Jake Haener (4 Viewers)

[LAhotsauce]

I'd almost like to go back to the days where you could only discuss football with the people around you and if you wanted to call Buddy D.

Now, every single piece of minutiea from every play is dissected for players that have barely had any NFL snaps. If they don't look like Joe Montana or Reggie White day 1 then..."I'm not impressed."

Bressee and Foskey are bad, Miller is slow, Haener has a noodle arm, and AT Perry is a confirmed 6th round steal.

 

[Belfast Saint]

For a first day our, I thought he did well. Started slowly and not helped by his receivers. Then eventually he got into the flow and started making plays. Didn't think he looked out of place at all and wherever his arm strength falls on the scale, I didn't notice any issues getting the job done. Kid has moxie which I like.

I'm pleased the NOF folk were disappointed because it means that the game performance wasn't at the same level as they've seen in practice....hopefully that means there's more to come.

 

[Merl]

Isn't Strief working with Sean Payton? When did he comment about Haener?

Stinchcomb was the color guy in the booth. Not sure why others have been saying Strief.

 

[Merl]

I think he's headed to the PS. I don't see him on the 53 as I don't think there is much danger of him getting signed to anyone's 53.

He would never make it past waivers

 

[BarBar]

I thought he did relatively well for first NFL action.

 

[Rouxble]

I’m surprised that’s your take. The consensus is he doesn’t have exceptional arm strength, and that’s certainly true. Curry described it as good but not great. Might be some outlier opinions that describe his arm as weak, but that seems like a lazy conclusion that if it’s not notably strong, it must be weak. From what I’ve read, most seem to think it’s average / good enough. I didn’t have concerns watching him today.

Eventually we’ll get an opportunity to look at two similar throws between Haener and Carr to see the difference in the time between the QB’s hands breaking from the ball and the ball reaching the target. The closest one I could find from yesterday was around a 25 yard throw for both, with Haener getting there a quarter second late. That amount seems trivial, but people fawn over players that might have a 40 time that is less than a tenth of a second faster than another player at the same position.

Also, I remember a great interview with Roman Harper where he discussed that one false step playing defense in the NFL can be the difference between 4th down and a touchdown. The margin for error is so small. The same goes if the ball hangs in the air to allow extra step(s) for the defense to make a play.

 

[Saint Spud]

Eventually we’ll get an opportunity to look at two similar throws between Haener and Carr to see the difference in the time between the QB’s hands breaking from the ball and the ball reaching the target. The closest one I could find from yesterday was around a 25 yard throw for both, with Haener getting there a quarter second late. That amount seems trivial, but people fawn over players that might have a 40 time that is less than a tenth of a second faster than another player at the same position.

Also, I remember a great interview with Roman Harper where he discussed that one false step playing defense in the NFL can be the difference between 4th down and a touchdown. The margin for error is so small. The same goes if the ball hangs in the air to allow extra step(s) for the defense to make a play.

If we’re comparing him to Carr (and Jameis), then yeah his arm is gonna look subpar.

Those two guys have upper tier arm talent.

 

[Rouxble]

If we’re comparing him to Carr (and Jameis), then yeah his arm is gonna look subpar.

Those two guys have upper tier arm talent.

Exactly the point though, I’m comparing him to a 32yo QB who would be considered a mid tier starter in the league for most of his career. I wouldn’t compare him to top five guys in their prime because almost no one will meet that standard.

It’s very rare for a player to slip to day three with no deficiencies in their game. Haener does seem to process quickly as advertised, but I think his arm will limit him more than most fans want to admit.

 

[Saint Spud]

Exactly the point though, I’m comparing him to a 32yo QB who would be considered a mid tier starter in the league for most of his career. I wouldn’t compare him to top five guys in their prime because almost no one will meet that standard.

It’s very rare for a player to slip to day three with no deficiencies in their game. Haener does seem to process quickly as advertised, but I think his arm will limit him more than most fans want to admit.

Getting the ball there late isn’t just about arm talent, though.

