Freeman, Schiano Must Learn “ABCs” Of QB Play
March 23rd, 2013
Former Bucs QB Jeff Carlson
Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe loves when Carlson fires away. Carlson is often seen as a football color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback. Plus, he’s a really cool dude.
By JEFF CARLSON
JoeBucsFan.com
Quarterback Coach Greg Schiano (I thought he was a defensive coach — did anybody check his NFL passing statistics to see if he could have an opinion?) diagnosed Josh Freeman’s mechanical problems recently and came up with interesting observations, some of which are correct.
Here’s how Schiano spelled it out for TampaBay.com.
“When you watch a quarterback, when his feet are not in synch with his upper body, there’s two things that make that happen,” Schiano said. “One is pass rush and two is decision-making. Now all of a sudden your brain is either ahead or behind your feet because the platform with which you throw the ball dictates 80 percent of your accuracy. And if you don’t set your platform correctly, you don’t have a chance.
The concepts are correct in his analysis, but there are more than two things that can be happening to create a synch problem between the upper body and the feet.
One big reason Freeman is out of synch on many plays is that when his brain says throw the ball, his body isn’t ready. His platform may be balanced, but his hips and knees are too stiff (straight up), so that when his mind starts throwing the ball and his upper body starts the throwing motion, he hasn’t bent his hips and knees enough to get the lower body in synch. So the upper body goes first and comes off target, while the lower body plays “catch up” and you see Freeman lock out his front leg so often and his back leg comes off the ground, making him off-balanced on many of his pocket throws.
Schiano says the platform dictates 80 percent of accuracy. I disagree and say that it is important, but proper Alignment, Balance, and Control all play relatively equal parts.
I call this the A, B, C’s of perfect mechanics.
Without proper alignment, consistent accuracy is very difficult. Good balance before, during and after the throw is critical, but good QBs make accurate off-balanced throws all the time.
The third piece of perfect mechanics is Control, and Josh does not do a good job of controlling his elbows or wrists, which would go a long way to improving his overall synching of upper and lower body.
He carries the ball low, which means his elbows are down at his sides but should be pushed forward, raising the ball and getting it in a position to synch faster with the lower body. With it low and behind his body, the ball is late to the release point, a reason he throws side-armed.
If Freeman controlled his wrists better and kept them “straight,” he would get “over” the ball and improve the flight of the ball in the air, but he throws from “under” the ball almost always.
Schiano is right; Freeman is “out of sync.” And improving his comfort level with the offense and reducing the pass rush will help a lot, but his throwing mechanics specifically can go a long way to improving his accuracy, but Freeman needs to learn his ABCs first.
March 23rd, 2013 at 9:14 am
can freeman go to IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, FL and work with chris weinke? he did wonders for cam newton and geno smith.
March 23rd, 2013 at 9:27 am
With so many people critical of Freeman’s mechanics, it is no wonder he is scared to throw the ball.
In 2010, his mechanics were not perfect, but he got the job done.
March 23rd, 2013 at 9:38 am
Hello? Is anyone listening? Hello?
March 23rd, 2013 at 9:44 am
@joe
Do you know if Jeff evered offered his services to Freeman?
March 23rd, 2013 at 9:45 am
How many different ways can Carlson say that Freeman sucks?
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:00 am
Another has been oh sorry never was with his opinion
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:33 am
Peyton Manning has perfect mechanics, but then you have Drew Brees who runs around like a rabbit with it’s A$$ on fire. Both get the job done!
March 23rd, 2013 at 10:54 am
Isnt this the pot calling the kettle black? Lol!
March 23rd, 2013 at 11:06 am
I just hope that GM Dominik has learned greatly from this colossal mistake and IF he is around to pick the next starting QB, he will look for 1 who basically has the rudimentary of the QB position already ingrained in him from his college days!
March 23rd, 2013 at 11:41 am
Love all the internet geniuses that shrug off the knowledge of a former NFL quarterback, who also happened to be a great college quarterback.
