That is one of the most significant changes in the game over the 50+ seasons I have followed. When it was a vertical game and defenses were actually allowed to participate it was simple for me to dismiss this guy or that guy, based on arm strength alone. For example, the Dolphins drafted Guy Benjamin as Bob Griese's potential successor. Forget about it. Lollipop arm. I called the sports talk programs on WIOD and WKAT multiple times apiece to rant about the absurdity of using a second round pick on a quarterback with no arm. Chris Myers recognized my voice and started laughing because he knew what the topic would be. Keep in mind it was actually the Dolphins' first selection that year since the first round pick was shipped to the 49ers in the Delvin Williams trade. We had anticipated the replacement quarterback choice for years and then come up with Guy Benjamin. Unbelievable. Of course, if the pick had worked out then maybe there's no David Woodley choice in 1980 or Dan Marino in 1983.
Nowadays I wouldn't be able to reject a Guy Benjamin so easily. Nor someone like Todd Marinovich, another lollipop. We used to laugh in the Coliseum when Marinovich was so petrified to throw a Hail Mary and verify his pathetic arm strength that he wandered around and intentionally allowed himself to be sacked. Best of all was one Hail Mary situation just before halftime and the opponent only rushed three. Marinovich was in panic mode. The three rushers were not threatening him at all. Not even trying to. Stalemated behind a wall of offensive linemen. My USC friends and I were in hysterics, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Finally Marinovich threw a dump off pass to his right. I still think that's one of the most memorable football plays I have ever seen in person. Both teams had players crowding the end zone, awaiting the jump ball from near midfield. Instead an unhurried quarterback throws a late swing pass 5 yards smack parallel to his right. The running back himself was in shock. He was taken down without incident.
Hey, the scheme worked. Somehow Marinovich became a first round pick. The off field stuff deflects from the simple reality that Marinovich's arm was not sufficient. His last NFL game was season finale against the Eagles. Very balanced outing since he completed 3 passes to Raiders and 3 to Eagles. A Philadlephia defender properly summarized afterwards, "Their quarterback was throwing ducks."
These days it is markedly more difficult for me to decipher that variable. I find myself stopping to remind...this is the current NFL, not what I grew up with. Matt Ryan is one great example in which I placed too much weight in arm strength. I think that was the first time I fully recognized the applicable gap from decades prior. Nope, his arm is not ideal. It accounted for lots of interceptions at Boston College. There have been numerous plays throughout his NFL career in which that variable has stood out, including very key plays in huge games. When the Falcons got wiped out by the Giants in a road playoff game early in Ryan's career, and the YPA was woefully low as the ball consistently arrived late, I was still trying to convince myself that the NFL would spit out Matt Ryan.
That was foolish. Overall Ryan's arm is perfectly sufficient. As Slimm described so well, the key combo now is decisiveness and decision making. I read ckparrothead's velocity stuff, which is interesting. I don't know enough about it. From subjectivity alone I am considerably less inclined to devalue a quarterback due to arm strength. It is just one more aspect that makes the quarterback position more problematic to decipher. I probably should spend more time on the easy ones, like Jake Fromm dropping in value. No matter how he fares in the NFL, nothing suggested an early first round premium prospect.
