The purpose of this thread is not for bashing or for poorly formed opinions. I would like to think of this thread as a place where we can learn about Hack, identify his strengths, and see where he needs to improve. Luckily, there is a lot of game tape out there and I think it would be a better way to discuss a player rather than basing all of our conversations around stats. If you aren't interested in actually analyzing his mechanics, pocket presence, escapability, types of throws, awareness of defense, and audibles, you likely won't enjoy this thread. The first aspect that jumps out to me is his elusiveness, ability to move in the pocket, reset his feet and throw. Check out these plays in the video below: 3:52 5:40 6:03 7:19 In these samples, I see a guy who is capable of throwing on the run and scrambling for extra yards, but more importantly moves in the pocket to throw. I also like seeing him throw accurately and without fear when defenders are in his face. 8:01 Maybe a lot of you won't enjoy doing this, but my hope is we all can find pieces of good and bad and share them like I have done here.
I think his receivers are killing him more than he is killing the receivers. I could count minimum of 4 drops. The receivers just refuse to catch if the ball is not delivered inside the numbers. Holy hell. Linemen in front did a marvelous job of blocking for less than 0.5 seconds when he got sacked. Holy shit. No fucking wonder he was pissed.
I'm excited with this pick. Was a little neutral to it yesterday, but have really been warming up to it after watching a lot of his film. He's a HUGE guy. HUGE guy. Which is a big advantage in this league. He also has a cannon for an arm. His downsides are very fixable. He'll be a fun project!
This is a great idea. I'll definitely be contributing more in a week or so because I love doing stuff like this but it's finals week. Here's what I can contribute for now.. 0:40: Nice deep ball that should have been caught 1:01: Hard play action fake followed by an NFL caliber sideline throw. 1:35: Recognizes the blitz and beats it with a good touch throw while falling away. 2:00: Goes through 3 reads very quickly, showing good processing ability, then throws a strike over the middle. 2:12: One of my favorite Hack throws I've seen. Gorgeous. 3:04: Obviously recognizes the overload blitz pre-snap and audibles into a good play (a sprint right option) and executes on the run. This is part of the pre-snap IQ we've heard about. 4:05: Uses the pocket well and lofts a nice deep ball over the middle with good touch right before getting smacked. Could've been a better throw, could've been caught. 5:31: Goes through a progression then fires a strike to the sideline. His arm strength is impressive. 9:33: Stands tall in a messy pocket and fires a dart into a tight window in the red zone. Inside the 20s is the best place to evaluate a college QB because everything is condensed and sped up (more similar to the pros) and this is an awesome execution. 10:24: Game on the line and he makes a great throw, a perfectly placed rocket along the sideline leading the receiver perfectly. 11:25: Uses the pocket well, drifting around the rush, then moves onto his check down and hits it for a chunk gain. 11:45: Hits his second read on a good touch throw for the game winning score. You can make a lowlight reel from this same game but those throws are all positive signs.
Thanks for contributing man. I am going to watch all of those clips tonight before bed. What are you going to school for?
I'm a pre-dental student, applying to dental schools next June. My undergrad major is molecular/cell biology.
His feet are so lazy in the shotgun. It's like he has cinder blocks on them. That has to be the first thing to go, right?
His feet are definitely more active when he's under center than when he's in the gun. It kinda reminds me of Brady (that's not a compliment, I've always thought that Brady is rather statue-esque after taking a shotgun snap). He stands tall and rips it but just doesn't move his feet. Carson Wentz has the same problem.
If you start watching at 16:30, this guy breaks down his foot work in the shotgun. You are 100% right about that. Start watching this video at 9:30. Gruden specifically talks about his footwork in the gun.
They are right about his foot work. It's a mess. Losing O'Brien and that shitty O-line were the worst thing that ever happened to him. I think it will be a year before he even sees the field. But he's great at reading the field and has a great arm.
