Batted Balls: Height or mechanics??

[Solar7]

I'll say it, it's not height (at least not completely). Shorter QBs certainly have to be a little more aware of throwing lanes than taller QBs, but ultimately they all have to worry about that. Brees is the prime example of this to me as he is only about 2" taller than Murray and almost exclusively throws from the pocket. The reason he can play that way at his height is because he is very good at finding throwing lanes so that defensive lineman can't rely on batting down a bunch of his passes.

As others have mentioned, Brees often throws from his tiptoes. Like it or not, those two inches are a pretty big difference. This has been fought over and over again, but you can't say he's "only" X amount shorter when Brees is already on the extreme end. There's only been one game played, but the batted passes number will have to come down.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

As others have mentioned, Brees often throws from his tiptoes. Like it or not, those two inches are a pretty big difference. This has been fought over and over again, but you can't say he's "only" X amount shorter when Brees is already on the extreme end. There's only been one game played, but the batted passes number will have to come down.

Look at all 4 passes that were batted down on Sunday. All of them were on short throws over the middle that have to be thrown low to be completed. All of them also were traveling directly over the top of a defensive lineman. That is not throwing through a lane and that is why they were batted. He will have to learn to get the ball out sooner or wait just a little longer so that he isn’t going right over their head. It’s not so much an issue on balls thrown down the field because of a high trajectory, but the short throws have to be low to be completed and that is the case for every QB that throws them.

 

[azsouthendzone]

Flacco had 4 or 5 batted down and he is 6'6". I guess we need a 7' QB.

 

[JeffGollin]

It's a problem. It can be dealt with:

More designed roll-outs and waggles with a sidearm delivery feature.

Cut blocking (if and when legal) to lower pass-rushers' hands

Inside draw design on RPO plays

Stop throwing pop flies off the back foot.

Always have an outlet-pass escape option - to DJ, Fitz or the TE.

 

[PACardsFan]

Look at all 4 passes that were batted down on Sunday. All of them were on short throws over the middle that have to be thrown low to be completed. All of them also were traveling directly over the top of a defensive lineman. That is not throwing through a lane and that is why they were batted. He will have to learn to get the ball out sooner or wait just a little longer so that he isn’t going right over their head. It’s not so much an issue on balls thrown down the field because of a high trajectory, but the short throws have to be low to be completed and that is the case for every QB that throws them.

We're going back some years, but when I played, our O-linemen were told that when D-Linemen put their hands up, you took your fists & drilled them in the sternum AS HARD AS YOU COULD. Believe it or not, that worked pretty good.

 

[kerouac9]

I don't think we drafted Kyler Murray #1 overall to disrupt the mechanics that he's been working on literally his entire life; that's a fool's errand.

The sample size is still a little small. Let's see if he gets better at sliding around/out of the pocket to create his own throwing lanes. He learned something Sunday.

 

[cwamjn]

We're going back some years, but when I played, our O-linemen were told that when D-Linemen put their hands up, you took your fists & drilled them in the sternum AS HARD AS YOU COULD. Believe it or not, that worked pretty good.

Were you playing with proper fitting shoulder pads? They go all the way down to the sternum.

 

[gimpy]

I don't think you could get away with that very long in today's NFL.

 

[oaken1]

I dunno... Been seeing a lot of this lately. With the league leaning more towards passing every year it makes sense coaches are adjusting. They have always taught guys to do this when they didn't get enough push in the pass rush but maybe now it is more a point of emphasis.
Flacco is a big qb and he had several bat downs last night so it isn't just murray.
I think we are going to see a lot more of this as teams look to get more creative in stopping the passing game.
For murray we just need to run some designed rollouts and naked boots to get him better looks down field....passing from the pocket is up to him.

 

[PACardsFan]

Were you playing with proper fitting shoulder pads? They go all the way down to the sternum.

LOL, hell no. The equipment I played with was garbage compared to what they have now. I was a LB & remember missing 2-3 games with a bruised sternum when I was blitzing with my arms up.

 

[Jetstream Green]

Flacco had 4 or 5 batted down and he is 6'6". I guess we need a 7' QB.

I think it was Warner who said that it makes no sense when people are over stressing about the height regarding vision since even he had to find lanes to throw through and see the field... the only way you can see over a pro OL/DL is probably if you are 7' but if Murray is throwing with proper arm mechanics for his height, it's still not going to give him an arc to compensate, he has to learn to throw around and not over defenders like Brees or that Wilson guy does

 

[kerouac9]

This wouldn't be a big deal if he hadn't said "I've been this height my entire life; I know how to find places to pass" during training camp.

 

[Arz101]

IMO, more than batted balls, Murray's accuracy was not good in week 1. It needs to be better and hoping the best it improves by game 9.

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

This wouldn't be a big deal if he hadn't said "I've been this height my entire life; I know how to find places to pass" during training camp.

Okay and he had all around bad game for about 3 quarters. It could be assumed that the batted passes were a part of him simply being a little off with his timing and decision making.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

So Brian Baldinger has a breakdown of Fitzgerald's 41 yard catch on 3-14 on Twitter

The Lions are double spying Murray so he can't run and both guys jump as soon as he throws

It appears that the game plan for the Lions was to stay back, keep Murray in the pocket, and jump to bat balls to stop quick throws.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

BTW, I have never seen double man spy before

 

[MadCardDisease]

Another thing to consider is that Murray threw the ball 54 times. That is the most of any NFL QB in week 1 this season. More passes means more opportunities that the ball can be batted down.

Compare that to 10 pass attempts by Kirk Cousins last week who had the least pass attempts.