What Makes a Throw Receiver-Friendly?
NFL Analysis 8/19/22
When you have a quarterback who doesn’t throw a receiver-friendly ball, what someone is implying is every ball is pretty much the same. It comes with high velocity, it's a little hard, and typically, you hear it from guys who play in inclement weather climates. You hear that from guys that are going to be playing in the cold.
Weather Changes the Ball
The ball changes in those cold climates. You do want and prefer a quarterback to be mindful of that. I remember when Aaron Rodgers took over for Brett Favre. Brett always threw with extreme drama to me. He put everything into it when he was trying to thread a needle, split defenders and he was throwing his entire body into a pass. For Aaron, and I caught him when he was younger, Brett on the back end of his career, for Aaron it was just a flick.
Aaron saw and heard the stories of how hard Brett threw, and he wanted to throw as hard if not harder. He wanted to climb that mountain and be the guy who threw the hardest. I remember telling him “Dude, stop throwing the ball so hard.” It is not receiver-friendly when I am running a crossing route and you are throwing 80 miles an hour. I am just seven yards away from you; I don’t want that. That is extreme, instinctive reaction time for a receiver depending on where the ball location is.
Some Quarterbacks are Better at Throwing Deep
A lot of times even going down the field, there are ball flights that just look better. It sounds weird, but it is a real thing. When I look at Joe Burrow’s deep ball, he throws a really pretty deep ball. Rodgers has always thrown a really pretty deep ball. Joe Flacco just looks like he lays it in there like a loaf of bread. He's a big arm, taller guy you can see him, and you see the release point. He doesn’t have to throw with an extreme amount of velocity because he is a longer, taller guy with a big arm and always had one.
Does it matter? It matters when the weather changes let's say that.