Falcons: Matt Ryan discuss arm strength with Dan Patrick

[atljbo]

LINK

[papachaz]

good read jbo, thanks for always posting up these tidbits!

[atljbo]

Thanks.. and yea someone told me about this interview so i had to post it.


I agree with Ryan.. Its not arm strength... He has overthrown the WR's on most of his miss throws.. Its about timing with him and the WR's (mostly him) ... When to just sling the ball and let the WR's just go get it

[Radical]

I'd like to see the response to this by people on the other board.

[atljbo]

(12-21-2011 02:20 PM)Radical Wrote:  I'd like to see the response to this by people on the other board.

I was about to post it their but i just know its going to get ridiculous... I'm going to post it their tho

[RnB]

Thanks for posting the interview jbo.

[Dale4Saul2Red0]

Matt Ryan is a boss

[Peyton]

I think Matt has plenty of arm strength. I do think he would benefit from throwing some of those deep balls on a lower trajectory than what he does normally though. The timing is harder the higher you throw the ball.

[illmusic]

I don't think anybody thinks he can't throw it far...he just can't hit his receivers in stride consistently when they get farther than 30 yards...i could understand timing with Julio but he's been playing with white for 4 years now...

[Radical]

(12-21-2011 03:32 PM)Peyton Wrote:  I think Matt has plenty of arm strength. I do think he would benefit from throwing some of those deep balls on a lower trajectory than what he does normally though. The timing is harder the higher you throw the ball.

Agreed. What amazes me about these guys who insist that he has a weak arm is that they use the fact that a lot of his deeper passes have a really high arc to them, as if that confirms their position. When they say this, it becomes obvious to me that they don't understand basic ballistics, stuff so simple you learn it in elementary school.

For example, say you're firing a cannon. What angle would you dial in the cannon in order to achieve the maximum distance for the projectile?





The answer? 45 degrees. The further away from 45 degrees you get, from 0 to 89 degrees, the more arm strength it is going to take to get the ball from point A to point B.

Now, simple eye ball test for anyone who has seen some of the passes that Matt Ryan has thrown that ended up sailing, complete or not.

Which one of these dotted lines did those passes most resemble?



It sure as hell isn't the 45 degree arc, at least not from what I've seen at all. Yet, we don't even have to know any of this to know he can sling it more than far enough to get the job done. Go back to the pre-season game against the Steelers. If anyone recalls, Julio Jones races down the field and to the endzone, and Matt Ryan reels back and throws a straight line dart about 40-45 yards down the field, only to have it dropped by Jones. At this point, anyone arguing that Ryan can't sling it as hard as most QBs in this league are simply being obtuse. I've seen multiple passes that were short of 40 yards that Rodgers(and other "strong armed" QBs) put too much air under and it sailed, or the WR had to track backwards or slow down to catch.

The "problem" with Ryan is that he's known to be a touch passer. Touch passing is when you put more air under it so that it lightly drops into the receiver's hands rather than comes flying in at higher velocities. Go out in the backyard with a football, set up a target(or have another person around), and try to make two kinds of passes. Try to hit a spot by releasing it early/throwing high and let it drop into their arms from a high angle. Now, do the same, but try to throw it low and have the flattest trajectory possible on the pass. Which is easier to catch?

Now, here's the downside to those touch passes(>45 degree arc). They're in the air longer, which means if a WR is running down field, you have to release it earlier than if you were throwing a low trajectory pass. This creates two problems.

1. You have to rely on anticipation to know that the WR is going to be in the right spot when the ball comes back down, and you have to hit him in stride while doing so. This leaves less room for error on both the WR and the QB. If the QB doesn't anticipate correctly, you end up with a pass that is easily caught by a defender or it sails by the WR. If the WR slips, doesn't get of the jam, or gets lost trying to look up to find the ball(try this sometime, it's not easy), you also end up with an incomplete or intercepted pass.

2. This is a lesser problem, but can also have an impact. Weather. Ballistics 101, the longer a projectile is in the air, the more time there is for variables to impact its flight path. If the ball is on a flat trajectory, it's going to get to its target faster than a high arcing pass would. This means that high arcing passes are more likely to be swayed by wind and natural air resistance, which can push a ball several yards in any direction depending on the wind.

Going back to Ryan. This relates to his mechanics. Is he stepping into his throws to ensure maximum velocity, thus ensuring that he can put the lowest angle possible on the ball so that he doesn't have to anticipate as much on his passes, leaving more room for error? If he can throw a pass 50 yards with an extremely high arc(>45) degrees, then that of course means he can also throw the same pass with a much lower arc, but this means he would have to release later, and that the ball would be harder for the WR to catch.

If anyone can show me a video of him throwing as hard as he can 60+ yards, released at a 45 degree angle, only for the ball to putter out before it gets past that point, then I'll admit he has a weak arm. Until then, people simply need to stop talking out their ass.