The last two years the Falcons haven’t gotten the production they’ve wanted from the quarterback position, and one reason for that is because sometimes there was a lack of trust and confidence Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinieke, and Marcus Mariota had in themselves and their receivers. Well, that will not be the case with Kirk Cousins, and he explained why on The Morning Shift.
“In training camp especially I want to see guys have to make 50-50 catches, I want to see guys have a chance to make a play, so you know a guy may not be as open as I want them to be during the season, but I’ll still throw it because I say hey I want to see what this guy can do, and so you may not have as quite of as high a completion percentage in training camp, but you’re trying to experiment a little bit and let coaches evaluate and see…”
There were times over the last two seasons where it seemed like Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinieke, and Marcus Mariota weren’t completely willing to just let the ball rip in a tight window, or throw up a 50-50 ball and let one of their receivers make a play, and that probably took away some of the possible big plays that could’ve been had over the course of those two seasons.
What’s happening now is Kirk Cousins is building that chemistry and confidence with his receivers now in training camp, experimenting with tight window throws, 50-50 balls, giving his receivers those opportunities so he can see what guys step up and make those plays, so there won’t be any hesitation in a game situation, hopefully just big plays being made.
