Accurate throws versus ones and twos and threes

[The Wiz]

How long is EJ under contract?

2016. So this year and next.

[The Jokeman]

2016. So this year and next.

and being a former 1st Round pick the Bills also can pick up an option year in 2017.

[dulles]

Yep. That's exactly how I saw all of those. And they all would have been good throws against ones.

+1 Definitely agree. Even if those throws were going to Hogan (on the post) and Thompson (on the fade/back shoulder), those would probably be catches. I thought his recovery of the shotgun snap on the 2-point conversion was big too.

[chris heff]

 

and being a former 1st Round pick the Bills also can pick up an option year in 2017.

Beat me to it.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

Want to open this up for discussion because I think it's an interesting one.

 

We all wanted EJ to be more accurate throwing the football on a more consistent basis. There also seems to be two schools of thought, and both have some merit.

 

1) He played against backups and scrubs so it's not a true test.

2) He played with backups and scrubs himself so it is a wash and is a true test.

 

Here is my theory:

 

1) A lot of times, the best answer is 1). Backups and scrubs do not possess the ability and speed that starters in the NFL do, and a lot of passes you can get away with in preseason you cannot get away with in the regular season. This allows guys like Kellen Moore and Colt McCoy and Matt Barkley and other rag arm QBs to look good if not excel in preseason because they are accurate and the ball lands in the hands of the WR and are completions and people think, wow, that guy is accurate and good. But those same passes are broken up or interceptions against good CBs who break on the ball quicker and are super fast.

 

2) That said, that is only true about rag arm passers and balls that are not thrown with regular season starter velocity and accuracy. The ball that EJ threw to Davis in the endzone that was called back by double penalty may have been against a third stringer but that was a great pass against a starter in the regular season, too. That was just a great ball regardless and would have been against anyone.

 

As was the TD pass. As was the dart to the one yard line that got first and goal. As was the drop to Palmer in the endzone. Those were all good balls against the top Cbs in the game.

 

So 3) both arguments are actually true, and each individual play has to be evaluated for what kind of pass it was and how the QB threw it. There isn't a blanket statement that covers whether a QB can throw or not against ones versus twos versus threes.

 

Finally, a small caveat though, the game is slightly slower overall in preseason, as is the intensity, as is the pressure. So it's a little easier to play well IMO, which enters the equation to some degree.

 

All that said, EJ threw 4-5 great passes at the end of the game that would have been great throws against ones or twos or threes or fours or Hall of Famers. They may not have all been completions, and they weren't. But they were major league throws and exactly what we wanted to see out of him.

Nice break down, can't argue the logic.

[dave mcbride]

+1 Definitely agree. Even if those throws were going to Hogan (on the post) and Thompson (on the fade/back shoulder), those would probably be catches. I thought his recovery of the shotgun snap on the 2-point conversion was big too.

Good point about the snap.

[ko12010]

This isn't directly responsive to the question you've posed - but I'll post it here anyway. It occurred to me watching the game last night that EJ's accuracy issues may be tied to his slowness in processing the live action in front of him. By the time he figures out where to go with the ball, he has to hurry his mechanics to get it there - which often results in inaccurate throws. Just a thought.

This just occurred to you last night?