I’ve found his throws on the run out of the pocket very accurate and impressive the first 3 games. He hasn’t done it a lot but seems he typically has success.Drew's problems have more to do with the amount of time it takes him to make a read.... and the quality of the read he ultimately makes... then AK. The play last Saturday where Drew butchered his read directly off the snap (Kyron Hudson ran a Flag Pattern from the left-slot and immediately broke open and was running by himself 15 yards behind the closest defender as the Villanova secondary blew their matchup coverage assignments), then took forever to go through additional reads in a panicked fashion to the point where he began to feel pressure, when the ball should have been out long prior (it had zero to do with the OL or pressure) and then he finally chooses to throw it to the TE on the sideline where the defender has near insurmountable inside-out leverage was a MICROCOSM of Drew's problems at QB.
Drew's best throw of the entire game is also instructive - the throw to Trebor Pena running a Skinny Post just prior to halftime. Drew made the CORRECT read off the snap, saw that Pena had "inside leverage" on the DB (i.e., advantage receiver on a Skinny Post) - he immediately committed to the correct throw (a heater), got the ball out quickly.... made a great throw and threw a TD pass.
Against Oregon, Drew is going to need to take off after 3 to 4 seconds in the pocket if he has not committed to something.... he should keep his eyes downfield and throw on the move if something breaks open, but he has to stop sitting in the pocket with happy feet and patting the ball for an eternity until pressure develops.... and then throwing extremely late to 3rd and 4th reads that are no longer open by the time he throws it. If Drew takes off after 3 or 4 seconds, it will put far more pressure on the defense as he now has the addition option of threatening the defense by just continuing to run which often will allow receivers to break open late as the defense breaks down trying to address the QB in the open field.
In essence, Drew does not "extend plays" like great QBs do, but rather just "delays" plays/reads with no meaningful improvement.
I find this interesting that he’s able to do this under some duress. He’s pretty accurate on the run. Gets his hips squared up.
I want to see the Drew who threw the TD against Oregon last year when he stepped up in the pocket and threw a laser with a tackler hanging on him.
That’s the baller I want to see.
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