What Quarterback Do: Whether you have been watching football for years or days, there is a pretty good chance that you have heard a lot of talk about quarterbacks. It is called the most important position in football, and there is a good reason for that.
But what does a quarterback actually do? There is a lot more to it than simply dropping back and throwing the ball to the first open receiver. Playing quarterback is difficult because of all the demands that come along with the position.
Deliver Play Calls
The reason to pick top quarterbacks when checking out NFL betting odds is because they consistently show how good they are. Anywhere in the Americas, quarterbacks get the most press because they have the largest impact on the success of their team.
The first thing that a quarterback does is deliver play calls from the coach. More experienced quarterbacks may have the freedom to alter the play at the line if they see something in the defensive formation as well. The play call tells everyone what they should be doing and where they are meant to go.
Read Defenses
Another major responsibility of quarterbacks is to read the defense. But what does that mean, exactly? Before the snap of the ball, the defense lines up. The job of the quarterback is to look at the defense, diagnose where he thinks players will be and what coverages will look like before the ball is snapped.
There are a few reasons for this. For one, it will tell the quarterback whether the play called can succeed. If they don’t think it will succeed, they can audible to something else. Otherwise, they look for potential weaknesses so they know where to go with the ball after the snap.
Direct Player Positioning
Think of everything that happens before the snap as a game of chess. Certain alignments and positioning can wind up exploiting a weakness on the other side of the ball. Part of what the quarterback does is know how the formation is supposed to work and direct players who may be out of position or not know where they are meant to be.
The quarterback knows that the success of the play depends on getting the formation right. A player out of place can throw things out of whack. The quarterback guides things so that the play can run as it was meant to run. In the event of an audible, the quarterback can move players to potentially exploit a mismatch that had not been there before.
Move the Ball
At the end of the day, the single most important thing the quarterback does is distribute the ball and keep the offense moving down the field. When passing the ball, they must identify open receivers, know where defenders are likely to be, be aware of oncoming pressure, and a million other things that could impact what happens on the play. It is a lot of information to digest on a regular basis and would make any armchair quarterback’s head spin.
At the end of the day, the position is one of the most complex in sports. Learning the schemes, how to read coverages, alter routes and protection packages, how to direct other players, and then deliver a catchable ball is more than just about any other position. That is why the quarterbacks are the top paid players in the league and oftentimes the most important on their roster. If you think that quarterback is easy, think again. There are a million things happening at any time and it is all too easy to screw one of those things up.