Repetitive trends appearing in Taylor Heinicke’s game
Breaking down some of the repetitive trends, both good and bad, that have become clearer with Heinicke as he’s played more games.
Now seven weeks into the season, we’re starting to get a better understanding of what Washington has in quarterback Taylor Heinicke. His sample size is still small and he could still improve or regress, but importantly, we’re starting to see repeated trends within his play that suggest he has some consistent issues. His stat line against the Packers, where he completed 25 of 37 passes for 268 yards and one touchdown and one interception, as always failed to tell the whole story.
So what are the trends we’re seeing from Heinicke as he gets more opportunities to start? Let’s take a closer look
Ball placement issues
Since the start of the season, it’s been clear to see that Heinicke has had issues with accuracy and ball placement. You can look at his stats and see he’s completing just over 64% of his passes this year, which isn’t terrible though it does rank 26th of 34 eligible quarterbacks. But accuracy and specifically ball placement is more than just completing passes, it’s about putting the ball in a position to help the receiver not only catch the ball, but pick up additional yards after the catch. That is where Heinicke has hurt his receivers. His ball placement has consistently been high and behind targets and his velocity hasn’t been great either, which leads to receivers having to wait for balls to arrive and stop their momentum to adjust their bodies to the pass.
These two plays are examples of this issue from the Packers game. The first play of the clip shows Terry McLaurin running wide open on a sail route. He has tons of room to work with and a good throw could see him turn up the sideline and pick up even more yards. The throw, however, is late to arrive, high and off target. That forces McLaurin to come back to the path of the ball and then jump to just reach it. He manages to make the catch, but the throw means the defenders around him were able to close in and limit the yards after catch potential.
The second play of the clip is a pivot route from Adam Humphries in the slot. Heinicke delivers the throw on time, as Humphries makes his break outside. However, the throw is again behind its target and lacks velocity, forcing Humphries to slow down out of his break and allowing the defender a chance to catch up. A better throw with more velocity and placed further outside might give Humphries a chance to catch the ball and turn up the sideline before the defender can close on him.
Limiting yards after the catch is an issue as it severely hurts the potential of the offense, especially with guys like Terry McLaurin and Curtis Samuel (when healthy), who are so good after the catch. It also must be frustrating for receivers like McLaurin, who get open regularly with well run routes only to have to slow down and fight for contested catches because of poorly thrown balls. But the more frustrating thing for receivers, I’d imagine, is Heinicke exposing them to hits.
This is becoming an increasingly large issue for Washington, especially with the number of pass catchers currently sidelined. The three plays in this clip are just a handful of some of the hits Heinicke has exposed his receivers to. The first play is a shallow cross to J.D. McKissic in which Heinicke throws high and behind McKissic with another slow, lofty throw. McKissic has to concentrate on turning his body back to the ball to try and make the catch that he’s completely unaware of the safety charging in behind him. With McKissic’s whole body in the air in an awkward position to try and catch the ball, the safety is able to land a big hit that could have led to an injury, though fortunately it didn’t.
The second play is similar to the sail route we saw to McLaurin earlier. This time the route is read much better by the safety and he drives down on it, but the floaty pass from Heinicke means McLaurin has to wait and jump up for the ball, again exposing him to a hit from behind where he can’t protect himself.
The third play is perhaps the worst of the lot, with McKissic working on a choice route out of the backfield. Granted, Heinicke does feel some early pressure inside and needs to get the ball out quickly. However, he locks onto McKissic, leading the safety straight to him, and then delivers another high and floaty pass that leads McKissic straight into the safety. McKissic takes another huge hit that again he’s fortunate to get back up from.
The issues with ball placement and velocity are becoming significant. They aren’t just hindering the offense by limiting the yards after catch potential and having receivers have to fight for contested catches, they’re exposing receivers to big hits. Washington is already without Samuel, Logan Thomas, Cam Sims and now rookie Dyami Brown. If the team were to lose McLaurin from a hit after one of these throws, the offense would be in big trouble.
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