wanted Beck because I felt he was a perfect backup option for this team. He is smart, and though he is not a guy with unreal physical skills, he does have a decent arm and a little mobility.
Miami was overloaded at Quarterback after they traded for FOB Chad Pennington. Going to admit to you openly that when they traded Josh McCown instead of Beck I was shocked. My guess is that McCown raised a bigger stink about the acquisition of Pennington since he had been brought in as the veteran to take this team while the hand picked Parcells future guy, Chad Henne, learned the ropes.
We tried to get Beck again at the trading deadline, but Miami wanted Anthony Henry in the deal. Terence Newman was injured. Adam Jones had just been re-introduced to the NFL gavel. We had two rookies and Alan Ball left if we sent them AH. Jerry balked and we were left stuck with Brad Johnson for this year. In the off season I won't be surprised at all if we go ahead and send them AH for Beck. Their wants may change by then, but you never know. Bowles loved him at Cleveland and he loved him here.
I called this thread "The Psychology of Backup Quarterback" for a reason. This stuff will drive you nuts.
We have now reached analysis paralysis.
In my opinion fans often under rate intelligence in a Quarterback as an intangible. At the same time Coaches over rate it.
Take Brad Johnson, even those of us who dislike him (that would be me) have to admit that he is a smart QB. I am quite sure that the coaches see a lot more of that than we do because they sit in film sessions with him.
Quarterbacks have to go through reads. Pre-snap they need to see how the Defense is lined up and right away find out if there is a mismatch. Is a LB trying to cover a WR because of the Offensive set? That kind of stuff. Then as the ball is snapped the QB has to know who the primary, secondary, tertiary and check down targets are for each play call. It is a lot to know. In a complicated Offense like Jason Garrett's it becomes even more important to the coaches.
So if they see in the film sessions that Brad Johnson is making the proper reads and knows the assignments, it elevates him in their views of his worth.
So you ask, "what about practice? Can't they see in practice that he has no arm?" It is pretty obvious to us in the actual games that he does not. Why is it not noticeable then in practice? Well, part of that is probably that in practice the Defense is not going full out to get to the Quarterback. He's wearing a red jersey which means "don't hit" and the players are going through drills at 75% speed. My theory is that Johnson is going at 100% in practice so to the coaches it looks like he still has more in the tank.
Game time, and he is now 25% too slow for a live Defense. The noodle armed dinosaur we have all come to loathe shows up. Now he does still make pretty decent reads. I can't deny that as I watch him. However, he cannot get the ball downfield so he is in constant check down. This draws the Defense in tighter and a lollipop throw is now a jump ball. Whoever gets the first break to the catch point has the advantage. Even if the WR is there first the ball is traveling slow enough that the DB should be able to make a play on a pretty fair percentage of passes.
Point blank, if the WR is not wide open, that pass is a crap shoot.
There are two types of backup Quarterbacks usually. One is a guy who has unreal physical skills. The other is the smart guy. If you have a smart guy with unreal physical skills he is a star, not a backup. It is very rare that a team will have two Quarterbacks with both attributes at the same time.
What we've been wanting is a backup Quarterback with the unreal physical skills. What the coaching staff wanted was a smart Quarterback who knew the Offense and could take advantage of the weapons we possess on the Offense. What they thought they had in Brad Johnson was an illusion. It was all done with smoke and mirrors. Don't get me wrong, he is a smart guy. But there isn't enough fiber in the world to unclog his arteries and bowels and give him a spring in his step. The man is shot. He has over stayed his welcome.
So the question becomes, why didn't Jerry and Wade do more to add a backup Quarterback this year? Well, they did try to build towards the future as Romo's backup. However, in my not so humble opinion they didn't try hard enough. Why not? Well, I think the answer to that lies in what we have as starters. Along the O-line we had 3 returning Pro Bowlers and 2 solid veterans. Behind them we had an elusive play making Quarterback. I think it never really dawned on them that Tony Romo would get hurt.
Naive? Oh heck yeah it is. No other way to spin it. I didn't want Bollinger and I never wanted Brad Johnson in the first place. I've been wanting us to Draft a Quarterback to groom forever. If they can't draft him, make a trade. The ironic thing is the guy I wanted us to Draft is the guy they've tried twice to trade for, John Beck. I wanted Beck because I felt he was a perfect backup option for this team. He is smart, and though he is not a guy with unreal physical skills, he does have a decent arm and a little mobility.
Miami was overloaded at Quarterback after they traded for FOB Chad Pennington. Going to admit to you openly that when they traded Josh McCown instead of Beck I was shocked. My guess is that McCown raised a bigger stink about the acquisition of Pennington since he had been brought in as the veteran to take this team while the hand picked Parcells future guy, Chad Henne, learned the ropes.
We tried to get Beck again at the trading deadline, but Miami wanted Anthony Henry in the deal. Terence Newman was injured. Adam Jones had just been re-introduced to the NFL gavel. We had two rookies and Alan Ball left if we sent them AH. Jerry balked and we were left stuck with Brad Johnson for this year. In the off season I won't be surprised at all if we go ahead and send them AH for Beck. Their wants may change by then, but you never know. Bowles loved him at Cleveland and he loved him here.
I called this thread "The Psychology of Backup Quarterback" for a reason. This stuff will drive you nuts.
