The Inevitable John Beck Breakdown.
by UkRedskin on Oct 19, 2011 9:07 PM EDT
in Redskins Analysis
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PrintWell, here it is. John Beck was officially named the starting Quarterback of the Washington Redskins. I wasn't sure if I should do this or not because its been so heavily talked about, but at the end of the day, it's the big thing at the moment, so lets have a look. For those who missed it, my first post on this forum was actually a breakdown of Beck's pre-season performance against the Colts, which you can go back and see here.
I'm going to have a look at some of the positives and negatives he brings to the table and what better place to start than his first play of the game.
What we have here is a play-action bootleg. Fred Davis is going to cut back across the Oline, and chip the Eagles DE (circled in red) that otherwise gets a free-run. Davis will then run out into the flat and become the check-down target for Beck.
As you (and the Eagles DE) can see here, Beck doesn't get the ball within a yard and a half at best of Ryan Torain on the fake. It's a little thing he does that annoys me, and I've commented on it multiple times before. This isn't going to see it to anyone, certainly not the DE that has a clear view of it. Luckily for Beck, Davis is coming back across the line to chip him.
You can see that Davis delays the rush of the DE enough to stop Beck getting blown up as he comes out of the bootleg. What I like here is that Beck keeps his poise and attempts to make a play, but safely rather than what we've seen from Rex when he throws it into a crowd of defenders.
Beck back-pedals, points to Davis that a play is still on despite the DE in his face.
Beck manages to wait until the very last possible moment to allow Davis time to recover before releasing the ball. He makes the throw at a very awkward angle, back-peddling, front on and different arm angle to avoid the DE's block attempt. It's not what you want to see when a QB is in the pocket, but when he's trying to extend a play and make something out of nothing, he does a great job of getting the ball out to Davis and allow him to go make a play. This is something we've very rarely seen from Grossman.
The very next play is another play-action bootleg. This one isn't so good for Beck.
Once again, not within a yard and a half of the RB on the fake hand-off.
Notice how Torain is completely uncovered as he sprints up the sideline. Beck scans the field for his primary targets before sweeping across to the near side of the picture.
This is a throw Beck absolutely HAS to make. Look at the space Torain would have had to run into! It looks to me like Beck was indecisive as to throw to Davis or Torain, and therefore it landed in the middle of them. If Torain gets that ball in stride, Davis blocks the one defender, that's probably a TD.
Next up, lets have a look at his 12 yard run.
Torain actually motioned out of the backfield to WR (on the nearest side). Beck has a 5 step drop. We have a lot of 'in' routes, Jabar Gaffney at the top of the screen runs a 'go' route and Davis runs an 'out' (if you're not sure on WR route patterns, check my twitter, I did a quick whiteboard draw up on the WR route tree).
Beck gets to the top of his drop, his primary target would appear to be Davis on the 'out' route. He is forced to wait because he see's that Moss is in contact with the defender, blocking Davis's route. Also, quick note, Oline does a nice job on protection here.
Beck decides to make a move. He breaks the pocket and starts to scramble, when in actual fact, the Oline had a fairly decent protection. I guess the fact that the timing was put off by Davis's route being temporarily blocked off made Beck's instincts kick in. But I cannot work out why he didn't just throw the ball to Davis here. Davis has plenty of room to run into, and Beck had enough time to re-set or re-plant his feet to allow him to get as much accuracy as possible. But for whatever reason, he doesn't, and he takes off.
Beck shows off some pretty nice elusiveness for a QB here and manages to dodge the diving DB's tackle.
The other complaint I have on this play is protecting the ball. You can see here he's still gripping it like he's ready to throw it. He's nearly 10 yards past the line of scrimmage, so obviously he can't throw the ball. He needs to tuck it, because hanging it out like that is BEGGING for a defender to strip it loose.
Moving on now to the incomplete pass to Gaffney on a deep crossing pattern.
It's yet another play-action pass, when we've yet to see Beck actually hand the ball off in this game. I've highlighted Gaffney's route as a deep crossing pattern.
