Dear Ken O'Keefe, please teach Wallace to attack the ball with his hands ...

[Penthos]

So if you watch the weekly football highlights, you'll notice that underthrown receivers are catching the ball and making big plays all the time. This past week it literally seemed like half of the deep pass highlights were underthrown catches. Romo is constantly underthrowing Dez. Stafford quite often underthrows Megatron. Cutler and McCown frequently underthrow Marshall. Even [insert Cleveland QB name here] underthrows Josh Gordon more than occasionally.

So why isn't the deep ball accuracy of those QB's constantly being questioned? Maybe it's because all of their receivers still catch the ball. That's what elite receivers do; they expand the target area by adjusting their speed and attacking the ball -in the air- with their hands. They don't just slow down and wait for it to drop into the little kangaroo-pouch sized target they've created against their chest. The very best receivers go after the ball and snatch it out of the air before the defender can knock it away or intercept it.

Think back to some of those "underthrown" deep balls this year and tell me Brandon Marshall or Julio Jones don't catch them. Wallace is a wonderful receiver, and I'm thrilled that he's getting the ball more and his production is up, but in my mind, he will never be that elite #1 WR until he proves that he can, and will, fight through the defender and attack the ball with his hands.

 

[FinfanInBuffalo]

Combine that with a comical (at times) feel for the sidelines.


View attachment 11925

 

[PhinMagic]

He's not a hands catcher. All those guys you mentioned are big receivers. Wallace probably has small hands.

 

[Wallace17Miami]

He really DOES need to attack the ball more. So many catches could have been made if he was more aggressive.

 

[spiketex]

He's not a hands catcher. All those guys you mentioned are big receivers. Wallace probably has small hands.

Bingo.. Can't compare him to Megatron, Brandon Marshall and Dez Bryant. They are all much bigger players who use their physicality to dominate. Wallace's best asset is his speed. Not an apples to apples comparison.

 

[Penthos]

He's not a hands catcher. All those guys you mentioned are big receivers. Wallace probably has small hands.

You don't have to be 6'4" to use your hands. My daughter is 5'6" and snatches the ball out of the air like a ninja. In fact, you could argue that a lack of size is all the more reason to use your hands.

 

[Penthos]

Bingo.. Can't compare him to Megatron, Brandon Marshall and Dez Bryant. They are all much bigger players who use their physicality to dominate. Wallace's best asset is his speed. Not an apples to apples comparison.

So his size means he can't stick his hands out and try to catch the ball? Chis Chambers was 5'11", that didn't stop him from using HIS hands and he played like he was 6-2. Welker? He catches with his hands as well, is he huge? To say that because a receiver is not huge that they therefore can't be aggressive is nonsensical to me. IMO lack if size means you have to be MORE aggressive.

 

[FinfanInBuffalo]

Bingo.. Can't compare him to Megatron, Brandon Marshall and Dez Bryant. They are all much bigger players who use their physicality to dominate. Wallace's best asset is his speed. Not an apples to apples comparison.

Wallace is 6 feet tall not 5'9". He is generally going against guys smaller than him. Steve Smith from the Panthers plays much bigger than Wallace.

Imagine if Brent Grimes didn't contest balls as a DB because he is short...... He'd be out of the league.

 

[HarryBagpipe]

Wallace doesn't fight for balls. It's just not in him for whatever reason. It is what it is. Seriously doubt it's gonna change with him.

 

[roy_miami]

Yeah Tanny's deep ball is probably pretty good if you have an apples to apples comparison, if he had megatron 80% of the incompletions to Wallace would be caught and half would probably be TDs. Nothing against Wallace, he is what he is and when him and Tanny get more time together I'm sure they'll hook up more. It'll always be feast or famine though, when they're on they'll blow games wide open but then there'll be stretches where Wallace doesn't do much. That Panthers game should have been over by the end of first half for instance, that should have been a 50-10 type rout. I hope I'm right anyway, imagine if Tanny can hit Wallace with the perfect ball more often and we get ourselves a dynamic TE like Jimmy Graham--we'll be unstoppable.

