only did faster defenders mean fiercer pass rushes, but the
throwing lanes also became narrower and closed more
quickly; smarter defenses exposed offensive predictability;
and the increased availability of film allowed opponents to
pick apart a quarterback’s tendencies and tailor schemes
to exploit his weaknesses. Meanwhile, the quarterbacks’
coaches were getting older and more stubborn.
“Quarterbacks have to evolve,” says John Beck, a former
NFL quarterback who trains Zach Wilson, Matt Ryan
and Trey Lance, among others. “Look what defenses can
do. Pass rushes. Coverage. Everyone tries to use all their
weapons. Athleticism is one of those weapons. Everyone is
going to use it. So the quarterback cannot stay the same.”
The reasons they became quarterbacks were largely
homogeneous as well—a poorly kept secret. Quarterbacks
had to be the right size, throw the right way, play in the
right offense and somehow survive the massive collegiate
filtration process before making it to the draft. Many
talented quarterbacks at lower levels were moved off the
position as they neared the pros, lessening the talent pool.
Rodgers’s mastery of the NFL, which bloomed over the
course of a decade, caused some at the highest levels of the
game to rethink how they identify and groom the position.
The emergence of Mahomes, Allen, Murray and other bril-
liant young passers who are as comfortable and accurate
on the move as they are in a padless game of soft toss,
toppled the barriers altogether. Mahomes, like Rodgers,
ushered in a new maneuver. It comes on run-pass option
(RPO) plays, when the quarterback takes a shotgun snap
and presents the ball for a handoff while reading a defender
at the linebacker level; if that defender plays the run, the
QB pulls the ball back and throws instead. Quarterbacks
passing in an RPO used to reset their frame completely
to use a traditional motion and mechanics. Mahomes, how-
ever, began making RPO throws with his feet still set up for
a handoff, rather than targeted toward the receiver, so that
he could get the ball out much faster. Like the Foot Pop,
it has become ubiquitous in the NFL.
The quarterback species now had its cultural equivalent
to larger toe pads and longer limbs to pass on to future
members. Around them, an infrastructure of coaches,
agents, trainers and parents began to grapple with the
questions necessary to hone the skills for throws that
could, regardless of the defense and coverage, still result
in a 40-yard touchdown.
What if we let our best athlete play quarterback?
What if we welcomed the volatility that might come
along with that?DOWN PAT
Mahomes ( below) and his off-platform throws
helped pave the way for QBs like Fields (right).