CLEVELAND, Ohio — Miami quarterback Cam Ward drops back to pass, and he waits. According to PFF’s “average time to throw” metric, he waited longer last season than all but one other passer (Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough) near the top of this year’s draft class. And in the old guard’s eye, red flags are already blinking.
Ward must not have recognized the defenses in front of him. He was failing his protection and/or missing open reads. At the next level, scouts often say, indecision gets punished. Can’t draft a first-round quarterback who holds the ball too long.
But I wouldn’t trust that theory without hearing Ward’s counter first.
“It’s just something someone says who really doesn’t know football that well,” Ward said at last week’s NFL Scouting Combine. “At the end of the day, if you have time in a pocket, why would you not hold the ball and let your receivers get open? If you’re able to make plays out of structure, of course you’re going to hold the ball and try to make a play to get your receivers open. So, at some point, there needs to be a new term.”
I’ll let Webster’s Dictionary handle the word choice. But at the very least, players like Ward force old-world football minds to reimagine their rubric for a franchise quarterback.
True enough, hitches and ball pats leave players vulnerable to sacks and turnovers. But mobility and strength can also fix a broken play.
Don’t like Ward’s pocket philosophy? Then you must hate the only two NFL passers who logged longer time to throw numbers than him last season. Their names are Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts.
Ever heard of them?
You might know Jackson as a two-time MVP who once fielded Combine questions about playing wide receiver. And before Hurts won his first Super Bowl (and second NFC championship) this season, he dropped into the draft’s second round thanks to a familiar set of concerns.
Slow to find open receivers early, bails on passing pockets too early, blah blah blah. The Eagles paid more attention to what Hurts' athleticism could afford them. And the Ravens built an offense around Jackson’s strengths.
Now both teams are thriving amid the mobile quarterback revolution, during which the definition of processing a play — hello again, Webster’s — has evolved considerably.
“I heard a stat yesterday that quarterbacks are holding the ball longer than they ever have,” Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said last week. “Now, is that just because, off the drop back, the protection is better? Probably not, right? It has more to do probably with players playing off schedule and scrambling and buying time.”
Then what happens? According to PFF, the chains move. Jackson and Hurts were two of 14 quarterbacks who gained over 120 first downs after holding the ball at least 2.5 seconds on a pass play last season.
Among their ball-holding, drive-continuing contemporaries: Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes; Bills quarterback Josh Allen; Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels; Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow; Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. No big deal, really. Just seven of the league’s best quarterbacks hanging out under the same statistical umbrella.
What lesson could possibly be gleamed?
Perhaps our scouting process should be updated to keep pace with quarterbacks' emerging skill sets. Of course, strong play from the pocket is still the basis for any strong passer. Even Ward will tell you as much.
“... You can’t rely on a scramble drill and having to win out of structure,” he said. “Because if you can’t win in the pocket, you’ll never be successful.”
But sometimes football pushes players beyond their basis. Sometimes, on a must-have third-and-8, defensive coordinators call a good play. The protection fails the quarterback, or his receivers can’t get open. And in those moments, scouts say now, you’d rather have a “risky” playmaker than a pocket statue running your offense.
That red flag next to Ward’s draft listing? Turn it yellow for all the extra first downs his legs will give you. Then light it green on draft day.
As for how long he waits to throw?
Can’t trust an old scout’s tale in this new quarterback age.
“... What’s evolved is you always thought about those decision-makers, those quote-unquote game managers, that always meant they’re in the pocket making those decisions,” Stefanski said. “You’re still managing the game from outside the pocket. So I think the ability to make great decisions, the ability to quote-unquote manage the game, happens whether it’s from the pocket or on a scramble, or you name it.”