When Gilbert is throwing the ball away it will reach the grandstands faster leaving an extra second on the clock.
I watched Gilbert several times while he was at LT...he is one of the most accurate high school quarterbacks I've ever seen in fifty years of watching Texas high school football. I'd hazard a guess that that's a bigger reason why we may throw longer more often.
Yeah, Colt was no slouch in this department either. We didn't get a lot of deep balls called from our OC last yr. When we did, Colt hit Shipley or Malcolm for some big plays. I seriously think Major audobled out of a lot of plays, and checked off to the deep ball.
Hard to throw long against a two deep zone. Hard to draw the safeties in without a running game. Fix one, get the other. Colt pump faked a lot of beautiful long balls. Not all were caught.
Colt was very accurate on his throws, but looking back there were no laser placed long bombs, mostly short outs and ins, all day long. Colt did very well with a 40 yard arm, Gilbert should be able to do anything he wants with his throws with another season of training.
I somewhat agree with the OP. I think you have pretty accurately summarized what it takes to have a good vertical passing game (especially protection time), and I agree that arm srength is not that big of a factor. Arm strength shows up more in sideline routes, imo. I do think NFL scouts are enamored with arm strength, however.
I think a difference we will see is when Gibert rolls out, or has to buy time by leaving the pocket. While Colt, and most D1 QB's can probably throw 40 yards, GIlbert can probably throw 40 yards on the run off his back foot.
It may have more to do with the emphasis placed on running the ball and play action. It is easier to throw deep when teams have to respect the run and bring the safeties a little closer to the LOS. Not so much Gilbert vs. Colt, but change in offensive philosophy.
It does not take much pass protection to throw deep. Yeah, yeah you will argue, but it does not take much protection. How often do you see a QB sacked as his back foot hits on a 3, 5, or 7 step drop? It takes pass protection to have variation in your deep passing game. More time also increases the accuracy. Uncertainty in the defense's mind due to lack of predictability provides time and makes pass protection easier. Since Davis's arrival, we have been somewhat reluctant to throw deep. NCState was too scary because they ran 2-deep, Wazzu attacked too much, and OU was OU. Hell Danny Wuerffel made lots of deep throws. At the college level arm strength is not all that important on the deep throw. It is probably more important on the throws outside the hashes. I do think our QB's look short to deep too often rather than deep to short. Philosophically, I expect no change for next year. It will be take what the defense gives you for the most part and avoid turnovers. However, a new QB brings a new mentality so you never know.
Major sure did audible out of plays. So did Colt. Greg puts in alternate plays for each and every play for them to do so easily.
In the past, I was pretty rough on GD, but I have come to respect his ability to mold the offense to the QB. I predict a more dedicated running game and more shots down field. This is a natural combination based on what defenses have to do to stop either one. I think the "play it safe" in GD will revert to that type of offense. That, and not having complete and total faith in GG at this point in his career. I wonder what GD does if GG turns out to be just as quick on reads and accurate as Colt. Do we see the same offense we've seen for the last 3 years?
The thing about arm strength and the deep ball isn't (IMO) that a deep ball actually only needs to go 40 or 50 yards in the air. The point is how much of a QB's arm strength does it take to get it there. I'm not going to be as accurate with a ball if I'm having to heave it up with all my might, as opposed to a guy with a stronger arm that doesn't have to strain as much. In addition, long balls that get lofted up are more prone to get broken up, get affected by the wind, etc... A guy with a lesser arm is going to put more air under a deep ball typically. On Gilbert's TD in the third quarter to Shipley, the ball got there in a hurry, and Gilbert didn't have to put much air under it (I want to say it probably went around 30-35 yards in the air?). I agree with one person's assertion that Major was actually very accurate with the deep ball. So it isn't all about arm strength, but I do think a bigger arm and a play-action game to freeze the safeties should open more things up downfield.
Strong arm = abiltiy to throw "out pattern" and "deep out". Ability to effectively run those patterns creates "out and ups" and "hitch and goes" deep. I guess I should amend to say "strong arm = physical abiltity to throw "out pattern" and "deeep out" effectively.
