Not shit posting, but these last couple of weeks CJ is figuring out the right pass/decision pre-snap then confirming post-snap just like a top veteran does. That’s MASSIVE for a rookie for sure. The only problem is that defenses (especially Cincy) was changing things post-snap to things he’s not familiar with and he’s missing the new best decision/pass. He’s been able to power through with precision passing but I think this (and drops) is why his completion % has been so up and down.
I fully expect he and his coaches are seeing this on the film (it stands out this game for sure - glaringly wide open guys that wouldn’t have been the open guy pre-snap) and will adjust, I just hope he doesn’t get too comfortable with his pre-snap reads.
In any event he’s already a much more polished and finished QB than even Deshaun at his height. The ONLY space where Deshaun was better was scrambling which ended up being Deshaun’s downfall and why he hasn’t really progressed as a pocket passer.
Once he can figure out his reads to come off that first decision CJ is a 70% completion guy for the season. Damn we’re about to go into a golden age of Texans football; I’M FIRED THE FUCK UP FOR IT!!!
And as always, FTC!
this is an odd conclusion to come to if you’re trying to dive into his completion %. Are you watching all of his games? The eye test doesn’t show anything about what you’re saying. I wrote this in another thread regarding his completion percentage which IMO is the major contributing factors for his lower completion %:
It’s weird because when I watch the game, it doesn’t look like he misses that much but then i check the stats and his completion % is lower than I would think for the game.
Just based on watching the games and no real investigations into anything, this is my theory on why his completion % is low:
After the first couple of games, he doesn’t take many sacks so where many QB’s will hold onto the ball a lot and get sacked, he’s very good at reading the pressure and will not hesitate to throw the ball away which is good because it saves the down but throws off his numbers. You see some QB’s who will scramble in the pocket and then instead of throwing it away or trying to make a tight play, they will run out of bounds even if it means taking a 1-2 yard loss. This saves their numbers but worse for the play.
He doesn’t throw that many check downs/screen passes. Many QB’s have a decent dose of screen passes in their play calling which are easy passes that prop up their completion %. CJ doesn’t do too many of them which is also why his y/a is high. If he threw more screen passes or checked down more, he’d have better % but I personally wouldn’t want that, I’m fine with him the way he is because it shows the coach trusts him to make bigger throws and he knows to throw the ball safely.
I personally don’t mind his percentage being low. He’s protecting the ball and dropping perfect dimes at 20+ yards better than anyone else in the league right now. He sees open receivers before they’ve even made their cuts. He’s throwing balls not only to the open man, but in positions to prevent them from exposing their body to hard hits, preventing injury. Something has to give, and a stat that isn’t killing games for us is fine by me. We finally have a QB that is just balling out like the MVP. We need to all cut him some slack.
Capital A, bolded, italicized, underlined.
Hah it’s crazy that y’all think i’m trying to tear him down with this post. Getting through his reads every play and truly finding the perfect player to go to is god-like QB level play and it’s like the last thing he needs to work on because he’s so proficient with everything else.
I’m not thinking you’re tearing HIM down. I think we’re all discussing him on GOAT terms in his rookie season. I’m just admiring the gift we’ve received from the football gods.
Absolutely and his performance must be admired, I just think there’s even another level he can get too; leaving too much meat on the table.
So, like I explained, he’s not making terrible throws at all, just not necessarily going to the wide ass open player all the time. Just something I think he can fine tune with more experience. Many of y’all are acting like i’m criticizing his play or something when I was clearly heaping heavy praise.
They didn’t run any screen plays against the Bengals when they were very effective against the Bucs which seemed a little odd to me, but Nico is their go to screen guy so maybe they didn’t feel great about anybody else running it. I think Hutch has showed he can find the holes in a WR screen though.