Foles impact on dropped passes

[rking4441]

yea Bradford's definitely accurate but most of the time he's got one speed.. missile

that throw to Matthews last night to end the game was a perfect example

That didn't hurt either Farve or A-Rod who both throw with a lot of velocity. Odd to blame the QB for putting the ball right in the WR hands. I do think that at time touch is needed but to say Bradford doesn't have touch is crazy. And his accuracy is much better than Foles. I do think that Foles has the advantage of having a much better and mature WR corp then Bradford ever did. I also think Foles is the right guy for the job, everyone liked Bradford but were they inspired by him? Maybe I am not qualified to answer that question but I do see a change in attitude on this team and some of that I attribute to Foles more vocal rah rah attitude.

 

[Merlin]

There have been plenty of QBs who throw a heavy ball that have excelled in this league. Look at Elway. IMO that's just barkin up the wrong tree in explaining the difference.

I think it comes down to inspiring the players around you. Basic leadership. From day one Foles was taking the guys aside and discussing corrections, communications, etc. The players responded to him in a clear and undeniable manner. Cook of course was the most vocal but he wasn't the only one and in that first game he looked like a different player and once again he was not the only one. Great plays from guys were all over the place as the offensive players raised the bar as an entire group to get that win in a massive deviation from what we are used to.

To me it is not a surprise that energizing your teammates like that can translate into significantly better production on the field. Here's hoping we see more of it vs the Redskins.

 

[Dodgersrf]

It was in the air 20 yards at least, if you can't catch that, you shouldn't be an NFL receiver. People here are the only one's blaming the loss, and throw on Sam.

You never ask the talent around you to dumb it down. You ask the talent around a talented player to step it up. No different than coaching a baseball player with a great arm. You don't ask your shortstop or pitcher to slow it down, so the 1st baseman, or catcher, can catch the freaking ball. A screen, or a little dink, a totally different theory.

I'm with you on this.
However. There were times when I wish Sam would put a little more air under the ball. Mostly on fades to the back of the EZ.

 

[rams2050]

Yeah, but I would like to know how many passes Foles had batted down in comparison with Sam. Just this last game.

To me, that was always the worst deal-breaker: batted-down passes. I mean, come on: You're 6'5", for goodness' sakes, can't you loft the ball OVER those guys' heads?

 

[Afro Ram]

I can honestly say I didn't see Foles drop one pass

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

It was in the air 20 yards at least, if you can't catch that, you shouldn't be an NFL receiver. People here are the only one's blaming the loss, and throw on Sam.

You never ask the talent around you to dumb it down. You ask the talent around a talented player to step it up. No different than coaching a baseball player with a great arm. You don't ask your shortstop or pitcher to slow it down, so the 1st baseman, or catcher, can catch the freaking ball. A screen, or a little dink, a totally different theory.

In baseball players wear gloves and you want pitchers to throw a hundred miles an hour. However if a shortstop is five feet from the second basemen he should flip the ball to them and not rifle it.

In football and baseball there are times to throw hard and times to throw soft. Aaron Rodgers throws passes accurately and with touch. Throwing bullets with every pass is not actually preferred. Especially on short throws, which Bradford did most of the time.

 

[yrba1]

Foles puts a nice touch in his throws while Bradford throws bullets. I expect more turnovers from Foles when he makes contested shots but also chunky YAC. Let's just hope a throw in the middle doesn't lead to an injury with one of our receivers.

Also at one point in Bradford's rookie season, Amendola's hands were bleeding due to catching bullets from Sammy. Either way, just glad we got someone who fits our system.

 

[TexasRam]

There is definitely a phenomena known as catchable vs uncatchable. Not just on the Matthews drop late but earlier I was noticing the same Bradford issues popping their ugly head. Not reading a defense, panicking under pressure and yes, throwing an uncatchable ball (too hard).

 

[blue4]

It was in the air 20 yards at least, if you can't catch that, you shouldn't be an NFL receiver. People here are the only one's blaming the loss, and throw on Sam.

You never ask the talent around you to dumb it down. You ask the talent around a talented player to step it up. No different than coaching a baseball player with a great arm. You don't ask your shortstop or pitcher to slow it down, so the 1st baseman, or catcher, can catch the freaking ball. A screen, or a little dink, a totally different theory.

Exactly.

 

[HometownBoy]

That didn't hurt either Farve or A-Rod who both throw with a lot of velocity.

It did though? How do people not remember Favre having the rep for taking his receivers hands off? I don't know about Aaron, but Brett definitely had a lot of drops to his name because of his bullets and his a bunch of his former receivers talk about how it was hard on their hands.

They just have a good team to make up for the drops, Bradford has had no such luxury, but to say it didn't happen is incorrect.

 

[-X-]

I don't know how people wanna interpret this, but the Colts dropped the most passes last year.
6.2% of all passes thrown, to be exact.