 

[El Calebra]

Bingo.. Can't compare him to Megatron, Brandon Marshall and Dez Bryant. They are all much bigger players who use their physicality to dominate. Wallace's best asset is his speed. Not an apples to apples comparison.

Is physicality a real actual word? My spell check does not flag it. But it was not a word until recently.

 

[Penthos]

Yeah Tanny's deep ball is probably pretty good if you have an apples to apples comparison, if he had megatron 80% of the incompletions to Wallace would be caught and half would probably be TDs. Nothing against Wallace, he is what he is and when him and Tanny get more time together I'm sure they'll hook up more. It'll always be feast or famine though, when they're on they'll blow games wide open but then there'll be stretches where Wallace doesn't do much. That Panthers game should have been over by the end of first half for instance, that should have been a 50-10 type rout. I hope I'm right anyway, imagine if Tanny can hit Wallace with the perfect ball more often and we get ourselves a dynamic TE like Jimmy Graham--we'll be unstoppable.

I guess my whole point is, for $60 Million he can reach for the damned ball.

 

[chuckdiesel]

So if you watch the weekly football highlights, you'll notice that underthrown receivers are catching the ball and making big plays all the time. This past week it literally seemed like half of the deep pass highlights were underthrown catches. Romo is constantly underthrowing Dez. Stafford quite often underthrows Megatron. Cutler and McCown frequently underthrow Marshall. Even [insert Cleveland QB name here] underthrows Josh Gordon more than occasionally.

So why isn't the deep ball accuracy of those QB's constantly being questioned? Maybe it's because all of their receivers still catch the ball. That's what elite receivers do; they expand the target area by adjusting their speed and attacking the ball -in the air- with their hands. They don't just slow down and wait for it to drop into the little kangaroo-pouch sized target they've created against their chest. The very best receivers go after the ball and snatch it out of the air before the defender can knock it away or intercept it.

Think back to some of those "underthrown" deep balls this year and tell me Brandon Marshall or Julio Jones don't catch them. Wallace is a wonderful receiver, and I'm thrilled that he's getting the ball more and his production is up, but in my mind, he will never be that elite #1 WR until he proves that he can, and will, fight through the defender and attack the ball with his hands.

Couldn't agree more! I actually brought this up a few weeks back in another thread: http://www.finheaven.com/showthread.php?347732-Armando-Wallace-tells-it-like-it-is

One thing I never see anyone on here talk about is Wallace's catching technique. What I mean by this is I haven't seen Wallace attempt to catch a pass at its "highest point" this season. I have seen countless accurate throws from Tannehill to Wallace that he tried to "breadbasket" instead of extending his arms away from his body and towards the ball and catching with his hands rather than his body.
For example, I have seen a number of deep throws on streaks that WERE accurate passes, however the db was able to knock it down WITHOUT looking at the ball. Dbs are having to run so fast to catch back up to wallace they can't afford to look back so they play his eyes. When Wallace's eyes get big and his hands make that "breadbasket" they simply put their arms up to hopefully knock it down or make Wallace lose concentration.
I played WR from ages 12-20 (middle school,hs, jr college) and from hs on up to JC we were taught to catch the ball at its highest point especially on streaks or fades to prevent dbs from doing this. I'm not saying this will solve all the problems between him and Tannehill but I think it will help.
I hope the wr coach realizes this sooner rather than later and tries to correct it.

 

[PhinMagic]

You don't have to be 6'4" to use your hands. My daughter is 5'6" and snatches the ball out of the air like a ninja. In fact, you could argue that a lack of size is all the more reason to use your hands.

I doubt your daughter is catching passes from nfl quarterbacks.

 

[RobertHorry]

Its completely untrue using size to say that is the reason to catch with your hands. Chris Chambers was 5'11 and consistently caught with his hands.

Davone Bess is 5'10 and uses his hands every single time. Rishard Matthews is the pinnacle of using your hands to catch the ball and at the highest point and he's an inch taller than Wallace.

Contrary to common thinking, Brian Hartline is not a hands catcher. He does it sometimes but the majority of the time he catches the ball with his body. So does Welker. I don't know how Hartline does it though, he has the ugliest form catching the ball.

It has to do with perception and hand eye coordination. Nothing to do with size.