At the snap of the ball, things speed up. The brain and the body must work together to make appropriate reads and execute the play. At this point, the particular play affects the action of the quarterback. If its a run play, the quarterback’s job is to safely and quickly get the ball into the hands of the running back. He must look the ball into the pocket of the running back’s arms and ensure a safe handoff. The QB is then responsible for carrying out an effective fake to hold linebackers and the secondary from crashing on the run too quickly. Furthermore, it gives the QB an opportunity to see how the linebackers and secondary respond to the run play. If they are crashing too hard on the run, then a fake run and pass play could be very effective.

If the play is a pass, the QB must identify his targets and read the defense. This can be extremely difficult as the offensive linemen in front of him are creating a pocket for him to pass from. The QB must identify if a blitz has occurred and if that blitz will be picked up or if he needs to hit a short receiver, designated on most plays as the ‘hot’ receiver who should be open in the case of a blitz from the defense.

The goal of most passing plays is to identify a choice between a primary and secondary receiver. The goal is to force the defense to make a choice between those two and then identify in the moment which receiver will be open and to throw an accurate and catchable pass. The QB also has ‘backside’ receivers or multiple ‘check-down’ options is the defense effectively covers both of the primary and secondary receivers. A good QB will make a decision with these receivers and deliver a pass within four seconds of taking the snap.

Being able to make decisions on the fly, when you are being pursued and time is ticking is important in being an effective QB, as well as an effective person.

The success comes in the preparation and practice before the play takes place. Then, being able to handle the pressure and stress of being ‘in the moment’ to throw the ball or to deliver the presentation or to meet the goal laid out in the preparation. Reading on the Run takes four important attributes.

1. Preparation
2. Practice
3. Focus
4. Confidence

If the preparation and practice has been diligent and thorough, then having the focus and confidence to deliver in the moment of stress will come naturally and effectively.

In what areas of your life might you apply these four principles?

Tuesdays for me are a work day. It may be that from my days in college football the concept is ingrained into me, as Tuesday is the day when most teams try to get their hardest workout in, tackling reps and live reps, in order to remember and perfect the art of physicality. Going full speed so as not to lose the sharpness needed to compete on Saturday. Tuesdays for me are a day where I sit down and attempt to fly through a thick to-do list, buckling down and working hard. Generally I do pretty well, and I walk away from Tuesdays feeling productive and effective for the rest of the week. How I form my to-do list is important in getting off to a good start.

In every passing play for a college quarterback, there is a set of reads that they must go through to make the appropriate pass and have an opportunity to be successful. A quarterback’s ability to read on the run, adjust to changes in the defense and find the open receiver, and then execute the throw and catch, determines the success of the play.

For every play, the goal of the offense is to give their players an opportunity to be successful. The reads that a quarterback makes starts from the moment they break the huddle.

The process is to first scan the entire defense and personnel, checking for changes in strategy from the previous plays. Then starting from the secondary, to work down into the linebackers and the linemen, recognizing the pre-snap coverage and box set-up. In other words, how many men are in the secondary to stop the pass and how many men or in the box to stop the run. Then to scan the opposite direction, from linemen to secondary, to acknowledge any shifts or changes. This then determines if an audible or adjustment is needed based on the play called. These first steps happen before the QB goes under center.

Once the quarterback is under center, he begins the cadence sequence and adjusts the offense including motions or shifts. He reads the defense again based on how they respond to the offensive shifts or motions, which gives an indication as to what defense they might be playing (i.e. man or zone, blitzing or soft coverage, etc.) At this point, the QB also considers the play that is called and whether it is a run or pass, how the defense might respond: Is there an apparent blitz coming, often cued by a shift in the secondary, or are the d-linemen shifted into the hole where the play is called and is there a need to flip the play to the other side? What is the depth of the cornerbacks and will the quick hitch be effective or will the receiver convert the route into a fade?

These questions must be answered before the play even starts, in the span of approximately 10-15 seconds. Whoever said football was for dumb jocks could be mistaken. Take the reads that a QB has to make a multiply them by 10 to include all the other players on the offense that have their reads to make before the play starts, not including the 11 men on defense who are making pre-snap reads of their own and its obvious that football is 80% mental and 40% physical. (ok, so we’re not all great at math, but you get the point)

Each of us has responsibilities and ‘reads’ to make before our day starts. Having a checklist or ‘to-do list’ of anticipated things to accomplish during that day (or play) help us to be prepared for the day itself. Analyzing my responsibility for the day and what I need to accomplish to help my teams is the first step in being effective each day.

Check back tomorrow for how to make your reads during the play, on the run, in the heat of the moment of life!

Here’s a NFL Draft inside look from a guy who ESPN should snag for their ESPN Draft Analysis. Mr. Thiessen is a great friend, EverydayQB Athlete who loves his family, works hard at his job and coaches youth football. He’s also the featured star on the EverydayQB post “Applauding a Great Catch”. Check out info on three guys you’ll want to keep your eye on during the NFL Draft this weekend.

