Can you teach a QB touch???

[Fullfillmer]

Yes Son played QB from city league all the way until his SR year in high school as QB until he broke his collarbone and then moved to DB where he played in college. And we have talked to lengths about this very topic and his words were you can learn touch but finesse you can't. Trust me. We (wife and I) have set through many camps with him playing QB and I only know from a parent overhearing the coaches hound on the kids and the drills they put them through.

Now the opinion you asked about is my unpopular opinion about HB. Which I'm tired of beating a dead horse and as one poster went through the pains to back up his opinion by film which take it for what it's worth focused on the bad instead of the good. The kid was a freshman and made freshman mistakes. But as I said I'll keep that to myself. But the answer to this thread is YES touch can be taught, finesse can't!

And yes sir... while I played DB in college my son's football knowledge is off the charts and why he didn't go into coaching still has me scratching my head. When he was done he was done. Walked away with 2 division championship rings, started as a freshman and left it all on the field. One thing I miss most in life is not seeing him on the field on sidelines.

I deduced that your unpopular opinion was about HB - no big surprise there. He's young and anyone who has played sports knows that kids develop at different times. Some kids peak their senior year of high school - others develop late and don't peak until after college. It's a fine line between touch and finesse - an analogy that I can identify with is a pitcher that throws 94 mph, but doesn't know how to mix his pitches or hit his spots and leaves way too many out over the plate. The kid with good movement that throws 89 but is able to change speeds, hit spots, analyze batters and win that chess game are always going to be more successful that guys that can bring it - but don't know anything other than bringing the heater.

It's a blessing to have your children love sports, so many great life lessons learned there and great that you and he have that in common. I am not sure that Milton will ever develop both touch and finesse - it amazes me after watching him play at Michigan last year that anyone thought - wow - that's exactly who we need to be the engine of our new offense. I watched him and thought - Michigan has to replace him and soon or they will lose every game and all the coaches will be fired. But, last I checked they are not paying me millions of dollars to make those decisions.

 

[ohnnyvol1]

Is this teachable? I don't know but I would have set up some kind of high bar in practice for him to throw up and over to help him with this issue. I guess a lot of drop shot practicing??? into buckets or something from multiple distances??

No! You either have it or you don't. That is developed from backyard and pee wee days ,when your a kid throwing to you're buddy,s ! Nevre coached a game in my life ..But I've been throwin 25 yard seam route dimes for about 39 years and i have 4 years of eligibility left.. JLMK

 

[T2P_Priceless]

I only saw him late in the first game, as I mentioned when he had tons of time due to 3-man rush

 

[Fullfillmer]

Feleipe Franks was probably a worse case of erratic QB play than Milton. Franks had the huge arm and was always overthrowing people or throwing it too hard, or generally not having any finesse or touch. But in addition to that, he was totally ruined from a mental standpoint; skittish, no confidence, clearly scared to make mistakes, gun-shy, he seemed to get to a point where he’d rather take a sack or airmail a ball versus risking an interception. He was a total mess.

I don’t think Joe Milton has all those issues. He only has the erratic arm part from what I’ve seen. He doesn’t have the confidence issues or the mental issues.

My point for bringing Franks up is that he most definitely improved in every aspect thanks to really good coaching, scheming and play calling. Plus, I know things like off-season workouts and drills helped as well. Mullen took him from 8 TD’s and 9 picks to 37 TD’s and 8 picks in roughly the same amount of games. Really a phenomenal turnaround. Franks then went to Arkansas and continued, for the most part, solid Qb play with 17 TDs and 4 picks his last year.

So it can be done. Huepel is a good enough coach to get it done.

Slow down there Jaws - Franks did improve dramatically - but that was mostly at Arkansas - he pretty much blew chunks at Florida. And speaking of qb controversies - he was starting while Kyle Trask was on the bench - because he just wasn't good enough to beat out Franks or to be given a chance. As we know fate intervened and the rest is history.