Now here's what I really like about this play. Beck senses the pressure from the oncoming Dlineman at the top of his drop.
He does an excellent job stepping up into the pocket, keeping his eyes down-field the whole time allowing his blockers to recover. He gets the ball out quickly before the pass-rusher has any chance to adjust.
Unfortunately, he sells Gaffney short. While the ball is catchable, its a very tough diving catch that is going back on himself to get to the ball. Beck needed to hit Gaffney in stride (in the black circle) to allow him to make an easier catch and then break up-field or get out of bounds.
Here's another example of a missed throw.
Davis is going to run a quick out. The Eagles are sending a big blitz. Everyone lined up on the line (in the red circle) is coming, its not a bluff.
Beck does an excellent job getting the ball out quickly before any pressure can get to him, and knows exactly the hot read he has to go to.
But he puts it in the dirt again, leaving the Redskins a difficult 3rd and 15. Beck can't allow this kind of thing to happen as often as we saw it in this game.
So, having missed that throw, we're left 3rd and 15 needing a big play to stay in the game.
Moss is going to run what looks like a deep in route, before cutting back outside.
Beck gets to the top of his drop, feels the pressure from both DE's, and pushes off his back foot up into the pocket.
Having avoided the pressure, he steps nicely into his throw.
And he hits Santana Moss at the first down marker with a nice bit of zip on the ball. Very good play by Beck and something we need to see more consistently from him. If I'm being picky, he could have hit Moss in stride as he cut back outside and let him run freely after the catch, but he got us a 1st down on 3rd and 15, so I can't complain.
And Finally! The last play I'll look at quickly is the 33 yard pass to Terrence Austin.
On this play, we have Beck in the gun. Roy Helu is the check-down target on a quick crossing pattern. Davis is going to run a deep comeback, and the two WR's at the top of the screen are running go routes. Austin is circled.
Beck takes a hitch, and steps into his throw. He does a really nice job of reading the coverage and recognising quickly that he has two go routes against one deep covering DB, so he gets the ball out quickly.
He throws a very accurate deep pass that hits Austin perfectly in stride (the ball was a touch wobbly, but we can let him off this time) for the big gain, and puts us in scoring position on the 2.
So all in all, it's a pretty mixed bag. I think overall he can big successful in this offence, and I really like the bootleg's that he should bring to this offence. However, it's clear to me that he is going to need to work on his consistency if he's going to keep the starting position.
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As always, a great breakdown!
Do you think Beck improves our offense?
Beck to the future!
by The Shanaplan on Oct 19, 2011 6:07 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Improve our offence? Not sure.
I think he will allow us to open up a bit more of the playbook that we’ve come to expect with his mobility on the play-action bootlegs. But his consistency is an issue. He also doesn’t often throw to a receiver in stride all too often. So our yard’s after catch could be lowered (from an already low position) because players are having to stop to make the catch, making them easier to tackle.
Whether this improves the offence, that remains to be seen. He certainly seemed to provide a spark against the Eagles and got the offence going. So its possible.
Follow me on Twitter: @UkRedskin1 feel free to give suggestions on what you'd like to see broken down each week.
Great Post by the way
I have to disagree with you on the whole “consistency” issue that you believe that Beck has. How can anyone have consistency issues when he has never really had a shot to sustain any type of game time? Beck’s sample size is way too small for him to have “consistency” issues. I also wanted to point out one thing that I think a lot of bloggers are neglecting. Beck was extremely rusty on Sunday having not had “game action” at all this season. I don’t know anyone (and I used to play high school ball) who can just go into the game cold and put up numbers equal to that of a long-time starter. Not saying that you are calling him terrible, because you are giving him credit, however, I just wanted to point out the fact that he was very rusty and still put up serviceable numbers for this offense.
by KonartistNupe on Oct 19, 2011 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions
smh
. How can anyone have consistency issues when he has never really had a shot to sustain any type of game time?
