Will Baizer
Staff Writer
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2015
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In the last 4th and 5 podcast we discussed Malik Jefferson's take on Cal's QB, Davis Webb.
“I saw last game Davis Webb had some trouble in the pocket when there really was pressure,†Jefferson said. “That always makes a difference in the game when there’s a passing quarterback.â€
I encourage listening to the podcast because its always a good time. Especially this week since we were joined by Cal Rivals' editor Nam Le, which was awesome! But for those who missed the podcast I discussed my finding after researching how other quarterbacks have done against pressure and reviewing Californias past two games I've come to realize he's right.
But that is usually the case for every QB. Usually when they're under pressure they don't do as well as they could when not under pressure. Pretty straight forward. But how does Webb stack up against the average?
According to ProFootballFocus, Deshone Kizer unpressured against Texas completed 67% of his passes. With pressure he completed 40% (however this number is not statistically significant). Blitzed he completed 50%.
Shane Buechele who’s completed 71.7% of his throws, completed 60% when under pressure (also not stastically significant), and 50% when blitzed.
I applied PFF's definition's of "blitzes" and "pressures" to Davis Webb's games against Hawaii and San Diego State.
Davis Webb has thrown the ball "under pressure" (not including sacks) 46 times, during which he completed 18 passed giving him a 39% completion percentage. He recorded 207 yards and had a TD/INT of 1/2 (one of those interceptions was a pick 6). What I witnessed is when Davis Webb comes under pressure he begins to have happy feet and it actually affects the rest of his game as well. During the 4th quarter of the San Diego State game he came under pressure so much that even when there was no one around him he would dance in the pocket and overthrown or underthrow balls. He only completed 14 passes on 28 attempts for 133 yards in that 4th quarter, and cemented Cal's loss when he threw an interception under pressure.
When given time Davis Webb will tear the defense apart. When there was "no pressure," Davis Webb completed 61 of 80 passes (76.25%) for 741 yards with 8 touchdowns and only 1 interception (on a tip drill ball). Those are some insane numbers for having only played two games.
So Malik Jefferson was right. Davis Webb is very unreliable under pressure and tends to get nervous. the obvious answer to Davis Webb is the defense needs to find some way of pressuring him in the pocket. however, it appears blitzes don't often work against this offense. Usually before a blitzer can even get to him the ball is already out of his hands, but if they do get to him then it is assured to cause him some troubles. When blitzed Daivs Webb recorded 49 receptions on 74 attemps for 616 yards and a TD/INT ratio of 8/3. The touchdown to interception rato tells the story of Davis Webb in this offense. If you throw a blitz at this offense it could very well be wasted, but if the dfense can actually get into the backfield then it could cause major problems for Webb. Despite all this he's still putting up big numbers when the defense brings the blitz.
From what I've seen during my time watching tape, I believe Strong and Bedford have taught their players how to time their blitzes perfectly so far. I believe the defense will be able to execute whatever blitzing schemes Strong and Bedford draw up.
For those who like tables here they are:
“I saw last game Davis Webb had some trouble in the pocket when there really was pressure,†Jefferson said. “That always makes a difference in the game when there’s a passing quarterback.â€
I encourage listening to the podcast because its always a good time. Especially this week since we were joined by Cal Rivals' editor Nam Le, which was awesome! But for those who missed the podcast I discussed my finding after researching how other quarterbacks have done against pressure and reviewing Californias past two games I've come to realize he's right.
But that is usually the case for every QB. Usually when they're under pressure they don't do as well as they could when not under pressure. Pretty straight forward. But how does Webb stack up against the average?
According to ProFootballFocus, Deshone Kizer unpressured against Texas completed 67% of his passes. With pressure he completed 40% (however this number is not statistically significant). Blitzed he completed 50%.
Shane Buechele who’s completed 71.7% of his throws, completed 60% when under pressure (also not stastically significant), and 50% when blitzed.
I applied PFF's definition's of "blitzes" and "pressures" to Davis Webb's games against Hawaii and San Diego State.
Davis Webb has thrown the ball "under pressure" (not including sacks) 46 times, during which he completed 18 passed giving him a 39% completion percentage. He recorded 207 yards and had a TD/INT of 1/2 (one of those interceptions was a pick 6). What I witnessed is when Davis Webb comes under pressure he begins to have happy feet and it actually affects the rest of his game as well. During the 4th quarter of the San Diego State game he came under pressure so much that even when there was no one around him he would dance in the pocket and overthrown or underthrow balls. He only completed 14 passes on 28 attempts for 133 yards in that 4th quarter, and cemented Cal's loss when he threw an interception under pressure.
When given time Davis Webb will tear the defense apart. When there was "no pressure," Davis Webb completed 61 of 80 passes (76.25%) for 741 yards with 8 touchdowns and only 1 interception (on a tip drill ball). Those are some insane numbers for having only played two games.
So Malik Jefferson was right. Davis Webb is very unreliable under pressure and tends to get nervous. the obvious answer to Davis Webb is the defense needs to find some way of pressuring him in the pocket. however, it appears blitzes don't often work against this offense. Usually before a blitzer can even get to him the ball is already out of his hands, but if they do get to him then it is assured to cause him some troubles. When blitzed Daivs Webb recorded 49 receptions on 74 attemps for 616 yards and a TD/INT ratio of 8/3. The touchdown to interception rato tells the story of Davis Webb in this offense. If you throw a blitz at this offense it could very well be wasted, but if the dfense can actually get into the backfield then it could cause major problems for Webb. Despite all this he's still putting up big numbers when the defense brings the blitz.
From what I've seen during my time watching tape, I believe Strong and Bedford have taught their players how to time their blitzes perfectly so far. I believe the defense will be able to execute whatever blitzing schemes Strong and Bedford draw up.
For those who like tables here they are:
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