More on Rodgers and ball release
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Oct. 15, 2009 3:03 p.m.
Green Bay - For my story in today's paper, I took a closer look at the issue of Aaron Rodgers' ball release.
Did he holding the ball too long against the Minnesota Vikings, which coach Mike McCarthy more than strongly hinted about on Monday? (And for the record, we are only taking issue with the Vikings game because it was clear McCarthy wanted to get rid of the ball quicker against their defense and in the dome, a point which I made in the story)
If you read the story in the print editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, please read the online version. For space reasons, the second half of the story is vastly different.
There was also a chart that did not run. Here it is:
Keep in mind that Rodgers' target release is "around" 3 seconds for deep drops or play-action, and "under 2 seconds" for three-step drops and under. Considering Rodgers (68%) and Favre (71%) dropped back in three steps or under a similar amount of times, they should be in the same ballpark in the final column for dropback percentage. They were not.
For the record, Rodgers' "release" on the sacks was taken on first contact. On his two runs, it was taken when he made the decision to run.
Here are a few additional charts.
This one breaks Rodgers' passing with a release time of 2.25 seconds, where he was clearly most effective.
Note where most of the sacks occurred and his dropback percentage. It seems Rodgers would have been better served, at least in that specific game against that specific opponent, sticking to McCarthy's gameplan. Even if that meant he needed to alter his play for that game.
The following chart breaks down each quarterback's ball release:
Note where Favre and Rodgers were each over 20%.
Finally, extrapolating on the previous chart, here's how each quarterback fared according to release time.
A few other notes:
* As we mentioned in the story, the biggest difference in Favre and Rodgers is that Favre knows he has no choice but to get rid of the football. He can't scramble anymore. Rodgers can run and his legs are a huge weapon that he wants to keep as an option. Clearly he would rather run if nothing's open than just throw a ball away. He has that option. Favre does not. Rodgers is still learning how to balance both. Against teams like the Rams, Lions and Browns, that usually isn't a problem. But against a better defense, like the Vikings, Rodgers seems to have trouble adjusting. It will be interesting to see if has similar problems against the better defenses the Packers will face, like the 49ers, Ravens, Steelers and Seahawks. Rodgers might be better served having two gameplans based on opponents.
* Favre continues to be a marvel when it comes to the different ways he releases the ball -- but still in a timely matter. Not counting the 7.33 seconds he had on the 25-yard completion, Favre either pump-faked, rolled out, had a short boot, performed play-action or went to his backside read on 13 of his 31 throws (41.9%). His average release time on those was still 2.62 seconds. His stats: 10 of 13 for 91 yards and 3 TDs.
* Rodgers did the same -- throwing out his rollout sack by Ben Leber which took 6 seconds and a run, where he took off after 7.62 seconds -- on 13 of his 47 dropbacks (27.6%). His average release time on those plays was 3.71. His stats: 7 of 10 for 126 yards and 1 TD, two sacks and a run.
* On almost all, Favre is doing those extracurricular activities with the intent of freeing a receiver. Rodgers does that on occasion, but not nearly that often.
* Here are the times Rodgers had before being sacked from lowest to highest: 2.13, 2.53, 2.78, 2.94, 3.07, 3.75, 4.22, 6.00. Average: 3.42.
* And for all the talk of Rodgers being pounded all game, I only found two legit quarterback hits on plays other than the sacks.