Football Quarterbacks...How the exceptional became the norm.

MahomesMagic · 11-16-2021, 12:43 PM

In the Throws of Change
As defenses threatened to overwhelm a generation of homogeneous passers, quarterbacks were saved by an evolution, which has sparked a coaching revolution. How the exceptional became the norm.
CONOR ORR

One of the most fascinating developments in modern quarterbacking was uncovered in the dark recesses of football Twitter.

There, quarterback junkies search for an edge in video clips, scanning the slow-motion drop-backs, releases and follow-throughs of the best players in the world, trying to identify the mechanical quirks that lead to the most staggeringly beautiful—and stunningly improbable—throws we see every Sunday.

So it was that the Aaron Rodgers Foot Pop came to be known. Some warm-up footage showed the Packers’ quarterback shooting his lead (left) foot in the air for a split second, then touching it quietly back to Earth just after releasing the ball. At full speed it looks like a bit of an Irish step dance; well-timed photographs of Rodgers in action make it seem as if he is levitating as he passes. But the Foot Pop is actually a biomechanical adaptation by Rodgers to, as one quarterbacking expert says, generate a “buildup of rotational force let out in a quicker timeline for explosive power.” If that’s too much to digest, then simply know this: It was something the likes of which we had never seen, and it unlocked Rodgers’s arm talent in ways no one could conceive.

....

The move went against decades of rigid quarterback instruction demanding that the lead foot be planted securely to ensure an accurate delivery. The Foot Pop even looks different from the traditional throwing motion Rodgers had in 2005, when he entered the NFL. Its effectiveness, however, allowed Green Bay to include imaginative route concepts in its playbook that didn’t exist elsewhere, throws that only Rodgers could make. Study almost any of his biggest passes over the past seven years, and it starts to stand out. After a while it’s like watching a magician so many times that you know how the rabbit is hidden but you can’t help but still be enthralled by the sleight of hand.

....

Some Mahomes stuff and more on why QB play is so much better on average than before.

A small sampling from just the first month of the NFL season:

• Kyler Murray, against the Titans, rolls to his right to evade charging pass rusher Harold Landry and splays both of his legs in the air like a shortstop making a throw from the hole to first base. To generate power while aloft, the top half of Murray’s torso twitches as if it were a rotating sprinkler head. His throw traces a path reminiscent of a screwball’s, zipping just beyond a defender and into the outstretched hands of DeAndre Hopkins, meeting the star receiver in stride in the back of the end zone.

• Lamar Jackson takes a shotgun snap on a third-and-4 and immediately steps up into a crowded pocket to avoid Chiefs pass rusher Chris Jones, crashing from the offense’s right side. Jackson sees an open wide receiver but, unable to stride forward in this platform, instead jumps, putting his left hand on the back of an offensive lineman for support, and hooks his throwing arm as if he’s launching a discus. Marquise Brown catches the ball 25 yards down field and trots in for a 42-yard touchdown.

• Patrick Mahomes, facing the Browns, sprints toward the right sideline, his back, right foot stepping on his own 20-yard line. With his left leg elevated, the violence of his throwing motion torques his head so that, just after the release, he’s looking over his left shoulder. The ball travels 50 yards to the Browns’ 30 and into the arms of Tyreek Hill, who runs the rest of the way for a score.

....

Before a series of beautiful and strange circumstances brought the likes of Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, Mahomes, Josh Allen, Jackson, Murray and Justin Herbert into the football world, the species was threatened. A growing mediocrity had taken hold, with a few well-coached, archetypal pocket passers fighting back a wave of new defenses that threatened to reprise the touchdown-scarce NFL of the 1960s and ’70s.

In the wild, circumstances like these are how a species either reaches extinction or avoids that fate by evolving. “It’s like Jurassic Park—life finds a way, right?” says Shane Campbell-Staton, an assistant professor of evolutionary biology at Princeton. “At the same time, some species are going extinct. They are. But that is also part of evolutionary change.”

Mahomes, like Rodgers, ushered in a new maneuver. It comes on run-pass option (RPO) plays, when the quarterback takes a shotgun snap and presents the ball for a handoff while reading a defender at the linebacker level; if that defender plays the run, the QB pulls the ball back and throws instead. Quarterbacks passing in an RPO used to reset their frame completely

to use a traditional motion and mechanics. Mahomes, however, began making RPO throws with his feet still set up for a handoff, rather than targeted toward the receiver, so that he could get the ball out much faster. Like the Foot Pop, it has become ubiquitous in the NFL.

The quarterback species now had its cultural equivalent to larger toe pads and longer limbs to pass on to future members. Around them, an infrastructure of coaches, agents, trainers and parents began to grapple with the questions necessary to hone the skills for throws that could, regardless of the defense and coverage, still result in a 40-yard touchdown.

What if we let our best athlete play quarterback?
What if we welcomed the volatility that might come along with that?
What if we tried to better understand on-field chaos and found a way to practice it?
What if we questioned the existing knowledge?