March 23rd, 2013 at 11:46 am
@RaShad – To sort of answer your question, Joe will say that the Bucs are aware of Carlson living in town and coaching quarterbacks. Jeff attends Bucs alumni events, etc.
One of the great NFL mysteries to Joe is why former NFL quarterbacks and former college quarterbacks are not coaching current NFL quarterbacks on every team. It’s mind-boggling that teams would invest so much in their QBs but not bring in coaches who really understand the nuances of the mechanics and the decision-making. Even if these guys, like Carlson, came in on a consulting basis for OTAs, for example.
March 23rd, 2013 at 12:34 pm
@Bucnjim hahahaha
March 23rd, 2013 at 12:37 pm
Freeman is 100 times better than Carlson.
March 23rd, 2013 at 1:16 pm
Having worked for Jeff at his QB camp back in 2001-2002 I know first hand that he does pay a lot of attention to details and proper mechanics; and what he does is make sure that all the young QB’s out there do it the right way FIRST, and then if they somehow make it to the pros after that it’s upto them if they wanna change things up and go unorthodox ala’ Freeman – Vick – and Kaepernick(who all have odd throwing styles).
March 23rd, 2013 at 1:31 pm
If Carlson was such a good coach/teacher wouldn’t he be on a NFL staff? Hearing advice from he and King is pretty humorous.
March 23rd, 2013 at 2:28 pm
Mechanics dont mean all that much. Bottom line is, winners get it done. Losers… dont. You figure it out.
March 23rd, 2013 at 2:57 pm
He throws too much falling backwards. Maybe if we could use some sort of shocking devise that would shock the crap out of him every time he throws mechanically wrong, he may learn quicker. Like “shock the monkey therapy”. (no disrespect intended) 🙂
March 23rd, 2013 at 3:37 pm
@Tbuc – What a stupid thing to write. Do you really believe every ex-player wants a coaching job in the NFL. I’ve met Jeff and he’s got a nice family and a carreer. Some people actually want to see their families and not work 16 hours a day like NFL coaches.
March 23rd, 2013 at 5:44 pm
Opinios are like Aholes, right? Guys in the building know what’s going on much more than the expers peeking in thru the outside. Freeman sucks at critical times of games because his asshole tightens up, I believe that’s the medical term. Franchise? No.
March 23rd, 2013 at 7:40 pm
This is where I disagree with Carlson. Josh doesn’t throw too doin. He hesitates and makes his decision too late. He doesn’t anticipate routes very well and can’t look off defenders.
Aj McCarron in 2014 hopefully.
March 23rd, 2013 at 8:58 pm
Freeman can’t spell ABC
March 23rd, 2013 at 9:38 pm
NeanderthalMan Said:
“Opinios are like Aholes, right? Guys in the building know what’s going on much more than the expers peeking in thru the outside. Freeman sucks at critical times of games because his asshole tightens up, I believe that’s the medical term. Franchise? No.”
lmao….and then you give your crappy opinion. hmmmm which has more merit?
Jeff Carlson: Former Bucs quarterback Jeff Carlson (1990 & 1991) writes The QB Blast column here at JoeBucsFan.com. Joe loves when Carlson fires away. Carlson is often seen as a football color analyst on Bright House Sports Network, and he trains quarterbacks of all ages locally via his company, America’s Best Quarterback. Plus, he’s a really cool dude.
or
neanderthalman: anonymous nobody who has played madden or some such nonsense
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, not as tough a choice as it might seem 🙂
March 24th, 2013 at 1:44 am
See the Dallas game and Freeman’s fumble inside the 10 to see all his problems (almost all) on one play. Three step drop, primary receiver not open, secondary open if your accurate and can throw it to a tight space (low and away from the defender was open as I recall), running lane open as the tackle gets beat wide and Josh holding the ball at his hip the entire play. Sack/Fumble.
And that is Josh Freeman at his worst. And we have seen that far too much. But he is young with some promise… for one more season.
March 24th, 2013 at 6:33 am
How many rookie QBs are going to the playoffs this year?
Freeman 🙁
March 24th, 2013 at 9:23 am
Teddy Bridgewater in 2014′