Milton doesn't lack confidence because he has stated that he has played great and is planning his exit at some point to the NFL. So that is not an issue. He does execute the offense extremely well - he just has no touch or feel for any of the midrange or long passes. He also is weak at going through progressions, finding and leading receivers, etc. If he ever dials back his passes he may get half of them intercepted. We don't know because everything so far is 20 yards beyond all receivers and defenders.

If he starts i expect him to kill it against Tenn Tech and then revert back to what we have seen once we start SEC play against Florida, Alabama, Georgia, but I hope somehow he puts it all together and plays great; it would be shocking if that occurred. Also Franks big improvement happened between seasons - not mid season so less likely that switch flips on.

 

[vol66]

You can but it requires wearing a garter belt under your uniform.

Seriously, until they fix his feet, probably not.

 

[LA vol7]

No

 

[bpalmer28]

I feel like touch passes are a form of art

 

[DarkAvenger]

No, I mean in the off-season prior to the 10-game season. Corral was balling immediately, and was dramatically improved.

And damn near threw 11 ints the first year in 2 games… again this place is retarded, we would riot if Milton did that.

 

[FallGuy]

I don’t know if it’s been said here or not but I think this may be a head case. Kind of like a kicker or golfer. Milton is making NFL type throws, short and mid range, and these can be far more difficult to hit. He needs to get his shoulders properly positioned and put some air under the ball. More air under the ball and tell the receivers to run all out. It’s very frustrating to everyone because it is clear that he is so physically gifted. That being said, I think Bailey has the prettiest deep ball on the roster. Just my two cents, and I’m sure Heupel has forgotten more than I will ever learn.

 

[Jaws]

Slow down there Jaws - Franks did improve dramatically - but that was mostly at Arkansas - he pretty much blew chunks at Florida. And speaking of qb controversies - he was starting while Kyle Trask was on the bench - because he just wasn't good enough to beat out Franks or to be given a chance. As we know fate intervened and the rest is history.
.

Let’s just review the facts (stats) so that we can remove both of our opinions:

Franks in 2017 (before Mullen):
9 total TD’s
8 picks
QB rating 113.3
4 wins

Franks in 2018, plus 3 games in 2019 (with Mullen) :
37 total TD’s
9 picks
QB rating 158
13 wins

That’s a 311% increase in TD’s under Mullen in roughly the same number of games. Statistically, that’s incredible. And Franks led Florida to a 10-3 record and a NY6 Bowl game win where he played outstandingly vs Michigan. That’s not a “blew chunks” season.

And you mentioned he improved “mostly at Arkansas.” He played well at Arkansas too, but his 2018 season at Florida was easily better in completions, yards, TD’s and wins.

Lastly, regarding the “controversy” of Trask sitting behind Franks, you don’t know the facts to that situation either. When Mullen arrived at Florida, Trask was coming off hand surgery. Franks was coming off a full season playing in the SEC, albeit playing terribly. Franks won the starting job over Trask before the 2018 season. As the 2018 season progressed, and Trask was fully-recovered and started coming on and showing potential, he then broke his foot midway through the season. That affected his remaining 2018 and into 2019 season. He was ready by the fall of 2019 but at that point it was close enough to go with the guy who had started 2 full SEC seasons vs a guy who had been injury prone and hadn’t started a game since 9th grade. There’s no controversy, both Franks and Trask add to the Mullen portfolio as success stories. They’re both on NFL rosters. Franks was 13-3 under Mullen, Trask was 16-6. Where’s the “controversy?”

 

[volmoon]

Touch involves sense, eye and motion. Some of those are more natural than learned.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

There was hype video before the season started and it showed Milton throwing a long pass for a TD. Not saying it didn't take multiple times to get the shot LOL but he did it and CJH said he's making the passes and plays in practice.

I don't know...may be Milton needs to go see a sports shrink , wearing that Red shirt may be giving him the confidence he needs knowing he won't be hit. Then game time...locks up

No clue but I did see more air under his ball last week game compared to the BG game so I think he's open to learning.
Still think my suggestion to rollout 5-10yrd backwards and then throw fixes his long ball though

He does it in practice all the time apparently.

Maybe just needs a couple to work out to get going.

