This is something I have been thinking about a lot recently. You see it mentioned quite a lot about Kyler "reading defenses" as something he has to learn. I disagree.
There seems to be a train of thought that "reading a defense" just means knowing if the defense is in man or zone, or if they are in cover 2, quarters etc. That to me is basic stuff any QB should know from experience and tape. Yes, sometimes from top DC's you will get some exotic looks or deception on key downs but generally speaking on the majority of plays the QB is getting a standard defensive look that all QB's should understand.
The Pats and Rams didn't do anything special. Both of them lined up in a bunch of common defensive formations, nearly all man coverage, mostly single high safety but the occasional Tampa 2. Nothing any QB hasn't seen a million times.
IMO "Reading a defense" is about adjusting what you do based on what you are seeing and knowing what the play call is. Understanding what you see is useless unless you actually adjust what you do to take advantage of it. If the DB is sat 8 yards off Kirk and you know Kirk is running a dig then Kirk should probably be your primary read as the DB is too far off effectively cover that route. If the defense is in zone and you know Nuk is running a 12 yard comeback between the zones then he should probably be the primary read. So on and so forth. There are no set reads, the QB should be deciding what his 1st and 2nd reads are depending on what he is seeing from the defense and if he is seeing it accurately it works.
For example, I mentioned this play before vs the Pats. It's around 13:00 in Q4 if you want to watch it. Pre snap Kyler motions Kirk to the slot at the bottom of the screen which is pre determined. Murray knows what route Kirk is running and he should know pre snap that the DB has outside leverage so Kirk will be open inside except for the FS.
Right now, post snap Murray is looking at Keesean to his right, even though he was double covered from the get go. I don't know why that's his first read considering the FS was also shading that side and pre snap he has Nuk in single coverage the other direction. Pre snap Nuk should be his first read, Kirk 2nd, Johnson last.
He should be staring down Nuk anyway as his first read because knowing the route Kirk is running he should be trying to get the FS to move in that direction to open it up. It so happens the FS goes across to Nuk anyway because thats who is most concerned about but what's concerning to me is that Kyler shouldn't be doing any of what he is doing.
He shouldn't have gone to Johnson at all. He's shown no interest in Nuk in single coverage. And in about a second he stares down a completely open Kirk before deciding to run.
Here he is deciding not to throw for at least 40 yards to Kirk, if not a TD considering the FS his heading the wrong direction.
Just all round bad play from Murray. And if you really watch back the tape in details you see this a lot from him. Bad pre snap reads, bad post snap decisions. The really bad part is a lot of guys probably watch this play in real time and say "Great run by Kyler for 10 yards" but completely miss of trash it was to lead to that run.
This is the very next play. Who do you think the primary read should be here? JC Jackson has a 10 yard cushion on Kirk. We run the ball here for 4 yards, but it's an RPO because Kirk stays in the flat and Isabella gets in a position to run block if the ball goes to Kirk. Just a bad decision. Kyler doesn't seem to even consider the pass option even though our running had been poor all day.
This one is terrible from Kyler. This is the drive before the ones above and you will recall this play from Mason Cole getting owned by Lawrence Guy with Guy getting the sack to end the drive on 3rd and 7.
You can see we have trips to the left for once with Nuk, Arnold and Isabella. And there's a crap load of defenders over there. 3 DB's and a safety over the top. On the other side you have Kirk on his own and the CB with a massive cushion and no safety help. Kirk is one on one. So where does Kyler look?
Well, it's not to Kirk. First he looks to Bella and Nuk, then Arnold. All of which are of course covered by the many DB's that were always there.
Meanwhile Kirk is sat 1 yard past the chains still with several yards of cushion and the ball should be arriving at him already considering Murray knows Kirk is running a comeback to the chains in single coverage!
There seems to be two sides to this argument at the moment. Kliff is bad or Kyler is bad. It's actually both. There are some really poor play designs and generally unimaginative and lacking scheme from Kliff. He's giving no help to the WR's or Kyler a lot of the time. But there are also a whole bunch of times when the play calling and design are good and Kyler just messes it up.
Kyler's pre snap decision making is off the charts garbage right now. I've watched a bunch of the Pats and Rams all 22 and plays like above are all over it.
