Question Why Can't Brees Throw Downfield? (1 Viewer)

[SubmarineMike]

Brees talked about working to gain more strength in the offseason. I found when the season began, he had more zip on his ball than I had seen in a couple seasons. His placement was a bit off and I found the ball got away from him a tad, even on underneath throws...but they were zipping. When you add strength or work on different muscle groups, your throws, when using the same mechanics need to adjust. With no preseason, there was the fact of everyone "getting on the same page". We saw a lot of evidence of this throughout the season. The only real downfield threat has been Sanders and you just can't send him deep every play. Cook has had mental errors, young WR's in and out of the lineup due to other injuries and "next man up" in a complicated offense. There were MANY instances of WR's just running wrong route or miscommunication. Brees had one BAD throw in that TB game for an INT...that is on Brees. The others were more miscommunication than a horrible throw.

He had compression tape on his right shoulder later in season and if he injured his rotator cuff, that is significant. If had a "foot", that is significant.

If he gets back to healthy, I have no problem with him coming back. He can still toss the deep ball, but you need receivers open downfield to catch them. We don't have the freak athlete receivers like TB, who can just pluck "50/50" balls down field. It is tough to say if being injured and this Covid season will make him hungry for a fresh run again on his own terms or if he doesn't want to battle the possible injuries again.

I am really curious if this is truly the case. I remember the reports during the offseason about his throwing ability, and was looking forward to the season to see how it worked. Not sure how early his injuries took their toll, and if there was ever any hope of it coming true.

I want to see exciting offensive football again, regardless of who the QB is. Coach and Brees have been playing brilliant strategic football that is not exciting to watch. I may actually prefer to watch a 5,000 yard throwing 7-9 season than an abbreviated play-off season.

 

[SAINT BIGAL]

Hell I can barely dunk anymore.

Hey Drago, I'm almost 56 years old but you give me a dozen doughnuts and a cup of coffee... I can still dunk with the best of them!

 

[Doug B]

also if u look when he throws now it seems like he has to put some much effort into now.

This. There was a play early in the second half in the last Tampa game: he sent the ball maybe 35 yards downfield to the left side of the formation. Can't remember who was the intended target -- I think Sanders. Point is, though, that this particular pass was like a rainbow, not a rope. And not even a shallow rainbow ... dang near a lob. And his throwing motion was very close to being a Hail Mary throwing motion, like he was putting his all into it.

 

[NOLAJM504]

It's age declining but what's not talked about is

Drew can stil throw the ball down the field. He can put air underneath it and get it 30-40 yards no issue. What he's lost more than arm strength is his ability to place the ball where he wants deep. His Ball location on deep balls has declined. Interestingly enough madden gets it partially right...they have arm strength but they also have deep ball accuracy. That's going to be the biggest thing Drew has lost as he never had great arm strength to start out.

Spud right above me sums it up well. That's why we put so much effort into the Oline on the back side of Drew's career. Previously a lot of our high resources went to skill positions. Ingram, Meachem, Bush, Cooks were all 1st round picks. Then you saw a philosophy shift after 2016 that saw us draft 3 OL with 1st round picks. Peat, Ram, and Ruiz. Remember there was a time when Charles Brown was our highest draft pick on the Dline or Oline(besides Cam). Go back to about 2016 and you'll see we've spent a lot of resources in the trenches.

I just wish they'd have realized how important specialized guards were in the equation (ie Evans, Nicks 2009) rather than the interchangeable parts concept that he began to utilize to aid in flexibility on the line in situations and injuries. Every non tackle was alright at everything, but not great at any one particular thing and it was exposed and used against us in the playoffs every year the last four years.

 

[Saint Spud]

If I recall correctly I believe I read that Emmanuel Sanders said during his offseason workouts with Drew that he had no problem throwing the ball deep.

On air, sure.

I just wish they'd have realized how important specialized guards were in the equation (ie Evans, Nicks 2009) rather than the interchangeable parts concept that he began to utilize to aid in flexibility on the line in situations and injuries. Every non tackle was alright at everything, but not great at any one particular thing and it was exposed and used against us in the playoffs every year the last four years.

I think they tried. Invested their top pick in an interior OLine in each of the last two years and extended a first round pick.

They may be the only team in the NFL whose interior line has two first round picks and a second round pick.

They just haven’t performed to that levels (and Brees’ decline has been a factor).

 

[Tony1Saintfan]

I’m sure some of you have had a torn rotator cuff and so have I. Before I had surgery I could barely lift my arm.

 

[Turfie]

If I recall correctly I believe I read that Emmanuel Sanders said during his offseason workouts with Drew that he had no problem throwing the ball deep.

Pure speculation- I think Brees tore is rotator cuff between those offseason workouts and training camp.

 

[Groovepro]

It's just more than "him getting back to healthy".

After 40, your body repair system starts to slow down considerably. What took 1 week when you were 30 takes 3 weeks after 40.

I agree with that.