 

[TheVolsFrog]

Now this is a useful post.
It might help my golf game!!!
Which needs a LOT of help

 

[TMvol10]

No

 

[camp_steveo]

Yes, but it takes hours of practice over the years. At this point I am concerned that it is too little too late.

 

[sechamp2012]

What is our expectation for completion percentages on passes 50+ yards beyond the line of scrimmage? In total, we would like a qb to complete 60-70% of passes. But that percentage decreases the farther the ball has to travel in the air. Connecting with a receiver running full speed where the ball is travelling 60-75 yards in the air is never going to be a high percentage completion. So, what is your personal expectation 25%, 33%, 50%. Obviously, Milton is running a very low percent. But where do you think realistically he should be on these type throws?

That ( % expectations)changes almost every play, if a WR is 5-10 yards past a DB it should be 90+% , if a receiver is covered it should be 50/50 like the jump balls that JG completed vs Auburn, That's why they call it 50/50. There's a variable there too, do you have taller and more aggressive WR's, It's not as simple as it should be a determined % JMO.

 

[sechamp2012]

What is there to teach, according to Milton after his first game in the interview, he can do it all.

He ran for 2 TD's he thought he was still in HS where you stink up the game but you score TD's and you think you're great stinking stats be d@mned. I really do think he thought he played great until he heard the rest of the story.

 

[Dudleys87]

Muscle memory. You either master it or you don’t.

 

[spencer1989]

Milton has played for Michigan and Tennessee,he hasn't changed so I doubt he will ever!

One article I read on a Michigan board was that he looked good during practices but sucked during games. 21 points was given up against Pitt because the ball wasn't even close for the wide open receiver to catch.

 

[The Original Fade]

There are so many great coaches on VN…..it sure is a special place

 

[HooahVol]

The title of this thread sounds creepy for some reason. I feel like Heupel is saying "show me on the football where he touched you....."

 

[Remy]

You can make them better through practices and skills techniques yes. But there are some people who have an innate talent to be better at it than others. When the talented in this direction undertake the same work and techniques as those lesser talented in this area, they stand out head and shoulders over them. I can teach any baseball player to throw an actual curve ball as a pitcher. However, some players have an innate ability to be able to make that pitch work for them better than others. It's the exact same thing.

 

[hUTch2002]

There was hype video before the season started and it showed Milton throwing a long pass for a TD. Not saying it didn't take multiple times to get the shot LOL but he did it and CJH said he's making the passes and plays in practice.

I don't know...may be Milton needs to go see a sports shrink , wearing that Red shirt may be giving him the confidence he needs knowing he won't be hit. Then game time...locks up

No clue but I did see more air under his ball last week game compared to the BG game so I think he's open to learning.
Still think my suggestion to rollout 5-10yrd backwards and then throw fixes his long ball though

The problem is when it came time that air wasn’t needed on that wide open seam route he tried to put air under it as taught and overthrew the guy. I’m with you, it’s good to see him trying to adjust but that tells me he’s thinking too much rather than letting instinct take over. I’m in the minority it seems but I’m not ready to give up on him. If I were CJH I’d play both this coming week (assuming Milton is healthy) and whoever plays the best gets the start at UF.

 

[TheVolsFrog]

The problem is when it came time that air wasn’t needed on that wide open seam route he tried to put air under it as taught and overthrew the guy. I’m with you, it’s good to see him trying to adjust but that tells me he’s thinking too much rather than letting instinct take over. I’m in the minority it seems but I’m not ready to give up on him. If I were CJH I’d play both this coming week (assuming Milton is healthy) and whoever plays the best gets the start at UF.

Yeah he's in his head over thinking. I know why CJH wants to try and fix the guy but can't cost the team wins when you have a backup that is capable of pointing points on the board also.

 

[JRich]

Theoretically, anything can be taught and learned with enough practice. However, based on my knowledge and experience, I don't think touch can. Either you have it or you don't.

I always use the basketball analogy. If Milton plays basketball, does he look like a basketball player or does he look like a football player playing basketball. Can he shoot with touch (arc) or are his shots more on a straight line that bangs the goal?