“What would have happened if Patrick Mahomes had modeled his game completely after Peyton Manning?” asks Bobby Stroupe, a health, performance and player development coach who works with the K.C. quarterback. “If he tried to stand on his tippy toes and dance around and throw the ball down like a dart, would you even know his name?”

https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/11/16/co...ing-revolution

11-16-2021, 12:43 PM	Topic Starter
MahomesMagic Generational Player Join Date: May 2017 Location: Honolulu Casino cash: $270400	Quarterbacks...How the exceptional became the norm. In the Throws of Change As defenses threatened to overwhelm a generation of homogeneous passers, quarterbacks were saved by an evolution, which has sparked a coaching revolution. How the exceptional became the norm. CONOR ORR One of the most fascinating developments in modern quarterbacking was uncovered in the dark recesses of football Twitter. There, quarterback junkies search for an edge in video clips, scanning the slow-motion drop-backs, releases and follow-throughs of the best players in the world, trying to identify the mechanical quirks that lead to the most staggeringly beautiful—and stunningly improbable—throws we see every Sunday. So it was that the Aaron Rodgers Foot Pop came to be known. Some warm-up footage showed the Packers’ quarterback shooting his lead (left) foot in the air for a split second, then touching it quietly back to Earth just after releasing the ball. At full speed it looks like a bit of an Irish step dance; well-timed photographs of Rodgers in action make it seem as if he is levitating as he passes. But the Foot Pop is actually a biomechanical adaptation by Rodgers to, as one quarterbacking expert says, generate a “buildup of rotational force let out in a quicker timeline for explosive power.” If that’s too much to digest, then simply know this: It was something the likes of which we had never seen, and it unlocked Rodgers’s arm talent in ways no one could conceive. .... The move went against decades of rigid quarterback instruction demanding that the lead foot be planted securely to ensure an accurate delivery. The Foot Pop even looks different from the traditional throwing motion Rodgers had in 2005, when he entered the NFL. Its effectiveness, however, allowed Green Bay to include imaginative route concepts in its playbook that didn’t exist elsewhere, throws that only Rodgers could make. Study almost any of his biggest passes over the past seven years, and it starts to stand out. After a while it’s like watching a magician so many times that you know how the rabbit is hidden but you can’t help but still be enthralled by the sleight of hand. .... Some Mahomes stuff and more on why QB play is so much better on average than before. A small sampling from just the first month of the NFL season: • Kyler Murray, against the Titans, rolls to his right to evade charging pass rusher Harold Landry and splays both of his legs in the air like a shortstop making a throw from the hole to first base. To generate power while aloft, the top half of Murray’s torso twitches as if it were a rotating sprinkler head. His throw traces a path reminiscent of a screwball’s, zipping just beyond a defender and into the outstretched hands of DeAndre Hopkins, meeting the star receiver in stride in the back of the end zone. • Lamar Jackson takes a shotgun snap on a third-and-4 and immediately steps up into a crowded pocket to avoid Chiefs pass rusher Chris Jones, crashing from the offense’s right side. Jackson sees an open wide receiver but, unable to stride forward in this platform, instead jumps, putting his left hand on the back of an offensive lineman for support, and hooks his throwing arm as if he’s launching a discus. Marquise Brown catches the ball 25 yards down field and trots in for a 42-yard touchdown. • Patrick Mahomes, facing the Browns, sprints toward the right sideline, his back, right foot stepping on his own 20-yard line. With his left leg elevated, the violence of his throwing motion torques his head so that, just after the release, he’s looking over his left shoulder. The ball travels 50 yards to the Browns’ 30 and into the arms of Tyreek Hill, who runs the rest of the way for a score. .... Before a series of beautiful and strange circumstances brought the likes of Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, Mahomes, Josh Allen, Jackson, Murray and Justin Herbert into the football world, the species was threatened. A growing mediocrity had taken hold, with a few well-coached, archetypal pocket passers fighting back a wave of new defenses that threatened to reprise the touchdown-scarce NFL of the 1960s and ’70s. In the wild, circumstances like these are how a species either reaches extinction or avoids that fate by evolving. “It’s like Jurassic Park—life finds a way, right?” says Shane Campbell-Staton, an assistant professor of evolutionary biology at Princeton. “At the same time, some species are going extinct. They are. But that is also part of evolutionary change.” Mahomes, like Rodgers, ushered in a new maneuver. It comes on run-pass option (RPO) plays, when the quarterback takes a shotgun snap and presents the ball for a handoff while reading a defender at the linebacker level; if that defender plays the run, the QB pulls the ball back and throws instead. Quarterbacks passing in an RPO used to reset their frame completely to use a traditional motion and mechanics. Mahomes, however, began making RPO throws with his feet still set up for a handoff, rather than targeted toward the receiver, so that he could get the ball out much faster. Like the Foot Pop, it has become ubiquitous in the NFL. The quarterback species now had its cultural equivalent to larger toe pads and longer limbs to pass on to future members. Around them, an infrastructure of coaches, agents, trainers and parents began to grapple with the questions necessary to hone the skills for throws that could, regardless of the defense and coverage, still result in a 40-yard touchdown. What if we let our best athlete play quarterback? What if we welcomed the volatility that might come along with that? What if we tried to better understand on-field chaos and found a way to practice it? What if we questioned the existing knowledge? “What would have happened if Patrick Mahomes had modeled his game completely after Peyton Manning?” asks Bobby Stroupe, a health, performance and player development coach who works with the K.C. quarterback. “If he tried to stand on his tippy toes and dance around and throw the ball down like a dart, would you even know his name?” https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/11/16/co...ing-revolution
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