Northwestern Specialists mock Taylor

T-Mart's footwork could be improved.

If you are happy with 55% completion fine.

Some footwork help, imo, would help him make some measurable strides as a passer.
totally agree. He isn't all that experienced as a passer since he was moved there as a junior in high school. That's not really that long to where he can't have his bad habits broken and retaught.

 
Caputo is a worthless freakin midget on the O-Line. He gets blown up constantly and is the main reason the other teams have gotten so much penetration in the backfield the last two years.

Seriously? There are more than a few knowledgable NU pundits who would disagree with that (J Peter/D Benning) . . . If all of those 6'7" NFL measurable OL would play half as hard as Caputo that line would be great. As it is, the line has been a pleasant surprise this year.

 
Caputo is a worthless freakin midget on the O-Line. He gets blown up constantly and is the main reason the other teams have gotten so much penetration in the backfield the last two years.
So you're saying Martinez hit Caputo in the back of the helmet with his pass to retaliate against him for all of his shortcomings, real or imagined? Excellent commentary!

As long as you are on a roll, tell us who should be playing center, and also why you think Cotton isn't playing that particular person.

 
If anything, their offense should've mocked our defense by standing in the huddle with their thumbs up their butts between plays.

 
What's wrong with Taylor's throwing motion? He looks like a pro QB to me. And I should know. I watch the Chosen One sling it around the yard every week for the Denver Broncos.

 
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Glendower said:
meh. Who doesn't? Last week the announcers took the time to humorously dissect it. It's funny and strange.
Every week someone makes a negative comment on the television about Taylor Martinez's throwing motion.

But it may just be me, but it seemed like he didn't do a lot of the lobbing the ball in the air.

 
Bowfin said:
Its hard to change something you've done for a long time.
...but not impossible...

It was hard for me to run a mouse lefthanded when I got carpal tunnel (I'm an IT guy), but I decided I need to do so to avoid surgery. I did.

It's also hard to learn how to drive a stick shift, lose weight, put the toilet seat down when you get married, quit smoking, learn to take your hat off in the house, and <YOUR EXAMPLE HERE>. The difference between adequate and excellent is if and when you are satisfied in not improving the status quo. I guess Martinez and the coaching staff are at that point with his throwing motion.

I think instead of working on making something look prettier, the coaching staff should spend their time teaching Taylor more valuable things, like making correct reads. Every QB has passes tipped, it happens.

 
Every QB has passes tipped, it happens.
Fumbles are inevitable and happen also, that doesn't mean it's okay to carry a ball one handed like a loaf of bread, because sooner or later the ball will be fumbled regardless of good technique or lack thereof.

It happens more to quarterbacks who release the ball lower than those that release the ball higher.

 
Bowfin said:
Its hard to change something you've done for a long time.
...but not impossible...

It was hard for me to run a mouse lefthanded when I got carpal tunnel (I'm an IT guy), but I decided I need to do so to avoid surgery. I did.

It's also hard to learn how to drive a stick shift, lose weight, put the toilet seat down when you get married, quit smoking, learn to take your hat off in the house, and <YOUR EXAMPLE HERE>. The difference between adequate and excellent is if and when you are satisfied in not improving the status quo. I guess Martinez and the coaching staff are at that point with his throwing motion.
I think there could be a bit more to throwing the football than there is to using a mouse lefthanded.

The long and short of it is that it's a difficult art that the best of them have had training since very young to master. Taylor is much newer and much more raw to the QB position than most - what is it, like before four years ago that he never played QB? That explains why it is such a quirky motion as well as why it can't just be "fixed." If it were that easy, anybody could be a QB! Also, this is not the kind of stuff that you can mess with during a season. With everything else that is going on, even during offseasons you can only devote a certain percentage of your attention to it. And Taylor has just five offseasons (four really) in his entire career where he can dedicate himself to working on it.

Don't mean to sound defeatist but he'll always "have a ways to go."

 
Bowfin said:
Its hard to change something you've done for a long time.
...but not impossible...

It was hard for me to run a mouse lefthanded when I got carpal tunnel (I'm an IT guy), but I decided I need to do so to avoid surgery. I did.

It's also hard to learn how to drive a stick shift, lose weight, put the toilet seat down when you get married, quit smoking, learn to take your hat off in the house, and <YOUR EXAMPLE HERE>. The difference between adequate and excellent is if and when you are satisfied in not improving the status quo. I guess Martinez and the coaching staff are at that point with his throwing motion.
I think there could be a bit more to throwing the football than there is to using a mouse lefthanded.

The long and short of it is that it's a difficult art that the best of them have had training since very young to master. Taylor is much newer and much more raw to the QB position than most - what is it, like before four years ago that he never played QB? That explains why it is such a quirky motion as well as why it can't just be "fixed." If it were that easy, anybody could be a QB! Also, this is not the kind of stuff that you can mess with during a season. With everything else that is going on, even during offseasons you can only devote a certain percentage of your attention to it. And Taylor has just five offseasons (four really) in his entire career where he can dedicate himself to working on it.

Don't mean to sound defeatist but he'll always "have a ways to go."
First of all, let me say that I"m not saying anything disparaging about TM with this, I thought again he played really, really well last night, and did everything he could to give us an opportunity to win the game.

But if he's only been QB'ing for four years, it should be easier to fix because the motions should not be so ingrained. I seriously doubt he throws a baseball that same way (if he does than it might not be fixable), I would guess the football motion has come about since he started playing QB. As well as he is playing right now, corrected mechanics would make him even that much better. Some of the throws that are off just that little bit might be just that more on target. The difference in a long TD and a 10 yard gain is often something as small has hitting the runner out in front and in stride as opposed to the ball being behind him (just a couple of feet off on a 15 yd play can make all the difference). And someone else addressed the heigth of his release. Just little things that might help make him that much better.

But you're %100 correct, those things can't be corrected during the season. It takes reps after reps after reps to make it habit. You can't be thinking of your throwing motion when you're back in the pocket, you just have to let if fly. I don't know who supposedly worked with him this past offseason, but I really hope they get someone different next spring and summer, cause he's doing awfully well lately doing it ugly, it's scary to think how good he could get with some refinements.

 
ILHusker said:
I'm not sure if anyone else at the game noticed this, but in the 4th quarter when Taylor was marching the team down the field, the 4 Northwester kickers/specialists continued to mock Taylor's throwing motion. I know Martinez doesn't have the best mechanics, but I thought it showed a considerable lack of taste on the part of an opposing team.

On a side note, I have to say this was the best I've seen Taylor play, ever. He was making good ball fakes, nearly all his throws were on target, he didn't put the ball on the ground, and I thought all around played about as good as he could have. I've never seen him more accurate with his throws in any other game, including the OK state game last year.
They're kickers. Who cares what they think.

 
What's wrong with Taylor's throwing motion? He looks like a pro QB to me. And I should know. I watch the Chosen One sling it around the yard every week for the Denver Broncos.
You too! I love watching Nebraska lose and then get to watch my Broncos on Sunday. There's so many similarities between the two teams it's actually scary.

 
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