…And Then There Were Two

The Super Bowl is finally upon us and we have a great match up tonight between two Quarterbacks with very different styles.   As I mentioned in my last post “Age vs. Youth”, Peyton Manning is the pure pocket passer that will utilize every inch of the box.  He is mobile in his own right as long as the movement isn’t more than a few steps.  On the other side you have Russell Wilson.  Wilson is a mobile Quarterback with a great arm and good field vision, a rare combination of qualities.  He will abandon the pocket quicker than Manning and use his legs a little more to make plays.

So which style will be rewarded with a ring when the game is over?  Only time will tell but let me leave you with this final thought.  As a football historian and someone who has been around the game for a majority of my life, to me this will prove to be a very exciting game because it’s age vs. youth, it’s the old wily veteran versus a look at the future.  When you hear veterans talk about the difference in the game we watch today versus 15 to 20 plus years ago, more often than not the answer is the speed of the game.  As you watch the game keep an eye on the pace of play because you could be witnessing a major shift from the traditional style to the improv era.

In my last post I mentioned that whenever I challenged my father to something he would always say “Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill”, we’ll see!

“Like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/LightemUpQBT and follow us on Twitter @LightemUpQBT. Contact me with any questions or comments at Arock084@yahoo.com and remember to KEEP SLINGIN IT!!

Age vs. Youth

Championship weekend will be one for the ages… or youths?  These two incredible matchups will end with a Super Bowl that will see either Tom Brady or Peyton Manning representing age versus Colin Kaepernick or Russell Wilson representing youth, either way it’s going to be one heck of a finish to the season.

If we take a closer look, the matchups today are interesting, not because of Age versus Youth but because of the different styles of play from the Quarterbacks.  Brady and Manning are two of the best pocket passers of all time, not mobile at all but can sense when the pressure is coming.  Kaepernick and Wilson are two of the most exciting young QB’s today with the ability to escape pressure and take off or unload a rocket down field.  The mechanics of Brady and Manning are as sound as you can get while Wilson and Kaepernick are a glimpse at the future, mobile field generals that can also throw with precision.

As you watch the games today keep an eye on a few things.  1) Watch how Brady and Manning use every bit of the pocket, sidestepping defenders to keep plays alive. 2) On the flip side, watch how the youngsters Wilson and Kaepernick abandon the pocket much quicker and use their legs to keep things going.  3) If you are a young quarterback that wants to learn proper mechanics of true pocket passers, take notes as you watch the Denver vs. New England game.  Finally,4) Watch the field vision and decision-making from all four quarterbacks, their ability to shift their eyes from receiver to receiver and go through their progressions.  These are three of the four skills that Light’em Up: The Ultimate Quarterback Trainer helps young QB’s develop.

Whenever I would challenge my father to something he would always say “Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.”  We’ll see if that rings true today and in two weeks.

“Like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/LightemUpQBT and follow us on Twitter @LightemUpQBT. Contact me with any questions or comments at Arock084@yahoo.com and remember to KEEP SLINGIN IT!!

Arm Strength vs Field Vision

When assessing quarterbacks, which skill will define your choice between two qb’s?  Are you looking for a guy who has the big arm and can air it out?  He may connect with your burner (WR) once or twice in the course of a 60 minute game (depending on what level; High School 48 minutes), but will he lack consistency.   Or are you looking for the guy that can majestically move your team downfield with a high rate of consistency but may not have the big arm?  Ten out of ten times I’ll take the guy who may be lacking a little with arm strength but can consistently move my team.

Peyton Manning, one of the best quarterbacks in recent history, maybe even all-time is an outstanding passer but doesn’t have that BIG arm everyone is looking for.  Peyton makes up for any short comings in arm strength with his incredible ability to see the field.  He can anticipate where his receivers will be before they get there.  Just to put things into perspective, Peyton has a career completion percentage of 66% while having a career passer rating of 97.  Dan Marino, arguably the greatest pure passer of all-time had a career completion percentage of 59.4% and a career passer rating of 86.4.  Marino was a hybrid and a rarity, he could not only see the field and react in a split second but he could make every throw on the field.  The reason for the comparison is to show how effective a QB with great field vision can be even if they lack arm strength.   To add one final layer, Jay Cutler has a career completion percentage of 61% and a career passer rating of 84.  Between Manning and Cutler, I’ll take Manning!

Teaching a quarterback to have better field vision is not an easy task, ask any QB coach in the country.  With the development of Light’em Up we have simplified this for coaches and allowed them to work on other important skills while Light’em Up helps with field vision, decision-making, accuracy and learning to read progressions.

“Like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/LightemUpQBT and follow us on Twitter @LightemUpQBT. Contact me with any questions or comments at Arock084@yahoo.com and remember to KEEP SLINGIN IT!!

“Situational Awareness” Can it be Taught?

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The United States Military defines “situational awareness” as the ability to identify, process and comprehend the critical elements of information about what is happening to the team with regards to the mission.  More simply, it’s knowing what is going on around you.”  The key words in the definition are “identify, process and comprehend…”  Quarterbacks need to have the … Continue reading →

The Importance of Light’em Up

Light’em Up: The Ultimate Quarterback Trainer was designed to help develop a Quarterbacks skills in four key areas; (1) Field Vision, (2) Decision making, (3) Learning to read progressions and (4) Accuracy.  Often, I ask people how many elite Quarterbacks are there in the NFL and everyone’s answers always consist of about 5-7 names.  It usually goes something like this; Brady, P. Manning, Brees, Rogers, maybe even Romo, E. Manning and Roethlisberger make it into the the top seven or so, but there are still 25 more starting QB’s in the NFL.  My question has always been why can’t there be 20-25 elite Quarterbacks in the NFL.  Light’em Up provides the answer to my question.  Yes, a player with the attributes needed to play the Quarterback position has the ability to become an elite passer if taught correctly.  I strongly believe that coaches today are struggling with how to coach quarterbacks the right way from a young age.  Either it’s a issue with not enough time at practices at the high school level, coaches are only teaching just one or two reads instead of three to four or a number of other possible issues .  “Light’em Up” allows a QB to work with a coach or by themselves forcing the quarterback to focus on those key areas mentioned earlier and leave the footwork, ball release, etc. in the coaches hands.  

Thank you for taking the time to check out our new blog, we have a lot more to come.  So “Like” us on Facebook at facebook.com/LightemUpQBT and follow us on Twitter @LightemUpQBT Contact me with any questions or comments at Arock084@yahoo.com and remember to KEEP SLINGIN IT!!