It helps, sometimes. Brady rifled some great passes Sunday. I was suprised by how strong Leinart's arm was yesterday -- he looked like he was flinging the ball 50 yards -- but he didnt play well and didnt look good. Does KC have a stong arm?
The myth of the strong arm is people's perception that it has to do with throwing the long ball. It has nothing to do with it. The reason arm strength is so coveted is because corners are so fast in the NFL that an open receiver can very quickly become a covered one. Therefore once a wideout is open the ball needs to get to him immediately so he can not only catch it, but proceed to take it upfield. A guy like Carson Palmer or Brady gets the ball in a hurry to his receiver, giving the wideout a chance to gain extra yards. A weaker-armed QB may complete the pass, but the receiver is usually tackled right away. The toughest pass in the league to complete in the NFL is the deep out. If you ever watch the scouting combines, it is always a passing pattern that they use to gauge a prospect's arm strength. The receiver runs 12-15 yards downfield and then cuts to the sideline. With defenders being so fast these days in the NFL, a QB with weak arm will not be able to complete this pass. The pass with either be batted away or picked off. A guy with a cannon for an arm gets the pass to his wideout before the defender can close on it. It's not that a weaker armed QB can't get things done in the NFL, they are just more limited.
StevieP, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
The myth of the strong arm. Hmmm. The myth of the tall basketball player. The myth of the 300lb lineman. The myth of the 95 mph fastball. The myth of the 140mph serve. The myth of the... You want to be a really good NFL QB? One who can beat strong defenses like a drum? You better have a strong arm. You need more but without the arm you'll never beat those defenses.
I am still waiting for StevieP to actually state what is the myth of a strong arm he bothered to start a topic about, because he hasn't addressed it yet in his own thread.
Browning Nagle had a rocket. In the 1992 opener at Atlanta he rolled right, threw across his body and hit Rob Moore in stride 40 yards downfield, who was running right to left. Probably the greatest pass I've ever seen a Jet QB throw. Too bad Browning Nagle sucked, because there's a lot more to playing the position. If you don't know where to throw throw the ball, it doesn't really matter how fast you get it there.
Good Point, they have as many combined superbowl wins as our weak armed QB? See what I did there......
Jeff George had some good years, and it was probably solely because of his arm. I think overall career wise he just might be better than Penny in terms of TDs and yardage. You need a certain amount of arm strength to be succesful in the NFL, as others have mentioned, you need to be able to take advantage of small windows. The same way you need to be a certain height to see and get the proper trajectory. Otherwise, we'd have 5'4 20 year old girls as QBs out there.
I remember his arm strength and said wow at the time. Too bad he didn't pan out. He must have been throwing at 65 mph, but that was the problem, he had no touch.
Nobody said a strong arm is the only thing a QB needs. Of course there's more to it, but they still need arm strength.
