Why One Intro Presser Sentence Could Change Everything & Renew Baker's Promise

[Mind Character]

Alex Van Pelt gets it.

In the Introduction presser from Van Pelt he immediately suggested that Baker bypass the right foot forward punch-drop mechanic a la Drew Brees in favor of the right foot back staggered open hip drop a la Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Those changes are specific to shotgun footwork, but Van Pelt will also be changing Baker's footwork under center as well.

The most overlooked issue with Baker Mayfield and the offense this past year was how Baker's slow, inefficient punch-drop was causing him to be late with his eyes, , out of rhythm, out of timing with receivers, late on actual throws, and much slower regarding time to desired drop depth relative to his peers around the league

Ken Zampese "got it" prior by drilling specific footwork with particular route concepts/plays which caused Baker's punch-step to be far more efficient, quick, with no wasted movement his first year.

As Van Pelt stated, "the feet never lie."

He's all about the details of footwork, eye-training, and preparation.

We have a long way to go before we can be excited about or celebrate anything, but with Van Pelt's hiring we may very well get to actually see what Baker is and what he isn't.

Not much has really been made of it yet, but it could be a game changer assuming Baker's also accountable to all the other QB improvement responsibilities, Andrew Berry can improve the team around him, and our OC can put him in successful situations.

Below is why:

 

On 12/7/2019 at 8:52 PM, Mind Character said:

Kollman says it the best when he says "late feet equal late eyes which equals late throws." Funniest thing is one of my old college roommates who played in the CFL and now works for a sports analytics firm has been hammering that "Baker's punch drop is going to be the end of him unless he switches it up" since the very beginning of his rookie year. My focus has mostly been on other aspects of his mechanics. lol. 

It's crazy how much slower his mechanical operation is to get to his drop depth as well as how deep his drop depth is often kills OL blocking angles on the edge.

After I sent this video to my old roommate, he sent me back a jaw-dropping statistic that he and his co-workers have been working all year on to provide a new timing metric to sell to the NFL Next Gen Stat Directors. It's likely going to be a for pay stats package like PFF but one component is drop depth time. He sent me this:" The Data represents a 9 game sample size this season. Compared to the top 12 QBR QBs, Baker Mayfield's Average Drop Time to Drop Depth is 0.687 seconds longer on average for 3 step drops relative to the field, 0.704 seconds longer on average for 3.5 step drops (slight start/end hitch) relative to the field, and 1.422 seconds longer on average for 5 step drops or more relative to the field."

In a word or two: F-IN Mind Blowing statistic. And it honestly it gives me so much hope for Baker's future. Because unlike what Kollman suggested, I actually think can change his drop mechanics without it screwing him up and that he can change to a staggered quick drop without a punch step like Tom Brady or at least a quick punch quick shuffle drop like Drew Brees. 

It means that if Baker can cut his drop depth time to closer to the top 12 QBs his eyes, vision, and timing could allow him to take the next step.

Play-action and working from under center literally saves it all. It magically fixes everything. We've all been saying that as amateur football analyst and analytics enthusiasts. From under center, Baker is further up in the pocket when he hits is drop depth protect the outside rush angles and neutralizing gap penetrating DLineman that don't shoot gaps because of the treat of the run. In the end, Baker has space to work and let his talent shine. His eyes and footwork are forced to be on time because of the rhythm of play-action.

The play-action and really under-center numbers are insanely different from that shotgun 3-wide garbage Freddie's been going to all year.  Coming out of college, tons of people thought Baker needed to operate out of shotgun exclusively to have success. Turns out the truth is just the opposite.

Right now, Play-action is the quick fix until Baker can make the mechanical adjustments; it's the schematic fix. Kollman said it best again "Play action caters to Baker's psychology  regarding how he responds to the threat of pressure" and it creates the rhythm and timing element that's lacking our cold shotgun attack.

Ultimately, there's a path forward to success. Freddie needs to recreate his attack to focus on creativity from under center that heavily relies on play-action, RT/RG and to a lesser extent LT need upgrading, Baker needs to quicken his drop mechanical operation and/or get rid of his methodical punch step, and Baker and the skill players need to invest elite level work in developing chemistry and understanding.

There's hope. It's not broken to the point where there's no way forward. 

Can they do it? Sh*t .. I really really F-in hope so. There's never been a bigger off-season moment in recent Browns history. It's time to rise to the occasion.

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Mind Character

[bruceb]

5 minutes ago, Mind Character said:

"late feet equal late eyes which equals late throws."

This says it all.

Now let's see how Mayfield responds.

[MWil23]

It's amazing. AVP said out loud what the rest of us have said for 6 months. 

FF Browns Forum>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Monken/Kitchens

CONFIRMED

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

 

48 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

FF Browns Forum>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Cleveland Browns franchise for the last 20 years 

CONFIRMED

Fify.

[MWil23]

5 minutes ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

 

Fify.

The truth of that is depressing.

In all honesty, you could literally have had our forum since its inception in 2004 do a public poll and draft accordingly and we'd be in a MUCH better spot. That's not an exaggeration.

[Bonanza23]

18 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

The truth of that is depressing.

In all honesty, you could literally have had our forum since its inception in 2004 do a public poll and draft accordingly and we'd be in a MUCH better spot. That's not an exaggeration.

Sad but true. Probably even @LETSGOBROWNIES could have done a better job. 

[LETSGOBROWNIES]

1 minute ago, Bonanza23 said:

Sad but true. Probably even @LETSGOBROWNIES could have done a better job. 

 

[Bonanza23]

48 minutes ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

 

😂

😘

[NudeTayne]

3 hours ago, Bonanza23 said:

Sad but true. Probably even @LETSGOBROWNIES could have done a better job. 

 

3 hours ago, LETSGOBROWNIES said:

 

 

2 hours ago, Bonanza23 said:

😂

😘

Sheesh. Just send each other pict...never mind.

[Kiwibrown]

The browns hive mind,  vs the browns gm  since 99 is about 17 wins to 3 loses im am guessing. 

Edited February 21, 2020 by Kiwibrown

[DawgX]

2 hours ago, Kiwibrown said:

The browns hive mind vs the browns gm  since 99 is about 17 wins to 3 loses img am guessing. 

Kiwi is Mind Character's alt account when Mind Character is drunk.

Can @NudeTayne confirm?

[BleedTheClock]

I have no idea how the Browns GM's could have missed so badly on guys in the first few rounds.

 

I miss all the time on late round guys, but I can honestly say I wouldn't have missed very often on any Browns 1st rounders.

2009: I would have taken Rey Maualuga. That would have been a whiff.
2012: I would have taken Justin Blackmon. That would have been a whiff.
2013: I would have taken Tyler Eifert or Chance Warmack. That would have been a whiff.

 

Outside of those three, I feel I would have far exceeded our GM's. That's sad.