For those who missed it, my first post on this forum was actually a breakdown of Beck’s pre-season performance against the Colts, which you can go back and see here.
I don't think rusty explains...
why he underthrow’s 3 guys. Maybe you’re right though, consistency may have been a tad harsh given that we have a small sample size to look at.
Follow me on Twitter: @UkRedskin1 feel free to give suggestions on what you'd like to see broken down each week.
chemistry
I know beck hasnt done a great job at hitting recievers in stride but im pretty sure he hasen’t had the reps with the 1st team to build that chemistry. I think austin will be his go-to guy since they worked all last year on their own to build that chemistry. And i feel like he can hit a reciever in stride. Didnt he hit paul on stride on that crossing route during preseason? When they were both practicing 2nd string? Correct me if im wrong.
by skinzaholic56 on Oct 20, 2011 2:28 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
There were so many things I saw from Beck that Grossman can't or won't do.
especially (like you said) his poise outside the pocket and patiently waiting for Davis to get up instead of “fuck it, I’m going deep.” Also, Grossman steps up in the pocket maybe once or twice a game, which limits his time, because stepping up keeps the tackle between the DE and the QB. Beck just seemed to have a lot more time than Rex, and I think that’s why.
Also, we’ll never see Rex run for a 12 yard gain, so yeah.
I think once he has some chemistry with the receivers and develops a rhythm, Beck will vastly improve our offense. We’ll likely even score upwards of 23 points/game. But that’s just my take.
Good post, hopefully we’ll see some of the negatives you mentioned disappear after a week of practice and film review with the first team.
that's why I said it like 50 times already, but I'll say it again.
Terrence Austin has to be on the field for every play. Beck and Austin have a connection from working on the practice squad for a year. Austin was the only receiver he was throwing to for a long time.
The thing with bootlegs...
…you have to be able to sell the play-action fake at least reasonably well. Hell, a good chunk of this offense is predicated upon play-action passes.
What do we know that Beck does worse than Grossman…he can’t sell the play-fake at all. Which means linebackers, d-linemen, d-backs…all they have to do is watch Beck for a split second and see how close he is to the running back. I expect Beck will be doing a lot of throwing out-of-bounds on bootlegs because the defense knew immediately that he was rolling out.
I do believe that Terrance Austin will become a weapon for Beck, because Austin and Beck have a chemistry together. However, Beck needs to stop with the worm-burners. At least Grossman’s interceptions were attempts to make plays gone horribly wrong…I just can’t stand a QB who can’t get a short-to-medium range pass to a receiver in the air. That is why Beck scares me…I think he has the potential to lead us to 3 wins in 5 games like Rex did, but he also has the potential to throw 6 lame-duck ints in a game, too.
Also, we need more Stallworth...it seems the reserves have good chemistry with Beck, which is natural given his back-up status so far.
by The Agent C 83 on Oct 19, 2011 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Speaking of Stallworth
I noticed that on Beck’s 12 yard run (see picture #13 in the sequence above), Stallworth was upfield laying a good hit to clear more space for Beck. He’s a better addition to the team than I think a lot of people give him credit for.
I thought Stallworth...
Had done everything he’d been asked to throughout pre-season and done it well. I was willing to see him cut just to let younger guys have a chance, but was fine with him making the final team. Only thing he has done wrong so far was that drop on the deep ball from Grossman against philly.
Follow me on Twitter: @UkRedskin1 feel free to give suggestions on what you'd like to see broken down each week.
Love the title of the post
My first reaction to it was “Damn someone already expects Beck to have a breakdown”.
Also kudos to you for calling Davis getting put out wide.
To be honest
I always thought that Fred Davis would make a really good WR. When he came to camp all trimmed and ready to rumble, I honestly thought he would become our third receiver with AA and Moss.
by The Agent C 83 on Oct 19, 2011 7:17 PM EDT up reply actions
I thought the same
before we brought in Gaffney and knew about just how serious Cooley’s injury was.
