Quote:
Originally Posted by Sandy Cheeks
... and some of you act as if actual football is like playing Madden video games.
In actual football, you don't get to see every target simultaneously on the field at once. You don't get to fling the ball perfectly with a tap of a button and no regard to footwork... and you don't have to be concerned with multiple 250+ lb dudes that are gonna **** you up.
Maybe Mahomes will have the ideal composure in those situations at the next level... maybe not.
We the fans just won't really know when the right time is. Andy will.. and I'll defer to his judgement on that.
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I played real football until the ripe young age of 29 before I had to stop due to injuries. Believe me, I know all about it not being Madden. I didn't have to see through the QB's eyes, I had to see through a guard's eyes. I had to worry about what protection I was running, am I sliding, am I on big, am I kicking out, am I going up on a linebacker, and so forth. Had to worry about how many were in protection, are we running 7, are we running 6, are we running scat, etc. I had to communicate to the center who's picking up a shade from the 3-tech, if the tackle is seeing 5, 7, or 9 and the list goes on. I also had to worry about if there was a change in protection coming from the center or QB. So, I'm not an expert on what a QB sees or doesn't see. That said, I have a pretty good idea. I know what he's seeing at least 10 yards out from a personal perspective. I know that you can see, peripherally, most of what is happening across the field.
Here's the deal: I can say with 100% certainty that I, personally, don't expect Patrick Mahomes to see every target on the field on every down. I don't expect it of Alex Smith. I expect the QB's to go through their progression and see open receivers and deliver them the football. That is something Alex Smith failed at last year, and I can say with some confidence the concussions have played a toll in that. It isn't Madden, but these guys get paid millions of dollars to see the field, scan across their options, make a decision, and deliver on time.
On the footwork issue, that is muscle memory and a learned skill. It will take Mahomes some reps to get used to it again, but he will. It won't be something he's going to have to be conscious of on the football field. Same goes for the ball handling/security that he needs to work on. Once he practices it enough, it's going to be second nature.
The biggest reason KC went up and drafted Mahomes isn't because of his cannon arm, its because of his rare vision. He keeps his eyes down field, looking for the open target and he's cognizant of the rush coming down on him and alters his path to avoid it. This is the trait that makes Aaron Rodgers so special and this is why Mahomes received those types of comparisons in pre-draft analyses.
Mahomes has to become a pro though on what coverages he's seeing. He has to recognize the position of the safeties, corners, and outside linebackers. He has to know if the corners are shaded inside or outside leverage, and where they are relative to the LOS (off, press, uneven, etc). He has to know where the safeties are, if they are up, backed off and how deep, or sitting in single high. Then he has to look at the LB's, are they out on man, are the sitting zone, etc. Then he has to do all that again after the snap because they might be rolling to a different set. They might show you Cover 1 and give you Cover 6. He has to know his routes against the coverage he's seeing and adjust if necessary. He has to know his release valves if they roll coverage. Yeah, I agree, it's not Madden. They aren't hard concepts, but you have to have a guy that can see it all in real time and make very quick decisions. This is part of the theory that I don't like seeing QB's start their rookie year before the midway point of the season if they don't have to. They really have to know that playbook and they have to know it against every coverage. They have to know their protections and they have to read the defensive line and linebackers. If I'm running 5 routes with scat protection and the defense is showing Cover 1 with the 3-tech shaded outside, RDE playing 7, and the WLB showing blitz off the nose, I'm gonna be a bit worried about my protection at that point. They are stretching my line out wide and could blitz that WLB or SS. If they have a good NT, that's a bad situation with heat coming to my blind side. I might have to change to a combination protection with slide protection center left and bob right of center, or change the play.
Yes, I worry about composure versus free-lancing when it comes to Mahomes early on. He has alot to work on in terms of the subtleties of the game. It's more of the when's than the how's. He needs to learn when to take what's in front of him. He needs to learn when to call a play broken and live for the next down. Because you're 100% correct, this isn't Madden. You can't just chuck it up there dawg. You can't just run around for 10 seconds and chuck it 70 yards down the field when things finally open up. Those windows are going to close much faster. Those pass rushers are going to get there much faster. And, those linebackers are going to chase you down from behind on a rollout before you have time to think sometimes. These guys get paid, not just to be premier athletes, but to put a hurtin' on the QB and I can tell you, BountyGate was just the tip of a very big iceberg.
So yes, you're absolutely correct.