 

[renegadewa]

Hi everyone,

I have a question: why can't Brees throw downfiled anymore? Does he not have the arm strength or was there an injurty? What is going on, surely he could fling a 40 yarder a couple times a game right?

It could have something to do with over the last 15 years or so he's thrown around 10,000-12,000 passes on a surgically repaired shoulder that few people gave him even a slim chance to come back and play competitively much less play at an elite level and put together what is a lock to be a first ballot HOF career.

The second reason is that age and the injuries he's suffered the last two seasons have caught up to him.

Over the last two or three seasons everyone (including Brees himself and Sean Payton) who said or thought that Brees could still throw a deep ball were in denial or just kidding themselves.

Just a stat for comparison..............................in the 2020 season Tom Brady aired the ball out with something like 112 attempts while Brees only attempted 19 passes over 20 yards.

There's a reason why and I have a hard time swallowing that Saints receivers couldn't get open or create separation. Far more than a few times I saw WR's running wide open and Brees would think about it then pull the ball down and throw it short or those maddening passes in the flat. Just 3 or 4 seasons ago Brees would have hit those guys in stride like he did for so many years. He just simply can't do that anymore.

There is no doubt that he is the greatest Saint to ever wear the Black and Gold but the fact is that it's time for him to enjoy his beautiful family and move on to the next great thing that he wants to do with his life.

 

[BarBar]

This. There was a play early in the second half in the last Tampa game: he sent the ball maybe 35 yards downfield to the left side of the formation. Can't remember who was the intended target -- I think Sanders. Point is, though, that this particular pass was like a rainbow, not a rope. And not even a shallow rainbow ... dang near a lob. And his throwing motion was very close to being a Hail Mary throwing motion, like he was putting his all into it.

This is true, but to be fair a good portion of Brady's passes look this way too. I mean who else could throw 4 interceptions in the divisional round and still win?

I don't know what my point is other than to say that old guys sometimes play like old guys.

Drew was badly injured this year in multiple areas of his body and fought through it to win most games.

Last year he had quite a few over 30 yards completions and was deadly at 25 and under. This year it was very different and the reasons are injuries and another year of aging.

Like others are saying. I turned 40 last year and my god what a difference from 10 years ago.

 

[TheBigKhunha]

Give Brees and the Payton the offseason to evaluate his situation. This season may have been a case of his injuries, while starting out as manageable and minor, grew into more serious and more prohibiting. At some point, it was either play through the injuries and adjust play calling to help minimize the shortcomings or put him on the IR and go with Winston or Taysom. The decision was made, Brees' condition did not improve and the playoff game vs TB was ugly and Brees was not the Brees we had seen over the years and as recently as week 9 in Tampa.(38-3) Let's give our greatest player ever, a chance to see what happens in an offseason of rehabilitation. It may be a long shot, but we need to see if the something close to the pre 2020 version of Drew Brees can be seen again.

 

[rajncajn]

As much as I hate to use him as an example, watch Rodgers when he throws it 30-40 yards. There's virtually no difference in their motion than when he is throwing it 10-20. Brees has to step into it more than he used to and when he's throwing a deep ball he has to sling it, which has a lot of affect on accuracy, velocity, arc. It's one thing to be able to chuck the ball 50 yds down the field to someone, it's quite another to do it & put it exactly where and when you want it. I'm guessing that Drew's injuries greatly affected that ability, but I also think that some part of it is just age as well. Brady would likely be hearing all the same talk if he had to deal with the injuries DB has had this year.

 

[UFCSaint]

Like others are saying. I turned 40 last year and my god what a difference from 10 years ago.

It even gets worse from 40-50

 

[Domeination]

If he gets back to healthy, I have no problem with him coming back.

I do b/c I think what we're looking at is a guy who can't stay healthy anymore for a season b/c of his age. He is becoming more prone to injury as he ages, which is natural. It's time for Drew to hang it up. We need an offense that can stretch the field. Play aggressive man against our WR's and put a safety in the box to defend the run and pressure the A gaps, and good teams can beat us, and this is what is going to happen again in the playoffs unless we can start going vertical again. Remember, Drew has very little mobility, and so if he doesn't have a perfect pocket and a receiver who is open within 10 yards of the LOS, the chances of him completing the play are diminishing every season now.

 

[ARSaint]

Right. When we say “he can’t throw downfield,” it doesn’t mean that he literally can’t throw a football 50 yards. It means that:

A) he needs to step into it more than before
B) He needs to start earlier to get it there
C) Receiver needs to be right where he needs to be
D) ball won’t get there as quickly and...
E) odds are that the ball placement won’t be as perfect as it used to be.

It means that more variables have to be perfect for the ball to get where it needs to be. And in the NFL, perfection is really hard to get to.

yep, this pretty much sums it up. I was watching some highlights of games 2009 to 2013 and OMG he was a different qb. He had much more velocity and was throwing from all sorts of positions off his body with decent zip. Go back and watch old film and it becomes painfully obvious.