@rodderick if not a frozen rope I expect an NFL QB to be able to make that throw on the double post. I listened to Lazar’s pod this morning and it’s something he saw too. His cohost argued that it is fixable and arm strength is something we would see a jump in year 2. I mean the play design and read calls for either a 35-40 yard shot or a 45-50 yard shot. Both shots are more or less to middle of field and not outside the numbers. So either way he has to throw deep on that play. And as for QBs I’ve seen who can throw it it’s way more than 5: Mahomes, Herbert, Lamar (he can throw deep but not outside the numbers although it’s not his strong suit), Baker, Allen, Zach Wilson did it in college, Tannehill, Wentz, Watson, Lawrence did it in college, Hurts (arm strength isn’t an issue), Fitz, Dak, Daniel Jones, Aaron Rodgers, Justin Fields did it in college, Cousins, Goff, Matt Ryan used to be able to (not sure if he still can), Winston, Brady (people under estimate Tom’s arm to this day which is incredibly stupid), Darnold, Kyler, Russ, and Stafford. All of those guys have shown me they can make a 40+ yard throw to the middle of the field with sufficient velocity. Call it a frozen rope or whatever I’ve seen it from the above. It’s not an easy throw but it’s one I expect a top 20 guy to be able to make. If he can’t make that throw why are they calling a play which requires him to do so, you know?
Is it fixable? Probably. It’s a combination of knowing when you should arc it and when you need to rip it and a function of arm strength which will take a year to develop. And as for expectations… rookie QBs are rarely above average compared to the rest of the league. I defined success as Mac having an ANY/A above 20th in the league and in the 15-25 range. So my expectations are that we find lots of flaws in his game early. That doesn’t mean the long term outlook for him is bleak. It just means he has things he needs to work on. His game against Miami was better than vs the Jets. I am not panicking. If anything I’m just tracking his issues and seeing what he will fix this year vs next. Apologies though because I know by pointing out flaws it will seem like I’m down on him - I am not.
Last note - on the arm strength issue it isn’t just one throw. There have been a handful of throws that I thought were weak but there were two good examples of it IMO: the throw to Meyers on the crosser that JMC broke up and the double post concept this week. There are others too but those two stood out to me. And, again, it might not be entirely arm strength vs figuring out when to dial it up vs arc it.