Joe Douglas and the New York Jets hope they found their long-term backup quarterback in James Morgan. Blewett’s Blitz breaks it down.
Captain Morgan. James Morgan. He’s the New York Jets newest quarterback (save for Joe Flacco) and one many NFL teams wanted to snag in the 2020 NFL draft. They couldn’t; Joe Douglas got to him first.
Blewett’s Blitz breaks down Morgan’s collegiate film (26 plays in total), posing the question, “Did the Jets find their long-term backup quarterback?”
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It’s the mesh-sit concept here from FIU. Morgan drops back (three-step) as he reads the linebackers. The sit route comes open but Morgan has quick pressure from the right as his right guard gets beat. Won’t knock him there, as it would’ve taken a pretty ridiculous anticipation throw combined with poise.
Morgan gets over top of the pressure because of the angle of the defensive tackle. More pressure from the outside but Morgan needs to get his eyes to the drag that’s wide open. Would’ve taken general accuracy plus the willingness to take a shot, but instead, he takes the sack.
FIU is in a third-and-1 situation. Morgan drops back (would like to see some more condensed/less hoppy footwork) as he is reading the middle of the field, right side, and then the left. On the left, he is looking at the linebacker who matches the corner-post from the slot wide receiver.
Morgan is looking to throw this and probably could’ve for a first, but again, he has pressure prohibiting him from doing so. Morgan tries to scramble out to his left but gets chased down by the outside linebacker.
At this point, Morgan needs to just take the sack and let the punter do his job. Instead, he chucks the ball up. Yes, the ball almost makes it but this could have easily led to a fumble or a pick.
A little bit of an odd scenario here as the offense runs play-action. Morgan does a good job selling the play-action with both his hand work and his eyes. Morgan gets his eyes back around to his half-field read of the sail concept (doesn’t seem like he reads the post which is odd).
Morgan goes to throw the flat route but sees the defender breaking. He continues to roll and seemly tries to throw the ball out of bounds but doesn’t put enough mustard on it. The ball is tipped but not picked. In the NFL, this is most likely an INT.