So you are touting how inconsistent he was last year as a positive? Note what those "good" games all had in common, the less Hoyer threw the ball, the better he did. The only time he threw the ball over 30 times in a game and had positive results was against the Titans.....the team Fitz threw 6 TD's against. The more you asked from Hoyer, the worse he did. Pointing out that his numbers looked okay a few times during the year doesn't really excuse the fact that he ended the season with 5 games where he threw for under 50% completion percentage with a 53.1 QB rating where he threw 9 interceptions to only 2 TD's. Having a QB who might do well if you don't ask much from him kind of sucks when you have O line and running game injuries to deal with.
When you have defenses creeping up near the LOS, you have to be able to go over the top of the defense to get them to back off and open up the run game. If defenses have no fear of you doing that, or you are incapable of keeping them honest, it kills the run game. It's not that you are going to throw a ton of those type of passes per game, it's that defenses have to be at least a little concerned about the possibility of it....and if they aren't, you have to be able to make them pay for it.
As to specifically how many of those passes he threw, last year he threw 29 passes over 30 yards in only 14 games. so he tried about twice a game. He completed 6 total.
In terms of career starts, Hoyer's inconsistency isn't the least bit surprising, nor concerning. First of all, that's true of basically *every* QB, ever; more so, obviously, of a younger, developing QB. But all QBs are eventually exposed if they throw enough. Wrong. He also threw 30 times against the Steelers and posted a 94 QB rating so... yeah. And in two of his best games (Baltimore and Oakland), he threw 25 and 28 times. Fitzpatrick topped 28 throws just five times last year; it's not like this offense is designed to throw 40+ times a game. BOB isn't stupid; he understands Tom Brady's not on his sideline. Wait, wait... First of all, he wasn't "okay a few games" - he was extremely good. How good? His 98.2 QB rating was better than Tom Brady; better than Drew Bress; better than Andrew Luck... in fact, it would have ranked 5th among all NFL QBs. I fully, 10000000% understand sample size - but to casually dismiss 8 starts of *very* good QB play as "okay" is so incredibly disingenuous, it's making me rethink my opinion of you. (That, or you're a stubborn troll.) And just why, exactly, are those five games more meaningful than the other 8? You're aware that 8 > 5, yes? I mean, I've readily admitted he was terrible in those five games. But he was very good in the other 8. Very good.
That is *a* way to open up the run game; it is far from the *only* way. Sincere question: have you ever heard of a play-action pass? Those have a tendency to catch a defense creeping up and can break big pass plays downfield. And, again, 30+-yard passes are not uniformly standard or a requirement for success in the NFL. Tom Brady threw 16 last year (1/game) and completed 3. Rodgers 9/18; Manning 10/24; Brees 10/25; Luck 9/27. It's a low % play and a silly way to evaluate a QB.
The league average for pass attempts per game is 34, or rather that's what it was last season. Hoyer hit that mark 6 times, in those games he threw 7 TD's and 8 interceptions. If we drop that down to 30 he then threw for 8 TD's and 12 interceptions. The only way he looks "extremely good" is if you are putting undue emphasis on games where he was asked to do significantly less than the average QB. You ask him to throw only 17 times in a game, he might have a 113.0 QB rating....but that's not moving the ball very well. And yes, part of why Fitz looked good was because he was only averaging 28 attempts per game that he finished and I'm sure we'd like to limit Hoyer's attempts just the same, but it's going to be difficult without Foster. Even if you don't want to accept it, these are legitimate concerns and I don't think we can just ignore them because of a better WR corps.
If you can't throw the ball well enough to complete those passes down the field it doesn't really matter. Play action was a pretty big part of the Browns offense given that they had a Shanahan calling the plays and his numbers were still just awful.
It is depressing reading you all go back and forth arguing about who's been better between Hoyer, Fitzpatrick, and Mallett. Like when we were arguing between Lin and Toney Douglas. sigh.
Lin for sure. At least he could create a little. Douglas was very limited, though could shoot OK on occasion.
Too many pass attempts + no Foster are a grade A concern for *any* QB the Texans might start; you're acting like it's specifically a detriment to only Hoyer. I don't want Ryan Mallett throwing 30+ times a game, either. Hell, I didn't really want Matt Schaub - in his prime - doing it. It's extrapolating a small % of what he's expected to do and blowing it out of proportion. Again, look at the uber-elite QBs in the NFL - none are very good if we look at just 30+-yard passes. Plus, you have no idea what the circumstances were - what if... half of his 30+ throws came when Cleveland was trailing by 14+ points and the opponent knew they were coming? If he's efficient and moves the chains in an offense designed to minimize QB mistakes, he's not going to have to throw many 30+-yard passes because the Texans aren't going to likely trail by a wide margin in too many games. I don't believe they lost a single game by more than 13 points last year (NYG, right?).
Stand by it; these past two years (and likely this year) have underscored how much better this team was with Matt Schaub (pre-fetal-position Matt Schaub). It's undeniable, and bringing it up as some kind of mark against me... well, it certainly doesn't make me look foolish. But, please - go on...
If this, and other forums have proven anything, it's that just because something in undeniable or indefensible that doesn't mean that people won't try to deny or defend it. Schaub was one of the better QB's in the NFL before he fell off, it seems pretty foolish for people to deny that....but people are often fools. There's not a lot that can be done about it. As to the Hoyer discussion, I truly hope that you are right and that he'll prove capable as more than a dink and dunk specialist.
Even though Hoyer has a pretty good y/a, he keeps saying dink and dunk. And Fitz is a gunslinger, 100% srs. Smh.