Quik summary of that, the reports of his O-line were not greatly exaggerated, his receivers are ok nothing special they dropped a couple of balls and he was pretty much spot on in this game vs Illinois. Only other guy i see making plays is 26, he looks pretty good but Hack on that day is the best player on the field, Jihad Ward from Illinois #17 a fellow 2nd rounder is who he got away from at 3:52 .He played very well but to be frank he should have, glad to know though its encouraging. As far as the play calling a lot of short stuff ALOT, but thats because of the O-Line. From the video u can see he can see a little bit of that gun. I really want to see more of these so I'm definitely gonna take a look. Great idea for a thread , nice to have some POSITIVITY today, I'm already a Jets fan no need to further the historic negativity that spews out of this franchise. We can change, this just may actually be the start of it. As much as the stats may lie, Fitz isn't a good QB and continuing with him would have just further led to mediocrity. Geno Smith is mediocre, Bryce Petty is mediocre, Hack albeit small, HAS a chance and that chance may be bigger than all of those other QBs combined. QB is the most important position in sports you can't blame the Jets for wanting one if they honestly don't feel like the guy isn't on the roster. Thats why were not gonna give Fitz what he wants because it was a mirage it isn't what he deserves. Im liking this Hack pick more and more by the day, TRUST ME if the Patriots made this move everybody would be saying omg the Patriots are so smart they realized what happened to Hackenberg at Penn State and Bill Obrien and blah blah blah they'll give him time and he'll be the heir apparent to Tom Brady. The Patriots actually chose Jacob Brissitt in the 3rd Round so obviously they too were looking for a QB.
On second view, the game winning touchdown in the game I posted isn't Hack's second read. That play looks more like the first receiver is running a clearout and Hack has a designed lookoff into the flat before finding his primary for the score. It's a really similar play to Marshall's game tying touchdown against the Giants where Enunwa drew the coverage with an out route. Still a nice play to win a bowl game.
That's funny. He literally uses the same way to describe his shotgun. I've actually watched that video but didn't get to that part yet.
What's more important dude... the Jets and breaking down film on an online forum or finals? Get your friggain priorities straight. Nice thread btw. I'll look more into it tomorrow. Hopefully the whining has subsided snd we can get back to talking about football.
From watching the videos here and the ones in some of the other threads, here's what I've noted: - That arm strength is crazy. Some of those throws had me in awe in terms of zip and distance traveled. Maybe it's from watching so much of Fitz the past year. - Also arm strength related, I noticed when his footwork got lazy out of the shotgun he seemed to be relying on his arm more than his core. Hopefully that gets fixed up. - I haven't really noticed any touch passes yet. Seem to mostly be bullets or long floaters. Can anyone bring up some examples of throws requiring good touch that he pulled off well or struggled with? - I was mostly staring at his feet in those videos. That shotgun stance mimics Aaron Rodgers with the right foot back, but it makes it easier to get lazy since there's less need to move your feet from the snap. Good for quick passes, but potentially detrimental on longer developing plays. He also seemed to not set his feet well on a lot of throws. - Accuracy wise he had a few worrisome misses. The dirt ball from a clean pocket was one, but the scariest was on the slant in the end zone where he got super lucky with the tip. He threw it right at the CB on that one and would probably be a pick in the NFL. - I've heard his presnap reading and calls at the line are his strength and watched the Temple breakdown. Unfortunately the videos here cut in just after any of that so it's hard to judge here. - That offensive line is brutal. There were definitely some sacks where he held on too long, but they seemed more coverage sacks. I'm definitely starting to warm up to this pick. Get his footwork right, and de-Carr him, and we might have a legit franchise qb on our hands.
Oline was horrible worst in the Ncaa the past 2 seasons, took 95% of his snaps under Franklin in the shotgun, he's much better under center and if you want to see a howitzer watch the PSU Pro Day video Legler posted, you can almost hear the ball cutting thru tthe air and you can hear the pop in the receivers gloves. I've been to Beaver Stadium and its very windy his ball pierces the wind nicely.
Doesn't Chan use the shotgun formation about 90% of the time? Hack will not be under center with Gailey as his OC. I do love his arm strength, and his size, wanted a QB with those attributes for the jets for a long time. Honestly I don't want Fitz back, Bowles said Geno would be the starter unless someone took it from him. If Hack is as smart as they say, I could see this guy pulling a Russel Wilson and being a starter for the jets. The QB position is 90% mental, he has the physical portion down. That penn state offense with all the screens to the RB and WR reminds me of what Gailey runs.
Shotgun problem is footwork, Chan will help him with that, Frankiln did not...the kid has a huge arm and huge football IQ, calling his reads at the line and changing them
