Can Riley Make All the Throws?

What is your opinion? After seeing how many deep balls were thrown, do you believe that they were all intentionally under thrown, or does Nelson just not have the ability to make those throws?



We've seen him make a perfect throw to Jacobsen for a deep touchdown against San Jose State. Against TCU every throw was not deep enough. One was intercepted. A few of them ended up working out perfectly as our wide receivers came back for the ball and made great catches. Sometimes the under-thrown deep ball is the perfect answer to tight man coverage, but it also is very easy for a deep safety to intercept.

He can't, but the question to me is can he make enough of them when it matters. His arm strength was an issue on a few balls last night, but it was his judgment that was the biggest problem. Dude lost it under duress, especially in the blue zone. And on 1st down both times. Horrible situational awareness. That concerns me more than arm strength.

This has already been proven in the Court of unpopular Cougar Corner opinions. NO. But he can make enough of them--even if the majority are underthrown. The WR can and should come back for it. Its the main diff between jake and riley--jake overthrows and so the WR's don't have a chance to catch the ball.

However, proven in the Court of PER, he can make enough.



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Of course he can. Unless 50 yard passes are too short. You can tell the people with biasis and lack of football iq with this topic. Rileys biggest problem was he was throwing back footed and unsettled because our line can't give any protection.



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hawkwing wrote:
Of course he can. Unless 50 yard passes are too short. You can tell the people with biasis and lack of football iq with this topic. Rileys biggest problem was he was throwing back footed and unsettled because our line can't give any protection.



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Now you're sounding like a certain Heaps apologist. :lol:



Nelson can't make all the throws, but he's still the best option I've see at QB this year so it doesn't matter. And he's got to be smarter than trying to make the 30-40 yard throw off his back foot when pressure is coming.



BTW, how many passing plays went for more than 20 yards last night?

hawkwing wrote:
Of course he can. Unless 50 yard passes are too short. You can tell the people with biasis and lack of football iq with this topic. Rileys biggest problem was he was throwing back footed and unsettled because our line can't give any protection.

You sure can tell those biases and lacking football IQ's here. If you think RIley Can make all the throws, you are wrong He can not make deep outs, and that is why Doman does not call them with Riley too often. When he does call them, results is pick-6 vs. OSU and a dropped pick-6 vs. TCU. Riley has limited arm strength and saying otherwise is ridiculous. It is clear to see. Vs. fast defenses, it is more of an issue. His first pick where the safety came over would not happen vs. SJSU, USU, ISU etc, but will vs. fast teams. This is where arm strength matters.



BUt as I said before, more about whether he can make the throws he needs to to help his team to win, and make the right decisions. He is not a strong arm guy, but he can make up for it in other ways. Just has to be smarter with the football.

Lawboy wrote:

Of course he can. Unless 50 yard passes are too short. You can tell the people with biasis and lack of football iq with this topic. Rileys biggest problem was he was throwing back footed and unsettled because our line can't give any protection.

Vs. fast defenses, it is more of an issue. His first pick where the safety came over would not happen vs. SJSU, USU, ISU etc, but will vs. fast teams. This is where arm strength matters.

SJSU, ISU, USU couldn't have made that play, but it wasn't because of Riley's armstrength. That was just a freak athlete making an incredible play. Unbelievable moment for TCU's defense.

When he's not throwing off his back foot/while backing up, yes, he can. The underthrows were all running away from pressure and moving backwards. Riley needs to learn that sometimes you just eat the ball and take a sack. I love that he goes for it, he's gritty, and always wants to make the play, but sometimes you just gotta take the five-yard loss.

No. But he's good enough to lead us to the WAC championship this year.

Riley doesn't have a strong arm. He just doesn't. Really, he's in the game for his toughness, fire, grit, and running ability.



Also, he threw three passes for over 20 yards: 42 to Hoffman, 22 and TD to Alisa, and 31 to Apo.

Sigh...



Can any QB really make all the throws? Despite having a lesser arm Riley has still made more down field throws than Heaps, more TD passes and more passes in general.



That said, I think the passing game needs to be tweaked a little and pulled in some. More passes to the flats and more screens. More TE involvement.

I am not smart enough to know for sure, but two of the long passes seemed like Riley put them up there so the receiver could MAKE the play and they did. That is better than rifling it 60 yards over the dude's head. Credit the receivers for making great plays both times BUT they do not even have a chance withuot Riley getting it to a spot where they can make the play

I don't think he can make all of the throws to get the greatest results out of our receivers, how about that. There are a lot of times they have their guys beat, but have to come back to fight for the ball. If they would be hit in stride, they would be even more impressive, at least more impressive than they already look getting up and fighting for the ball, making Riley look even more impressive as well. This isn't because I am a Heaps lover, because I think Riley is the best choice that we have used this season, it is just because I have gotten used to quarterbacks who throw the ball in front of the receivers and let them run. Collie wasn't as impressive as he was because he went up and fought for every ball, he was impressive because he was tough when he needed to be, but more importantly he got behind his defender and got the ball on the run. I don't think that he would have even had a chance to go to the NFL, not because of lack of talent, but because he wouldn't have been showcased for his strengths. I think that it is the same thing for our receivers now. Even though they are really good at going up and getting the ball, that doesn't showcase everything they can or could do. They are not blazing fast, but they are fast enough to make things happen.

Sorry for turning this into something about receivers, but I think that it is something to think about. The things Riley does with the ball directly effects them.

No, he can't. It's pretty clear that he has limits on what he can do in the passing game. It's ok, most college QBs do. Some of the starting pro QB's have similar limitations. It's not about the throws he can't make, it's about the one's he can make.



I really think that part of Heaps' regression can be pointed to the fact that he can make all the throws, and because of that the coaches haven't focused in enough on getting him to the point where he can consistently make the throws necessary to win games and be successful.



I think it might be easier to call a game as an OC if your QB is limited, because if you can only do 5 things, you're going to get really good at doing those 5 things. Doman tried to use all of what Heaps can do, instead of starting with the basics and mastering those, and then building on that. I would say that a good portion of the playbook is now not even available, so the play calling is much easier.