Cleveland Browns QB Colt McCoy’s Accuracy Issues Cannot be Overlooked Because of Intangibles
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
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| MiamiDolphins.com |
Senior Writer
The quarterback position for the Cleveland Browns has been a revolving door since the team rejoined the league in 1999. In fact, only one team (the Miami Dolphins) has used more starting quarterbacks during the past 13 seasons than the Browns.
When Mike Holmgren stepped into his presidential role with the Browns, the one thing he stressed above all else was stability within the organization and the quarterback position. In order to stabilize the team, he removed Eric Mangini from the head coaching position, and put “his guy” Pat Shurmur in place for the 2011 season, and hopefully well beyond.
In respect to the quarterback situation, Holmgren’s moves have been anything but stabilizing.
In March of 2010, he began with a massive overhaul which saw Derek Anderson released and Brady Quinn traded to Denver. He then traded for his former backup quarterback in Seattle, Seneca Wallace, and signed Carolina Panthers cap casualty, Jake Delhomme. Then one month later, Holmgren drafted the “future” of the Browns organization in round three of the 2010 NFL Draft, Colt McCoy, from the University of Texas—vowing McCoy would not see a snap in 2010.
McCoy’s scouting positives boasted the NCAA record for wins (45), his high accuracy percentage (70.3) and his relentless heart and leadership abilities on the football field. However, the same scouting report showed his height (6’1”), his poor field vision and his poor arm strength on throws more than 15 yards down the field as negatives for the former Longhorn.
In fact, one of the most glaring problems McCoy is still having trouble with in the NFL is highlighted here, “what McCoy lacks is good vision at [times] and there are instances where he might throw to a receiver and not see a more wide open receiver.”
Holmgren and the Browns knew the risks when they drafted McCoy, which is why their intent was to not “throw him to the wolves” and let him sit for a year behind two veterans. However, injuries to both of those quarterbacks forced their hand and McCoy had to step in and be “the man” much earlier than expected.
You won’t hear McCoy complain, and the players instantly talked about his leadership abilities and passion for winning when he took over. In fact, after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, McCoy was the leader for two huge upsets over the likes of New Orleans and New England. The win over New England may have been the “signature” performance of his rookie season, as he went 14-of-19 for 174 yards with a 73.7 completion percentage in the Browns' 34-14 triumph.
Then reality set in for the young McCoy, and he would lose his last five starts of the 2010 season. Some people blame an injury which kept him out weeks 12-14 (the Browns went 2-1), and think it impeded his growth at the end of the year. However, if you look at his stats he actually played well against Cincinnati after the injury—going 19-of-25 for 243 yards and three touchdowns.
Other people blame McCoy's poor late season production on the vanishing act performed by worn-out running back Peyton Hillis and the Cleveland rushing game. During the two big upsets, Hillis ran for 253 yards and three touchdowns. In McCoy's five losses to end the season, Hillis ran for 237 yards and one touchdown. Without the threat of a vaunted rushing attack—due to Hillis nursing minor injuries late in the season, as well—McCoy and the Cleveland passing game were exposed to tougher coverage from opposing defenses.
McCoy finished the 2010 season with a 60.8 completion percentage, 1,576 yards passing, six touchdowns and nine interceptions. Despite displaying accuracy issues in all but two of his starting performances, the Browns and Holmgren remained confident in their young signal-caller.
The team was so confident in his abilities; they decided to bring in a system which they thought would showcase his collegiate talents in the West Coast offense. However, six games into the 2011 season it is becoming more and more obvious McCoy’s collegiate talents may be far behind him, as he looks uncomfortable in the traditional, under-center approach.
You have to remember McCoy enjoyed the majority of his success at Texas from the shotgun, running a no-huddle offense. For those of you who follow college football, it is much easier to find open receivers when you are spreading four and five guys out against a collegiate defense. McCoy’s 13,253 yards and 70.3 completion percentage in college show he was a very accomplished college quarterback.
His 2,953 yards and 58.2 completion percentage through 14 NFL starts paint a completely different picture.
Some people will say the Browns have much bigger issues which are preventing McCoy from succeeding as an NFL quarterback. Undoubtedly the right side of the offensive line has issues, and the lack of a true “playmaker” at wide receiver has had an impact on McCoy’s ability to rack up wins at the NFL level. Those two issues are not the reason for a 12 percent drop-off in accuracy, however.
Related: Cleveland Browns QB Colt McCoy Taking a Ton of Blame, But Issues Lie Beyond Him
The reason, which many people blindly refuse to see, is the possibility McCoy may have just been a really good system quarterback in college. He has barely shown glimpses of developing into a real threat in the passing game through 14 games, and if he does not show something over the last 10 games of the season, the Browns may have to accept this fact as well.
McCoy has intangibles like desire, leadership and heart other teams would kill to have installed deep into their franchise quarterbacks. Those qualities will help a quarterback extend plays, fight for extra yards and succeed in what may seem to be impossible situations.
What those traits cannot do is teach a quarterback how to throw the deep ball, hit an open receiver and develop into the franchise quarterback everyone in the town of Cleveland wants him to be. So unless McCoy magically finds these abilities over the last 10 games of the Browns’ season, despite the team’s best start (3-3) in a long time, Holmgren and the Browns could be looking for a new signal-caller come the 2012 NFL Draft.
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I see your point but before you throw McCoy under the bus, consider:
1. The Browns receivers have the most drops in the league.
2. The running game has been practically non-existent except for last week.
3. The O-Line is scabbed together.
4. The receiving corp is so desperate, they are starting a rookie who hadn't played in over a year before the start of the season.
All these things add to the success of the quarterback. When your receivers aren't open you can't hit them long. Yes there have been a few instances he has hit them, but for the majority they can't get separation. The Browns won't have an idea of his talent, or it's limitations, at least until the end of the season, maybe even not until next year. Let him play and stop putting unneeded pressure on him.
With all due respect, he is the starting quarterback of an NFL team, so he warrants the attention and pressure. Secondly, I'm not sure how much game film you have watched, but he is missing OPEN receivers in the flat, on crossing routes, etc. Receivers are getting open, he is not seeing them. There were a number of occasions in the Seattle game in which Massaquoi was visibly frustrated because he was open.
In regard to your comment about the dropped passes, yes, Cleveland's 20 dropped passes lead the league. However, not all of them were wide receiver error, they don't take out desperation attempts at passes which hit the receiver's hands. But even if the receivers caught half of those, it would only raise McCoy's completion percentage to 59%...hardly where you want your starting quarterback to be.