I think Brian Johnson was a very good QB coach - and if he had stayed we could have seen more advancement from Fitz last year.
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I've started to wonder lately if Dan isn't so much a great developer of QB's in general as he is a great developer of QB's within his system. The only QB he took from truly raw to an elite level as a passer is Dak, and you have to wonder how much of that was him and how much was Dak's inhuman work ethic.
I think Dak and Fitz have shown the work ethic. But, on the development side how much was Dan and how much was Brian Johnson? Johnson was here 2014-2016 which corresponded with Dak's big leap - and Fitz's leap enough to separate himself from Staley and Tiano and eventually pass Williams. A guy who had thrown about 100 passes in competitive HS game situations work himself ahead of 3 other more experienced players.
I think the Dan as a magic QB man is something of a myth. He was blessed with 4 quys (Johnson, Tebow, Dak, Fitz) who fit what he wanted in his offense. But if he was so great, how did Tyler Russell - a Parade All-American in HS - not become a top shelf college QB? He was far more accomplished coming in as a QB than Dak or Fitz - and I don't think he didn't have the work ethic. But, it was obvious to anyone watching Dan had no clue how to use him.
Case in point....in this year's draft, Josh Allen had the measurables but not the polish the others had ...but as we are seeing in the preseason, Allen is out performing all of the other 4 first round picks.... Fitz is an inch taller, 10 pounds heavier, faster and has just as strong of an arm...he will get drafted on measurables alone...but a good season and especially a win at Alabama and he will be a very high draft pick.
Dan was blessed and has been blessed with great or very good athletic QB's. He does a great job of getting them to understand his offense and they don't turn the ball over much in his offenses in general. QB's need lots of attention with mechanics, again training is essential in developing in passing techniques.
Fitz has the tolls to become a really good passer, he is pretty good now and he has some help on the outside I think and we should see a much better passing % from him as well as our other young QB.
Joe is a QB guy, I hope and I think we will see some really good things in QB play. Btw, having an experience offensive line is a huge plus!
I think 65% is doable in a West Coast Passing system because of the higher percentage of short and intermediate throws. We're going to use our backs and TE's more as receivers than Dan did last year. That's more options to throw to. Think about the 2016 Egg Bowl when Nick hit Ross on a mesh route on 4th down and we converted and got a TD out of it. That's a lot more of the types of things that we are going to see.
Also, I would think the over reliance of QB runs probably affected Nick somewhat as well in the passing game too.
I expect Fitz to completion % to be around 58-62%. That will be plenty good enough with the big plays we'll get in this offense. Check McSorley stat line in 2016 & then add Fitz is a better runner. Fitz will have a great year.
All we did in 15 was try and throw the football. If anything our run game was our Achilles heel that season due to poor RB play against quality teams. You could see a clear jump from Dak's jr year to his sr. year as far as his passing was concerned. He made huge strides going into 15.