42 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED | SI.COM
to receiver Braxton Berrios, who caught the ball and ran
untouched for a score.›
In Atlanta, Sean McEvoy, a trainer with QB Takeover,
a firm that works with Deshaun Watson, Jalen Hurts,
Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor and potential 2021 first-round
pick Malik Willis of Liberty, runs drills that simulate the
evasion of a defender, escape to the sideline and eventual
off-platform throw. The field is dotted with cones that prompt
the quarterback to drop back, sprint shuffle to his blind side,
sprint in the other direction, then spin back toward the blind
side, until he releases a throw from a potentially vulnerable,
unset position. Willis completed a pass comically similar to
the path taken in this drill against Virginia Tech a year ago.
McEvoy, like all his peers, stresses that traditional
fundamental training is still a prerequisite—the basicyou talk to about the f lood of daz-
zling passes and polished quar-
terback play, you get a different
snapshot of the landscape.›
In Orange County, Calif.,
former NFL quarterback
Jordan Palmer, who trains Allen,
Joe Burrow, Sam Darnold and
Trevor Lawrence, among others,
tries to first create biomechani-
cally sound “consistent movement
patterns” that can aid a quarter-
back in finding constant equi-
librium regardless of whether he
has two feet or just one toe touch-
ing the ground, not unlike what
Stroupe wants for Mahomes.
Then, Palmer will run an exer-
cise in which receivers of differ-
ent ages and skill levels are posi-
tioned out wide. (The age part
is key, he says, because it forces
quarterbacks to learn to judge
speeds and angles instanta-
neously; some of the pass catchers
are only in eighth grade.) The
passer will drop back into a foot-
work drill, chopping his feet, for
example, through a rope ladder
on the ground. Meanwhile, one
of the receivers will take off and
f lash a sign that indicates one of
three different throw strengths
needed: a hard, driving pass; a
medium-range pass; or a f loat-
ing touch pass. At the same time
the quarterback must deal with
some kind of chaos enveloping
his lower body—for instance,
stepping through an agility lad-
der—simulating a muddy pocket.
He has to focus less on what routes should look like and
where the ball should be, and more on turning himself into
a central processing unit that can react to anything. This
makes potentially improbable throws feel almost routine.
“Quarterbacks don’t make decisions before we call
the play,” Palmer says. “[They] make visual decisions.”
The perfect example, Palmer says, came in a game
between the Jets and the 49ers a year ago. Darnold
ripped himself away from San Francisco defensive tackle
Kevin Givens, who was pulling on the quarterback’s jersey,
trying to drag him down. After nearly tumbling during
the escape, which caused him to cradle the ball like a
fullback bracing for contact, Darnold righted his stance,
shuff led to his left, and, while his body spun backward
in a clockwise direction, hooked a curveball-shaped passQBEVOLUTIONROB (^) T
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STAKE YOUR POSITION
Allen benefits from offseason training that
emphasizes balance as a passer even when
his feet are not under him.