There seems to be a train of thought that "reading a defense" just means knowing if the defense is in man or zone, or if they are in cover 2, quarters etc. That to me is basic stuff any QB should know from experience and tape. Yes, sometimes from top DC's you will get some exotic looks or deception on key downs but generally speaking on the majority of plays the QB is getting a standard defensive look that all QB's should understand.
The Pats and Rams didn't do anything special. Both of them lined up in a bunch of common defensive formations, nearly all man coverage, mostly single high safety but the occasional Tampa 2. Nothing any QB hasn't seen a million times.
IMO "Reading a defense" is about adjusting what you do based on what you are seeing and knowing what the play call is. Understanding what you see is useless unless you actually adjust what you do to take advantage of it. If the DB is sat 8 yards off Kirk and you know Kirk is running a dig then Kirk should probably be your primary read as the DB is too far off effectively cover that route. If the defense is in zone and you know Nuk is running a 12 yard comeback between the zones then he should probably be the primary read. So on and so forth. There are no set reads, the QB should be deciding what his 1st and 2nd reads are depending on what he is seeing from the defense and if he is seeing it accurately it works.
For example, I mentioned this play before vs the Pats. It's around 13:00 in Q4 if you want to watch it. Pre snap Kyler motions Kirk to the slot at the bottom of the screen which is pre determined. Murray knows what route Kirk is running and he should know pre snap that the DB has outside leverage so Kirk will be open inside except for the FS.
Right now, post snap Murray is looking at Keesean to his right, even though he was double covered from the get go. I don't know why that's his first read considering the FS was also shading that side and pre snap he has Nuk in single coverage the other direction. Pre snap Nuk should be his first read, Kirk 2nd, Johnson last.
He should be staring down Nuk anyway as his first read because knowing the route Kirk is running he should be trying to get the FS to move in that direction to open it up. It so happens the FS goes across to Nuk anyway because thats who is most concerned about but what's concerning to me is that Kyler shouldn't be doing any of what he is doing.
He shouldn't have gone to Johnson at all. He's shown no interest in Nuk in single coverage. And in about a second he stares down a completely open Kirk before deciding to run.
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Here he is deciding not to throw for at least 40 yards to Kirk, if not a TD considering the FS his heading the wrong direction.
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Just all round bad play from Murray. And if you really watch back the tape in details you see this a lot from him. Bad pre snap reads, bad post snap decisions. The really bad part is a lot of guys probably watch this play in real time and say "Great run by Kyler for 10 yards" but completely miss of trash it was to lead to that run.
This is the very next play. Who do you think the primary read should be here? JC Jackson has a 10 yard cushion on Kirk. We run the ball here for 4 yards, but it's an RPO because Kirk stays in the flat and Isabella gets in a position to run block if the ball goes to Kirk. Just a bad decision. Kyler doesn't seem to even consider the pass option even though our running had been poor all day.
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This one is terrible from Kyler. This is the drive before the ones above and you will recall this play from Mason Cole getting owned by Lawrence Guy with Guy getting the sack to end the drive on 3rd and 7.
You can see we have trips to the left for once with Nuk, Arnold and Isabella. And there's a crap load of defenders over there. 3 DB's and a safety over the top. On the other side you have Kirk on his own and the CB with a massive cushion and no safety help. Kirk is one on one. So where does Kyler look?
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Well, it's not to Kirk. First he looks to Bella and Nuk, then Arnold. All of which are of course covered by the many DB's that were always there.
Meanwhile Kirk is sat 1 yard past the chains still with several yards of cushion and the ball should be arriving at him already considering Murray knows Kirk is running a comeback to the chains in single coverage!
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There seems to be two sides to this argument at the moment. Kliff is bad or Kyler is bad. It's actually both. There are some really poor play designs and generally unimaginative and lacking scheme from Kliff. He's giving no help to the WR's or Kyler a lot of the time. But there are also a whole bunch of times when the play calling and design are good and Kyler just messes it up.
Kyler's pre snap decision making is off the charts garbage right now. I've watched a bunch of the Pats and Rams all 22 and plays like above are all over it.
