Bowling Green QB Matt Johnson Gets Tryout Next Week

[Night Train]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3XN8O8XhW4

Smallish in the 5-11, 6-0 range. But has the big arm who can hit the WR's in stride downfield. Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. Noted for putting the ball right on the money. 107 passes far downfield with only 1 INT.



Someone else to complain about and criticize. A favorite pastime here.

[Scumbag College]

Just trade Duke Williams, TJ Barnes, Kujo, Goodwin, and EJ to the Colts for Luck. Problem solved at QB. Stupid Whaley.

Also, while you're at it, make Jim Kelly HC, Bruce Smith D coordinator, Thurmal and Andree Reed Co-Offensive coordinators, and Tasker Special Teams Coach.

[stuckincincy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3XN8O8XhW4

Smallish in the 5-11, 6-0 range. But has the big arm who can hit the WR's in stride downfield. Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. Noted for putting the ball right on the money. 107 passes far downfield with only 1 INT.

Someone else to complain about and criticize. A favorite pastime here.

Certainly worth a look-see. CIN signed him as a UDFA, then cut him when they inked Joe Licata.

[YardRat]

I'll be happy with a fourth arm in camp.

[Mace]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3XN8O8XhW4

Smallish in the 5-11, 6-0 range. But has the big arm who can hit the WR's in stride downfield. Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. Noted for putting the ball right on the money. 107 passes far downfield with only 1 INT.



Someone else to complain about and criticize. A favorite pastime here.

Signing Johnson can't hurt. Isn't dazzling either. Extra arms and system exp can always come in handy.

That said, people are becoming drama queens over this complain and criticize stuff though. What does anyone expect, a message board full of happy cheerleaders for an 8-8 team that hasn't made the playoffs in 16 years and dropped from 4th ranked defense to 19th under a defensive "genius" ?

What's your ideal post reply ? "Wow, awesome ! Savvy pickup of an undrafted small 4th QB by Whaley that this exceptional staff can really work with !"

Maybe there needs to be a "Happy Happy Sunshine" forum for cheerleaders with blinders to stick to the path, moderated by the most positive, no negative vibes accepted so like minded people can all hang out and pretend everything is always dandy, together.

[Arm of Harm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3XN8O8XhW4

Smallish in the 5-11, 6-0 range. But has the big arm who can hit the WR's in stride downfield. Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. Noted for putting the ball right on the money. 107 passes far downfield with only 1 INT.



Someone else to complain about and criticize. A favorite pastime here.

I've had my complaints about the front office, including their mishandling of the QB position. But I'm fine with this move.

The two most important things I look for in a QB are accuracy and information processing ability. I'd break accuracy down into three categories:

1) Can a QB hit a stationary target?
2) Can a QB hit a target moving vertically?
3) Can a QB hit a target moving horizontally?

I didn't notice Johnson hitting horizontally moving targets in that video, so I'm going to assume that's something he can't do until he proves he can. But he seemed to do a pretty good job of hitting targets vertically--a considerably better job than EJ Manuel did at FSU. There were times when Johnson seemed to hit his vertically moving targets in perfect stride. There were other times when they had to slow down a little. But seldom if ever did he actually make them stop. On Manuel's highlight videos, his vertically moving targets had to stop at least 50% of the time, in order to wait for the pass to arrive. I also saw Johnson accurately thread the ball through traffic much more than I did with Manuel's college film.

Johnson ran a simplified college offense, as did E.J. Manuel. Information processing speed is a big question mark for Johnson, just as it had been for Manuel.

Overall, Johnson represents a better draft prospect than Manuel, due to Johnson's better accuracy and better ability to hit vertically moving targets in stride. And yes, I realize Johnson went undrafted.

Johnson probably isn't going to become the next Joe Montana, due to what appears to be a lack of ability to hit targets moving horizontally, and a lack of information processing speed. But Johnson does enough things well that he'll probably be able to hang around the NFL for a few years at least, while putting together the occasional good performance when filling in for a team's starting QB. He'd be especially dangerous if the defense had prepared for someone other than him.

[sdbillsfan2]

Didn't the Bengals cut him and sign Joe Licata ?

[Goobylal]

He's a shade under 6' (he's 5'11-3/4") and 212#. On the short side for a QB, but solid. Seems like a decent developmental prospect and destined for the PS.

[EDS]

I've had my complaints about the front office, including their mishandling of the QB position. But I'm fine with this move.

The two most important things I look for in a QB are accuracy and information processing ability. I'd break accuracy down into three categories:

1) Can a QB hit a stationary target?
2) Can a QB hit a target moving vertically?
3) Can a QB hit a target moving horizontally?

I didn't notice Johnson hitting horizontally moving targets in that video, so I'm going to assume that's something he can't do until he proves he can. But he seemed to do a pretty good job of hitting targets vertically--a considerably better job than EJ Manuel did at FSU. There were times when Johnson seemed to hit his vertically moving targets in perfect stride. There were other times when they had to slow down a little. But seldom if ever did he actually make them stop. On Manuel's highlight videos, his vertically moving targets had to stop at least 50% of the time, in order to wait for the pass to arrive. I also saw Johnson accurately thread the ball through traffic much more than I did with Manuel's college film.

Johnson ran a simplified college offense, as did E.J. Manuel. Information processing speed is a big question mark for Johnson, just as it had been for Manuel.

Overall, Johnson represents a better draft prospect than Manuel, due to Johnson's better accuracy and better ability to hit vertically moving targets in stride. And yes, I realize Johnson went undrafted.

Johnson probably isn't going to become the next Joe Montana, due to what appears to be a lack of ability to hit targets moving horizontally, and a lack of information processing speed. But Johnson does enough things well that he'll probably be able to hang around the NFL for a few years at least, while putting together the occasional good performance when filling in for a team's starting QB. He'd be especially dangerous if the defense had prepared for someone other than him.

Let's be honest, he is no Joe Licata.

[Mace]

Watching more video, he has a real peculiar throwing motion I don't think I remember ever seeing before.

[bleve]

Watching more video, he has a real peculiar throwing motion I don't think I remember ever seeing before.

I noticed it too. To me it appears he's throwing arms before hips.

Ted Williams - who is/was one of the greatest hitters in baseball had a phrase: Hips before hands. This is fundamental in many sports: golf, hockey, - anything that requires upper body strength to move an object trajectory.

the torque of the body transfers the energy to from the legs via the hips to the upper body. The hips move toward the target, and the (arms/swing/bat/stick) follow. He looks to be throwing with his arm, and his hips follow.