Foles impact on dropped passes

[RamBall]

I'm not trying to start a Bradford bashing so dont take this the wrong way. Fisher backed up my thoughts on the Jeff Fisher show when he stated the Rams had 0 drops on Sunday. I noticed that there were not many passes that were on target yet dropped as we have seen in the past. Does Foles throw a more catchable ball, or have the WRs come around and focus better.

 

[bskrilla]

I think the most likely thing is that we have better pass catchers than in Bradford's time. Sam barely had any time at all with Stedman and Britt, and the receivers we still have that he had time with were much younger.

That being said it does seem (purely from an eyeball test) that Foles throws with a little more touch at times than Bradford did.

PS I'll add that so far Foles has maybe used a little TOO much touch on a few deeper throws, the no-call DPI to Tavon in the 1st Q, the pass to Cook in the 1st half that went for like 20 that could have been much more, and the TD to Kendricks.

 

[blackbart]

Well since Bradford hasn't played for a year and a half the drops for that period obviously had nothing to do with him. I did see a couple of plays by the pass catchers Sunday that were better than they had produced in the last two or three years making the argument that they may have been more focused a possibility.

Honestly I don't think they have anything to do with each other.

 

[RamFan503]

I think that is a valid question. Sam throws much harder so I suppose there is potentially going to be a give and take there as far as getting the ball in tight spaces with zip. I have brought up the catchable ball thought in the past and can see it working both ways but I would say that some of the Rams drops when Sam was back there was because they were simply thrown too hard. I will say though that some of the throws I saw Sam make yesterday probably don't even get thrown or are an INT if thrown by a QB with a weaker arm.

Regardless I liked like what I saw out of Foles Sunday. I like how he seems to be able to see over the top and also make some pretty nice throws. I thought he started out a little cold - especially with his feet but thought he was absolutely starting level.

 

[12intheBox]

Pretty small sample size we are working with here.

 

[RamFan503]

Pretty small sample size we are working with here.

What... you no can extrapolate?

 

[LACHAMP46]

we have better pass catchers than in Bradford's time.

Rather, more experienced....And yes, the overall talent is NOW better...I still believe in 2013 & 2014, Bradford was about to do ridiculous things with this offense...

 

[RamFan503]

Rather, more experienced....And yes, the overall talent is NOW better...I still believe in 2013 & 2014, Bradford was about to do ridiculous things with this offense...

Yeah - I thought so too. But alas....

 

[JoeBo21]

yea Bradford's definitely accurate but most of the time he's got one speed.. missile

that throw to Matthews last night to end the game was a perfect example

 

[DR RAM]

yea Bradford's definitely accurate but most of the time he's got one speed.. missile

that throw to Matthews last night to end the game was a perfect example

It was in the air 20 yards at least, if you can't catch that, you shouldn't be an NFL receiver. People here are the only one's blaming the loss, and throw on Sam.

You never ask the talent around you to dumb it down. You ask the talent around a talented player to step it up. No different than coaching a baseball player with a great arm. You don't ask your shortstop or pitcher to slow it down, so the 1st baseman, or catcher, can catch the fucking ball. A screen, or a little dink, a totally different theory.

 

[bskrilla]

Rather, more experienced....And yes, the overall talent is NOW better...I still believe in 2013 & 2014, Bradford was about to do ridiculous things with this offense...

Completely agree. I mean he WAS doing ridiculous things in 2013 before he went down. Well if not ridiculous at least way above average things.

 

[bskrilla]

People here are the only one's blaming the loss, and throw on Sam.

I'm not sure I've seen ANYONE here blame that loss or at least that specific throw on Sam. That ball HAS to be caught.

This thread is just a discussion of Bradford vs. Foles' touch on passes in general, and I think it is in good faith towards Sam.

 

[Alan]

IMO Bradford had no touch. That manifested itself in many ways. Couldn't throw a screen pass because he'd make a line drive throw instead of lofting it over the incoming rushers. Couldn't throw the rainbow pass to the corner of the end zone. Always threw a fastball even when he didn't need to. It's obvious that fastballs are harder to catch than off speed balls.

On the other hand, SB is more accurate which makes up for many of those drops.

 

[Zaphod]

I was thinking the same thing, he definitely throws with more touch than Bradford.

 

[RaminExile]

IMO Bradford had no touch. That manifested itself in many ways. Couldn't throw a screen pass because he'd make a line drive throw instead of lofting it over the incoming rushers. Couldn't throw the rainbow pass to the corner of the end zone. Always threw a fastball even when he didn't need to. It's obvious that fastballs are harder to catch than off speed balls.

On the other hand, SB is more accurate which makes up for many of those drops.

I dont know. I think he throws those wheel routes to Sproles with some nice touch. He fires it in when he has to because he's an accurate QB so he tries to get it into small windows. That one to Matthews was a good example.

Foles does seem to make a lot more of those touch passes I agree but I don' think Sam Bradford throws a difficult to catch ball for NFL receivers. He throws a pretty spiral. He just hasn't had a great deal of talent to work with it seems.

 

[HometownBoy]

I think Bradford throws too hard, like ole Brett used to. Brett's receivers were many and great, but all of them seemed to gain a drop problem with Favre throwing to them. WRs are only human, they're going to drop those bullet passes.

 

[blackbart]

yea Bradford's definitely accurate but most of the time he's got one speed.. missile

that throw to Matthews last night to end the game was a perfect example

That ball to Matthews was catchable and he knew he screwed the pooch that was not Bradford throwing the ball to hard that was poor concentration.

 

[blackbart]

Saying the ball is throw too hard is just making excuses for the guys not making the catches. They need to work harder concentrate more and be ready to catch the ball. Can the QB put touch on a pass absolutely but there is just no excuse for not catching a ball that is on your hands.

 

[Zaphod]

Zingers are hard to catch. To be honest, Bradford sometimes threw like Marino, like he was trying to throw through his receivers. Oh yeah, and just like my best friend used to say ... never ever EVER throw it at their hands. They drop it every time

 

[-X-]

I think Bradford throws too hard, like ole Brett used to. Brett's receivers were many and great, but all of them seemed to gain a drop problem with Favre throwing to them. WRs are only human, they're going to drop those bullet passes.

This is true, but a lot of the balls he threw were also rock-hard due to the weather.
I don't know that that was an issue in the dome.