Who said anything about throwing too early? He throws it on time better than ANY QB in the league. That's the whole point of the offense.
TTT is not dictated by a WR being open when the offense is built around timing. The ball is thrown to a spot on rhythm based off of pre-snap reads. The throwing data shows we design plays to get the ball out quickly, which greatly aides most of blocking metrics I mentioned. (EFF & PR)
The point I was making is when you get the ball out that quick, your pressure metrics are not a clear indication of how the OL blocked. So even with deep passing, which correlates to longer TTT, Tua is insanely elite and greatly reducing any chance of pressures being recorded. You can have a linemen get pancaked right off the snap and not be credited with a pressure if the ball is already being thrown.
Only when combined and analyzed with all corresponding metrics. The pass blocking metrics have me more concerned than run blocking. Tua's average time to throw on drop backs when getting sacked is worst in the league. (3.09 seconds) So he is getting sacked faster on drop backs than any other QB in the NFL. (Joe Burrow was 3.17 seconds for reference) So if his time to throw increases even a small amount, the pressure rates/sacks could skyrocket in a hurry. So yes , Tua was "pressured" less often, but the metrics say a lot of that is due to offensive design and elite QB/WR play.
I'm not overly concerned with the OL or think it needs drastic changes, but I do believe it's our biggest question mark going into the season. We lost a couple great players and we were already playing within razor thin margins.
Don't disagree, just hope Butch can get the same results this year. We should be able to live with an average OL when we have the #1 QB, #1 WR, #1 HB, #3 HB, and #5 WR.