... is that at times I got the feeling he was really unsure of himself. And that, in my opinion, led to moments where the ball was slower in coming out of his hand than it needed to be.
And not necessarily from his
hand - once he made the decision to get rid of the football, it comes out nice and clean. It's in those split seconds while he's setting up. While he's still carrying the football in both hands as he drops (which I'm not crazy about) and is trying to decipher coverages and reads.
I think it's obvious that he put in the time with the playbook. Maybe too
much. He seemed to over-think play-calls. Add to it the fairly pedestrian players he was throwing to ... and it created problems for him.
I think his arm, from what I've seen, is more than strong enough. He's got mustard on those long outs - where arm strength is really measured and tested. There just aren't that many times an NFL quarterback is going to have to throw it sixty-five yards on the fly. It's the juice on those ins and outs.
But if there is one thing I would change about the kid it's how he carries the football (which I mentioned above) on his drops. Maybe what he did last year is a natural thing for him ... but it sure doesn't look like it. It seems very unnatural, in fact. It may have been something that was driven into his head ... probably in college at Cal:
Both hands ... all the way back ... both hands ... all the way back ... both hands ... all the back.
To me ... though .... he's waaaaaaaaay too tense in his hands and wrists and forearms when he does that. By clasping the football so tightly, again in my opinion, it seems to lock up his entire upper body as he sets. There's a lack of natural athletic rhythm ...
Have no idea what, exactly, McVay is going to do about that. Maybe nothing. Maybe he doesn't see that as a problem. And maybe it's not.
But if there is one quarterback who I would compare Goff to ... just in terms of physical build and arm-strength ... it would be Dan Fouts.
But notice when you watch Fouts (in these few clips) how loose his upper-body is in his drops. He keeps track of the football with his off-hand ... but he doesn't strangle the life out of it.
Also, notice how low Fouts gets in his drops. How he bends his knees and drops his hips and rear-end. His hand placement with the football ... the bend in his knees and rear ... it puts him in almost ideal position to make a throw when his eyes, mind and body react.
