He is late releasing the ball continuously on the deep patterns. He is waiting for the receiver to become completely open before he is releasing the pass. That is why the ball is never hitting the receiver in stride and defensive backs are making up ground. If you look just in the Auburn game all of his deep thows get there late and the receiver is having to stop and come back to the ball. On the Lafell pass before half and the Doucet pass at the end. They both have their man beat but since the ball is late they stop and wait for the ball. Giving the defender time to make up the ground and interfere. I think Jamarcuss is a good QB but he needs to work on his timing and trust his receivers a little. He has a very strong arm and i equate this to a baseball pitcher who can throw it 98 MPH but cant find the strike zone.
How many passes by ANYONE have you seen hit a receiver in stride? Most ones I have seen the receiver checks up or "chases" the ball down. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but even Brett Favre in his prime had his receiver check up to catch bombs...I'm more worried about reading defenses and checking into the right play than deep passes that are maybe 2% of the total plays.
Good observation. Another thing to watch is on running plays. There's a lot of complaining about the line's run blocking and how there are no holes for the backs. What I've seen in the first three games gives the lie to this complaint. The holes are there, but not for very long. Russell is very slow getting the handoff to the running back and by the time the back gets to the line, the hole is closed. When playing a defense like Auburn's, slow developing plays are wasted downs. The blocking is no crisper with Flynn in, he just gets the ball to the back much more quickly and the back hits the hole while he still has a chance to scoot through for yardage. The difference was obvious in the Arizona game when the offense piled up a bunch of rushing yards in the second half.
Hmmm, I don't remember Addai having to terrible time running the ball last year, Maybe the backs are slower this year, I mean after all both of them are coming off pretty bad knee injuries. All I know is that I have seen Russell makes some throws that most NFL qbs will never be able to make. I think he finds the "strike zone" pretty well, after all he is only 15-3 as a starter, I know, I know its time for Flynn.:dis:
I just don't believe the criticism is justified. It seems to suggest that he is not that good a quarterback because he can't throw a flawless, perfect pass every time. Who does. Most passes require the receiver to make some sort of adjustment. The problem with LSU has not been its passing game; it has been its ground game.
I seem to notice that when JR hands off the ball, he seems to have his arm outstretched for a "long" time; either the backs were slow or they were lining up too far back from him. I kept on thinking that the defense will have ample time in preparing for the play. Also, I think JR should do more play fakes. ________ Jaguar r2
I have seen a number of QB's do this in both College and Pro and I always thought the running plays were both slow to develop and very obvious to the defense. The more I have watched, however, the less I think this has a significant impact to either. I think the real problem with the running game is shared by the offensive line and our running backs. We have a developing line that is doing a bang up job pass blocking and answering a lot of questions that we had going into the season. The run blocking has been adequate but not where it should be. The bulk of the issues lie with our running backs. I have longed for the day when Vincent would return to Freshman form and live up to the promise that he showed in 2003. For one reason or another it has not come back to him. I know there are injuries to blame but I see something else as well. Vincent has lost his edge and seems like he is waiting too long for something to open up. Broussard, who I couldn't have been more excited about this year, is still recovering. Miles keeps hinting that he is at about 80% and I don't think that is a stretch. The 80% is both physical and practical. I think he will continue to develop and improve as the season goes forward as long as his health continues to hold. As far as Russell's timing. I think he was trying to be too careful in the Auburn game, realizing that one mistake could make the difference in the outcome. It looked like he was over thinking things and trying to throw passes too perfectly from time to time instead of relaxing and doing what he does best. There is no reason that JR should ever underthrow a receiver. No matter where the line of scrimmage sits, JR can just about hit any point on the field. Remember these kids are all young and the pressure they are under in these games is tremendous. I think they have all played extremely well this year and we are only three games into the season. Right now, there is no QB on that sideline that I would rather have on the field.
True JR waited a bit too long to make his long throws especially the Lafell pass and Doucet pass. Lafell left Irons standing still and the ball should've been in the air, instead Lafell had to come back for it where he was mugged and no penalty was called. Doucet's pass wasn't so much as late, maybe a little, but under thrown. The problem I saw with JR in the AU game that wasn't apparent in the 1st 2 games was that he was trying to guide the ball, ease it in there, instead of firing the ball. Throughout the entire game he didn't set his feet to throw but threw off his back foot, a couple of jump passes, and WR's had to wait on the ball, come back to the ball, etc. I hope the coaches worked on this with him. He seemed timid when throwing the ball at times like he was scared to put some heat on it therefore not stepping into it. He needs to stick with his mechanics. He is great at improvising and making some good passes while moving around because of his great arm strenght, but when you're in the pocket and have time, he needs to step into it and maintain his mechanics. I saw a lot of 2004 JR in the AU game where he throws off the backfoot with no mechanics in a lot of cases.
It's not criticism to state an opinion. We all know each player has areas of weakness. It's obvious to me that timing is a problem. With JR's accuacy and arm either we don't have the receivers or there is a timing problem. With the athletes at WR there is no reason other than timing that we don't have more big plays. They get open and the ball gets there but the receiver has time to adjust.