Also, in response to PAinfUL, I wouldn’t say I called Davis being put outside. It was just a little idea I had on how we could attack them.
Follow me on Twitter: @UkRedskin1 feel free to give suggestions on what you'd like to see broken down each week.
Great breakdown...great job as usual
My only comment is what you touched on at the end. Beck can make all of the right reads that he wants, but if he can make the throws, it is useless. And that includes throwing a catchable ball. The lack of a spiral was incredibly apparent from the stands. It likely was a primary cause for Stallworth’s drop, and the three underthrows.
Maybe it was jitters, but I doubt it. He has a curve ball type throwing motion that I would assume is extremely difficult to maintain a tight spiral. It is very easy to see in the video, but almost impossible to capture in screen caps.
You may want to link to the youtube vid posted on Monday for anyone that wants to see the actual plays in motion. If you want to get tricky, you can even link to the URL at the current time for each play to save people time. I can probably pull the URLs if you need me to.
Thanks again.
If you pay attention to that "wobbly pass"
Beck’s arm angle was altered as his RG was pushed back into him. I have seen him throw some wobblers before, however, that particular play was not the result of a bad pass.
by KonartistNupe on Oct 19, 2011 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions
If you pay attention to almost every throw
they were wounded ducks.
Did you happen to intentionally ignore the other 4 throws I mentioned?
And here is the kicker….you are talking about the throw to Gaffney, not Stallworth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AIU-bUtEaLY#t=57s
Thanks for playing…
If you are going to try to refute a comment, I would recommend that it be about the correct topic AND relate to the entire comment not just cherry picked words.
It's okay
If the Beck Kool-Aid turns out to be mixed with salt instead of sugar, you can claim to be a prophet :)
by The Agent C 83 on Oct 19, 2011 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions
I think they are both bad
but I think he is more mobile and makes better reads…I just think we are in bad shape either way…
if he turns into a pure game manager, we have a shot. But if Kyle doesn’t get it through his head that he doesn’t have the personnel for his offense, like Brian Bilichick did, we will be in the luck sweepstakes.
It is what it is…
slow down
Let’s see I’d he can get a win first before we start gettin him some T&A.
Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City "Sailor wanna hump-hump" bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.
by CJHutch on Oct 20, 2011 12:30 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
On Davis' slip out into the flat
and falling down after shedding his block… I just want it to be known that John Beck’s leadership WILLED Davis to get back up, make the catch, and run for a 1st down…
Grossman never did that…………………………….
by Dammit Cerrato... on Oct 20, 2011 1:57 AM EDT reply actions
If our new O-line mix can block for Beck we will score over 30 points this week. We will have multiple 30 point games with Beck at qb.
Beck makes this offense more dynamic, He might miss some short throws. But the red zone offense will now be very productive because of his mobility and arm. We will be similar to the Saints when AA gets healthy. We will be able to score from any point on the field.
I think you need to lay off the Kool-Aid...
Beck to the future!
by The Shanaplan on Oct 20, 2011 5:34 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City "Sailor wanna hump-hump" bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.
Haha. No problem
I was showing a buddy how to post a picture. I PREVIEWED IT, meant to press cancel, posted instead. Oh well, not the worst of mistakes.
Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City "Sailor wanna hump-hump" bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.
I understand
this is your allusion to the way Redskins fans are “laying” in wait for a true leader at the QB position, begging…nay, aching…for a man to come along that has the skills and fortitude to take us to the “promised land”.
Or your using Hogs Haven as your post-masturbatory cool down session.
Either way…kudos!
by Jim America on Oct 20, 2011 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
How do you know
I didn’t unearth a picture of UK’s girlfriend? She is British, ya know.
Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City "Sailor wanna hump-hump" bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.
I think this week is going to be painful to watch but we will still come up with the W
All I hope is that Beck can be smarter than Rex, he has watched as Rex threw his opportunity and hopefully he will see what he needs to do to take his.
Nice write up as always.
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