Why QB Brandon Weeden Showed He's Ready to Be Tony Romo's Backup
When quarterback Brandon Weeden was signed by the Dallas Cowboys earlier this year, my main concern was that he was horribly inaccurate during his time with the Cleveland Browns.
Despite coming into the league at age 28, Weeden managed to complete just 55.9 percent of his passes in two years with the Browns. Thatās Mark Sanchez territory (55.1 percent career completion rate).
Weeden was inefficient, too, averaging just 6.53 yards per throw during his time with Cleveland. There were clearly other problems with that offense, and we canāt pin it all on Weeden, but we really didnāt see much progression from Weeden from his first year to his second.
TOP NEWS
Contenders starting to separate themselves after Week 7
Geno Explains Wilson Exchange
.jpg?w=2560 "Rams Raiders Football")
Raiders Could Start Mendoza
That was pretty surprising given his age and the fact that Weeden was an all-star in college.Ā Sports-Reference.comĀ indicates he completed 69.5 percent of his passes and averaged 8.4 yards per attempt.
In the Cowboysā first preseason game against the San Diego Chargers, however, Weeden showed that he has the ability to throw the football with accuracyāeven when under pressure. Weeden ended the game 13-of-17 for 107 yards and a touchdown, even though he spiked one pass into the ground to kill the clock and had another one dropped.
I watched all of Weedenās throws using NFL Preseason Live and came away impressed.
It was just one performance, of course, but if weāre debating whether or not a highly coveted college prospect failed early in his NFL career because of a lack of skills or his supporting cast, the early signs in Dallas suggest maybe it was primarily the latter.
Poise
Weedenās touchdown came on a 3rd-and-goal at the Chargersā 4-yard line. The Cowboys lined up in āStrong Rightā:
The play was a bootleg with Weeden rolling out to the right. Nothing was immediately open as the quarterback moved toward the sideline, keeping his eyes in the end zone:
As Weeden threw the football to tight end James Hanna, he was being pressured with a defender a foot or two away. Nonetheless, he delivered a strike in between two defenders into the back of the end zone:
On this particular play, Weeden really made something out of nothing with his poise and arm strength:
Accuracy
Weedenās accuracy was outstanding all night. On a 3rd-and-6 to start the second quarter, the Cowboys lined up in āGun Tight End Trips Rightā:
Weeden dropped back and looked for tight end Gavin Escobar on an out route, throwing the football with defenders in his face again. Pressure from the right side actually altered Weedenās throwing motion just a bit:
He threw the football right into the chest of Escobar, who was able to get upfield as he didnāt need to break stride:
Ball Placement
One of my favorite throws of the night came on a 1st-and-10 at the Dallas 20-yard line with the āBoys again in āGun Tight End Trips Rightā:
Weeden was looking to hit wide receiver Devin Street on a curl, and he had a decently clean pocket with which to work. A San Diego linebacker attempted to jump the route underneath, though, as Weeden began to deliver the ball:
The quarterback used perfect ball location, forcing Street to run back and out toward the sideline so that the pass wasnāt picked off. Throwing with accuracy isnāt always about hitting the receiver in his chest, and this ball placement from Weeden was outstanding:
Play Action
Finally, I just wanted to mention that Weedenās play-action fakes were really nice. Hereās a look at one of them:
Whereas you can at times tell that Tony Romo is going to be running play action based on how he fakes the handoff, you couldnāt make that distinction with Weeden against the Chargers. Hopefully, this is a change that offensive coordinator Scott Linehan has made that will extend to Romoās play fakes as well.
Summary
Weeden has a poor history in the NFL, but we need to figure out how much of that was due to playing in Cleveland. While the early results in Dallas are positive, we need to see a lot more from the quarterback.
The goal of any backup is to be able to hold down the fort for a little while should the starter go down.
I donāt think anyone really knows yet whether or not Weeden can play at the level of a starter if he's surrounded with the right players, but last weekās game was a good sign that heāll at least be a capable backup.
.jpg?w=2560 "Steelers Saints Football")
.jpg?w=2560 "šØ Week 8 AP Top 25 Poll")