And again, I don’t think the discussion is whether Haener it’s top level arm talent. It was referring to it as “weak,” which is quite an overstatement, imo.

 

[lilvipa221]

Haener is exactly what I thought he would be. Cerebral guy who can make some plays but he will never be a starting QB in the NFL. He will make a career as a backup QB who can come in spot duty to keep the offense moving if the starter go down. You could see alot of the struggles he will have to overcome due to his size. Accuracy will come and go from the pocket. Drew was a unicorn and should never be used to compare every small QB that comes into the NFL. If he was 6 foot 3 he would have been a first round pick and could absolutely be a starter.

 

[Chris]

Personally, I would like to see how the rest of the preseason goes before writing off a rookie in his first preseason game. I thought he had good zip on his passes and his decision making was decisive. He also finished strong after some early shakiness.

 

[Nightshade]

I am not getting my hopes up. I watched Bennet for the Rams and he seemed much more poised even with his early jitters as well and the ball jumped out of his hands a little better than Haener. I don’t see us keeping him on the 53. We just have too many needs and we have Jameis who isn’t good but at least has experience and we have Taysom. Can ee keep 4 TEs and 3 QBs?

The league now allows an extra roster spot that can only be used on a 3rd QB so why would you want to see him released?

 

[HouseCall]

Haener is exactly what I thought he would be. Cerebral guy who can make some plays but he will never be a starting QB in the NFL. He will make a career as a backup QB who can come in spot duty to keep the offense moving if the starter go down. You could see alot of the struggles he will have to overcome due to his size. Accuracy will come and go from the pocket. Drew was a unicorn and should never be used to compare every small QB that comes into the NFL. If he was 6 foot 3 he would have been a first round pick and could absolutely be a starter.

While I’m hopeful that Haener has some kind of ability to be an eventual starter, I have to agree with exactly what you said.

I see more of a Colt McCoy than a Brees - and that’s not an insult. McCoy always made the most of his opportunities but was mostly relegated to a backup role behind more prototypical QBs.

But I could be wrong. It happens a lot.

 

[MikeyF]

Haener has a very low windup and release point for a guy that is barely 6' tall.

This is a big difference between him and Drew Brees.
DB had an over the top release that maximized his height.

This also affects his arm strength and velocity.
He can fix this flaw in his mechanics but NFL players normally don't...

He is probably a career backup unless he changes his mechanics.

 

[DavidM]

Eventually we’ll get an opportunity to look at two similar throws between Haener and Carr to see the difference in the time between the QB’s hands breaking from the ball and the ball reaching the target. The closest one I could find from yesterday was around a 25 yard throw for both, with Haener getting there a quarter second late. That amount seems trivial, but people fawn over players that might have a 40 time that is less than a tenth of a second faster than another player at the same position.

Also, I remember a great interview with Roman Harper where he discussed that one false step playing defense in the NFL can be the difference between 4th down and a touchdown. The margin for error is so small. The same goes if the ball hangs in the air to allow extra step(s) for the defense to make a play.

You're making the case that Carr has a stronger arm than Haener, which I don't think anybody disagrees with. For that matter, arm strength is on a spectrum and not really a strong / weak binary.

I've posted an article before in which the author does a good job of analyzing the arm talent of the QBs in the 2020 draft. I've posted it a couple of times that I remember, so I'll just link back to the more recent post rather than sharing another direct link to the article. (It now requires a free account to read but I think it's something you might actually enjoy, given your interest in data-analysis.)

He actually discusses and analyzes the relationship between throwing variables and margin of error, so I think you'll appreciate that.

Anyway, if arm strength was the only factor in determining a QBs success, I would agree with you, but we already know it isn't. Brees never had heralded arm strength but he made up for that with elite pocket awareness, mechanics, and decision making. If Haener is to be successful, he will have to hone a similar skillset, and fortunately, there are some indications he possesses the raw skills to build on.

I'm more worried about his size than his arm talent and I certainly don't think he's anything close to a sure thing, but if he doesn't pan out, I don't think it will be because he doesn't possess enough arm strength.