Alabama Football: Florida Reaffirms Severe Flaw in McCarron's Game

A.J. McCarron took over the reigns as the Alabama quarterback this year. He had the one thing that Greg McElroy lacked: a big arm. The man can put some heat behind a football. But does that even matter?

McCarron has yet to connect on a passes longer than a handful of yards. Yes, he did have a pass to Trent Richardson that went for 61 yards, but those were all yards-after-catch from the Tide's feature running back. McCarron has not actually thrown the ball down-field for a catch. The majority of his passing stats come from yards-after-catch. 

McElroy did not have a strong arm, it's true. If he did, he would have gone in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft, because he had everything else. McElroy, however, almost always landed the big throw. He got the ball in the air and dropped it right where it needed to be. 

McElroy was accurate. On long passes, A.J. McCarron is not. 

McCarron has consistently overshot his receivers on every single long ball he's thrown, usually missing by just a few feet.

However, I must give credit where credit is due: McCarron may have missed every long ball he's thrown, but he has always placed the long-shots in such a place that only his receiver has a chance to catch it. If McCarron's long throws don't end up in Crimson hands, they end up on the turf. 

So, kudos to McCarron keeping his balls only in reach of his teammates, but where does that leave him? If you cross off his incomplete attempts on long passes, he'd likely be averaging above a 75 percent completion rate.

Fortunately for McCarron, he is not asked to win games, but merely to not lose them. In this regard, he's done a stellar job.  Let the defense pound the opponent senseless, and let the running backs eat the clock. 

In Saturday's game against Florida, the announcers stressed this about McCarron: He was asked only once to step up and make a big play, and then simply manage the game the rest of the time. And step up he did, connecting with Marquis Maze, converting on a 3rd-and-long for the first down. 

Before the snap, Alabama was pinned pretty deep in their own territory. A punt right there would have put Florida back in the game, but McCarron came through. 

The rest of the game he only completed 48 percent of his passes. 

On the season, McCarron is completing 62.5 percent of his passes for 7.66 yards-per-attempt.  He has played four straight games—two in very hostile territory, at both Penn State and Florida—and has not thrown an interception. It's safe to say the Kent State interceptions were flukes, and the dropped pass by Michael Williams that was intercepted was certainly not McCarron's fault. 

Is there a severe flaw in McCarron's passing game with the deep throws? Yes.

Is the deep ball one of Nick Saban's requirements for his quarterbacks? No, but they are nice to have once in a while. 

Overall, McCarron is doing exactly what the Saban system demands of him: manage the game, stay calm and poised, move the chains, and don't turn the ball over. 

McCarron is arguably a step ahead of where Greg McElroy was at by Week 5 in 2009. His flawed deep throws will work themselves out. 

Future opponents, however, are going to focus on McCarron's weakest part of his passing game. LSU, especially, is certain to take advantage of this. Simple one-on-one coverage down the field seems sufficient to negate McCarron's deep throws. 

Some day soon, however, someone like Maze or DeAndrew White is going to get separation from the secondary 50 yards down the field, and McCarron won't overshoot his target. 

And then...home run, A.J. McCarron. 

Put it on the board for 'Bama.