I'm no expert in proper football throwing mechanics or footwork so I won't waste time commenting about it. I have watched the games closely though and I've observed that Blake will too often 'stare down' his intended target. Doing this probably does help the opponents with pass coverage.

 

I've also observed that compared to last season he seems somewhat less 'settled' when passing; that is to say. he seems too indecisive... even downright nervous at times. Given that he's had people like Luke Joeckel to protect his blind side, I can't say I blame him for being nervous at times... but seeming to be indecisive is a bad sign in a third year player. Does he lack confidence in himself or in his teammates... or perhaps a combination of both?

 

He has excellent receivers, so they can't be the issue themselves. However, given their success last season they are no longer getting single coverage so they are no longer the easy target they once were. We have good running backs, but they need better blocking to establish the running game. If we can establish the running game it will undoubtedly help 'open up' a better passing game too.

 

So by all appearances, it seems like Blake has 'regressed' in certain areas. Perhaps he feels under pressure to try to produce that 'winning season' and is trying to do too much himself. Perhaps he realizes how poor the o-line has been (especially the left side) and is feeling 'that' pressure too. Perhaps he just wasn't prepared to see his favorite passing targets getting double coverage so consistently. Perhaps he just needs to learn to throw the ball away sometimes rather than take a sack or a turnover or needless punishment to himself.

 

...Perhaps. The thing is, we don't know what all may be involved in this. Let's hope that things can come together real quick and our offense can start to get more established.

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