Besides his mostly brilliant play in all aspects this year, a few things really stand out:
He is the fastest guy on the field whenever it is needed. I remember Jerry Rice tracking down Deion after a pick one time. Terrell Owens could use situational adrenaline to be noticeably faster than guys whose 40 times were far better than his. A couple kids on my childhood swim team could track down swimmers ahead of them in relays who had beaten them in individual events. I am specifically thinking of two plays:
1. The 75 yard dead sprint by Allen, where DTR closed 15 yards to throw a screen block. He flew by pursuing DBs like they were standing still and was considerably faster than the 2018 California state champion in the 100 meters.
2. On several occasions he turned the corner when he had zero business beating the pursuing DBs to the edge. The best example was his second half rushing TD but he did it in the first half too. For the first half play I paused and rewound the play to see what DB he beat to the corner and it was a guy listed with a 4.2 40 and a sub 11 100 meters in high school track. (DJ Taylor)
Those situational bursts of speed are what makes a good player great and it’s sheer competitive drive and will.
Another thing that stands out is his ability to throw accurately while running in any direction. It can be frustrating to watch him miss on easy passes, but it is an amazing display of coordination when he squares his body while running left (or right or forward) at full speed and hits a receiver on the numbers.
He obviously took a while to get to this point, but in retrospect perhaps it was due to him not playing QB until his senior year of high school.
He does a few things that only a handful of QBs have ever done: Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick, Johnny Manziel, a few others…where you feel like they are playing at one speed and everyone else is in their orbit. It’s been a pleasure to watch.
He is the fastest guy on the field whenever it is needed. I remember Jerry Rice tracking down Deion after a pick one time. Terrell Owens could use situational adrenaline to be noticeably faster than guys whose 40 times were far better than his. A couple kids on my childhood swim team could track down swimmers ahead of them in relays who had beaten them in individual events. I am specifically thinking of two plays:
1. The 75 yard dead sprint by Allen, where DTR closed 15 yards to throw a screen block. He flew by pursuing DBs like they were standing still and was considerably faster than the 2018 California state champion in the 100 meters.
2. On several occasions he turned the corner when he had zero business beating the pursuing DBs to the edge. The best example was his second half rushing TD but he did it in the first half too. For the first half play I paused and rewound the play to see what DB he beat to the corner and it was a guy listed with a 4.2 40 and a sub 11 100 meters in high school track. (DJ Taylor)
Those situational bursts of speed are what makes a good player great and it’s sheer competitive drive and will.
Another thing that stands out is his ability to throw accurately while running in any direction. It can be frustrating to watch him miss on easy passes, but it is an amazing display of coordination when he squares his body while running left (or right or forward) at full speed and hits a receiver on the numbers.
He obviously took a while to get to this point, but in retrospect perhaps it was due to him not playing QB until his senior year of high school.
He does a few things that only a handful of QBs have ever done: Lamar Jackson, Michael Vick, Johnny Manziel, a few others…where you feel like they are playing at one speed and everyone else is in their orbit. It’s been a pleasure to watch.
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