In 2012, the Rams were 24th in the league in dropped passes.
Washington, Jacksonville, and SF were quite a bit higher (1 through 3 respectively).

Now if we're talking about *just* how Bradford throws the ball, and if that has any correlation to drops, I say no. At least not any quantifiable measure, IMO. That's really one of the things I liked about his mechanics. He could DRILL balls into tight windows where defenders had absolutely no chance on the play. Once in a while he'd throw a screen or swing a little too hard, but I think a few highlights of that skews people's perceptions. It really wasn't that big of an issue. The quality of the receivers his first few years .... absolutely were. Take away Danny A and Brandon Lloyd, and who do you have left that even plays a key role in this league anymore?

 

[blue4]

I don't think it's a throwing issue, or a leadership issue, or anything else QB related. It's a WR growing up thing. We're comparing college rookies from Bradford's era to seasoned 3 and 4 year players in Foles's era. They should be getting better. When it hits you in the hands you should catch it. Our guys are simply better than they were.

 

[-X-]

I don't think it's a throwing issue, or a leadership issue, or anything else QB related. It's a WR growing up thing. We're comparing college rookies from Bradford's era to seasoned 3 and 4 year players in Foles's era. They should be getting better. When it hits you in the hands you should catch it. Our guys are simply better than they were.

There's some merit to that. And Foles really does throw a nice ball too. Wanna hear (see) something ridiculous? Last year 33% of all passes thrown to Cook were uncatchable (33 of 99 targets). Uncatchable defined as batted at the line, quarterback hit in motion, overthrown, quarterback release slipped, thrown away, tipped by teammate or underthrown. Most of any TE in the league.

But yeah, Cook blows.

 

[RamzFanz]

I'm not trying to start a Bradford bashing so dont take this the wrong way. Fisher backed up my thoughts on the Jeff Fisher show when he stated the Rams had 0 drops on Sunday. I noticed that there were not many passes that were on target yet dropped as we have seen in the past. Does Foles throw a more catchable ball, or have the WRs come around and focus better.

100% an easier ball to catch. Watch the Eagles game. Bradford throws darts which is awesome, but not on a 10 yard pass. I'm a Bradford fan, but he has no touch.

How does he throw a ball 10 feet or 50 yards? Hard.

 

[RamzFanz]

yea Bradford's definitely accurate but most of the time he's got one speed.. missile

that throw to Matthews last night to end the game was a perfect example

^^^^^This. I said it over and over and some agreed and some booed, he is a solid QB, but he throws too damn hard on short passes. Mathews doesn't drop that pass with Foles. When I saw that pass, I immediately thought back to our dropped short passes with him.

 

[A55VA6]

I think Foles could definitely have something to do with it even if it's just a small sample size with the Rams. In 2013, his receivers seemed to catch everything that came their way.

Bradford seems to zip every pass and guys just can't catch it. We saw it again Monday night with Matthews leding to an INT to lose the game.

Foles just has a more catchable ball.

 

[SuperMan28]

I'm just glad we have Foles. Looking back, I'd think that trade straight up would still be fleecing them.

 

[bluecoconuts]

There are pluses and minuses to how each throw. I notcied quite a few times receivers slowing down for the ball on the deeper throws. Perhaps it was timing, or perhaps a weaker arm, we need more time to tell.

 

[DR RAM]

In baseball players wear gloves and you want pitchers to throw a hundred miles an hour. However if a shortstop is five feet from the second basemen he should flip the ball to them and not rifle it.

In football and baseball there are times to throw hard and times to throw soft. Aaron Rodgers throws passes accurately and with touch. Throwing bullets with every pass is not actually preferred. Especially on short throws, which Bradford did most of the time.

Exactly, for every play, there is a proper response/action, on, at least, a 20 yd pass on 3rd down to a wide open receiver. Yeah, pretty much covered all that.

Every play, every down and distance has its own dichotomy. My dear, Lord, Rodgers throws that....his fault? Bullshit. Ask Matthews... not engaging in further nonsense.

Nobody, ever catch a damn ball ???? Wow. I'm happy, and fully support , Foles. He's my guy, now. If he screws up, or makes a good play, either way, it is what it is.

 

[Mackeyser]

^^^^^This. I said it over and over and some agreed and some booed, he is a solid QB, but he throws too damn hard on short passes. Mathews doesn't drop that pass with Foles. When I saw that pass, I immediately thought back to our dropped short passes with him.

Very true. Bradford threw too hard although I saw better touch on Monday Night.

The converse of saying that Foles doesn't miss that pass to Matthews is that Bradford doesn't under throw Austin when he had Sherman beat. That's one thing Bradford always had, a really deadly long ball.

Funny thing is that I think both QBs are better off where they are now, so I'm happy.

And I think Foles will adjust to Tayawesome's Ludicrous Speed (he's gone plaid!) and will hit those shots in the future.