I am an avid Casey Printers fan, but worry that he may be leaving the pocket to frequently and risking injury.
An injured QB is no good to us as proven by Jason Maas.
Many times in the course of a game, it becomes necessary for the QB to take flight. I hope Casey is told to keep this movement from the pocket to a minimum and concentrate on throwing accurate passes or allowing Lumsden, Callie or Davis to run the football.
Its good to know that Casey has this energy to fly out of the pocket occasionally in reserve, to be used as necessary, but it shouldn't necessarily over done.
Most QBs that leave the pocket frequently DO get injured. I refer to Joseph, Burris, Bishop and several others. These guys are rendered useless when hurting.
That’s Casey’s game. As was quoted on this site last week, Steve Burrato told Taaffe that 2/3 of Casey’s passing TDs in the time he OC’ed him were from Casey throwing out of the pocket.
Bud Grant: “Fran Tarkenton! Stay in the pocket!”
I don’t think so.
You need to develop a good backup or two in case Casey gets hurt. But I would never change what makes him tick though. He does need to develop his pocket game. However, that is not to take away from his strengths.
Flutie, Moon, Allen…they all learned to work in the pocket, but their bread-and-butter was moving the pocket and attacking the defence using the entire field.
strange in 1973 the cats tried to make chuck ealy less mobile and he struggled, in '86 they tried to make ken hobart less mobile he struggled, even stranger i think it was in 1990 they tried to make mike kerrigan run more and he struggled so leave casey at what hes does best be a mobile qb.
(Crash)
Now we have Printers...
"Stay in the pocket"
WRONG! I never said that Casey should, "stay in the pocket." I certainly recognize his abilities as a scrambler, but point out that these guys frequently get hurt.
I wouldn’t take Casey’s game away from him, but I would ask him to tone it down a little.
Before he pulled his hamstring on Friday, I thought he could have moved the football a couple of times rather than himself and I feel that if the opportunity presents itself, he should get rid of the ball.
At no time did I suggest he STAY in the pocket. Obviously, he needs to play his own style of game.
Printers is more of a pocket passer now, having spent time in the NFL. I think he'll always be a scrambler but once he learns to trust his line, he'll leave the pocket less often.
The other problem in this equation is his comfort level with the receiving corps. He likes to extend plays when he finds no open receivers, and provided they get open and he makes the proper reads, he should be able to deliver the ball more quickly. It will take time, a luxury that perhaps he does not have.