Max Unger – C – Oregon

VERSITILITY is the name of the game here! A four year starter at tackle, guard and center! In the NFL the ability to play all 5 positions, does not come around often. Unger has great feet and good punch at the point of attack. His axis he blocks on is 2nd to none in the draft! He will most likely play center in the NFL. He is a great leader on the field and should show himself valuable for years in the NFL. Look for Max to be gone late 1st Rd to mid-2nd Rd.

BJ Raji – DT – Boston College

Raji is a guy that has the best motor of any player regardless of position in the draft this year. Was basically unblockable last year and required constant double teams. In this day and age- kids coming out of college to the NFL lack drive or ambition to be a dominant force like there talent may suggest they could be. Raji is very strong and moves very well at his size- 6’1″ 330. Raji will not make it past #7 to the Bengals!

Michael Crabtree – WR – Texas Tech

Crabtree is a great route runner with very good hands. Crabtree needs to mature and handle himself better in public forums/interviews. Ask the Everydayqb.com how valuable a good set of hands and knowing a receiver will be in the correct spot and the proper time! Though Cleveland says they were not impressed with there time with Crabtree he would be a great, reliable target for young qbs Quinn and Anderson.

Well, I sort of reached my goal this week. I guess, in a way, I didn’t reach my goal for this week in that I only lost 1.5lbs, but since I lost 3lbs the previous week, I am still 1/2lb ahead of where I am projected to be. That brings me down to 270.5lbs. My goal is to average losing 2lbs a week and so I need to make up for a little less performance this week. I maintained the same workout and eating pattern, but I knew at some point that I would start to really cut down on eating ANYTHING that is heavy in calories or fat content. That moment may be here. So this week will entail and even stricter eating regiment and continue to work out as many days as possible, and we’ll see what happens.

Since the NFL Draft begins tomorrow and continues through Sunday, the EverydayQB decided to play a game with himself. Here’s my top ten draftees prediction. Let’s see how close I can get to being right and if I do well, I’ll give myself a pat on the back! Enjoy draft weekend!

1. Detroit Lions-QB Matt Stafford (Georgia)
2. St. Louis Rams-OT Jason Smith (Baylor)
3. Kansas City Chiefs-LB Aaron Curry (Wake Forest)
4. Seattle Seahawks-QB Mark Sanchez (USC)
5. Cleveland Browns-WR Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech)
6. Cincinatti Bengals-OT Eugene Monroe (Virginia)
7. Oakland Raiders-WR Jeremy Maclin (Missouri)
8. Jacksonville Jaguars-DT B.J. Raji (Boston College)
9. Green Bay Packers-OLB Aaron Maybin (Penn State)
10. San Francisco 49ers-DE/OLB Brian Orakpo (Texas)

Agree or Disagree? Join the conversation below. Happy Draft Weekend!

The NFL Draft is just around the corner and the EverydayQB wants to weigh in on the hype. Admittedly I know very little about the overall draft and what will happen, although sources have confirmed that this draft will be loaded with Offensive Linemen. But what I don’t know in NFL Draft analysis, I do know in analyzing QBs.

The two top QBs to be selected in the upcoming draft will most likely be Mark Sanchez from USC and Matthew Stafford from Georgia. The question is: What do these QBs have to offer the teams that select them and which one will fare better in the NFL?

Mark Sanchez:

Sanchez excelled at USC, one of the top programs in the country, by using his feet and completing accurate passes. His decision making skills are unparalleled on the field and he has the poise and leadership skills that will make him an exceptional NFL Quarterback. Though he is a tad undersized and a little slow for a scrambling quarterback, he moves extremely well in the pocket and can throw accurately on the run or under pressure. Finally, his energy is what sets him apart. He brings a level of enthusiasm and work ethic to his teams that inspires and excites those around him.

Matthew Stafford:

Stafford was THE guy at Georgia last year, in a tough conference and he was able to succeed and lead his team to victory. He is a physical specimen who is powerful and has a very strong arm. He has no history of injuries and is an exceptional human being. The only question mark on Stafford is his sometimes tentative decision making process in the pocket. He needs to learn to make quicker decisions and intuit what the defense is going to do. He also has an outstanding work ethic and is a born leader.

Prediction:

Both men will eventually make outstanding NFL Quarterbacks. However, the Everyday QB predicts that Mark Sanchez will have a better career. Look for Sanchez to be picked up by the Seattle Seahawks, a team now with an good, but aging quarterback in Matt Hasselback. Hasselback will give Sanchez the 2-3 years needed in the NFL to blossom and grow into a Pro-Bowl QB. Stafford, on the other hand, will have a more immediate impact and be picked up as the first pick by the Detroit Lions. The Lions would probably be better off going with an offensive linemen, but they need a QB and Stafford will be a good fit. But his first two years and how he handles the pressure and expectation in Detroit will be interesting to watch. Detroit has become a black hole for promising QBs as of late and I’m not sure if Stafford will be the exception.

So there’s your NFL QB draft insight from the EverydayQB. Check back later in the week for more insider information from a guest blogger!

I sat down to watch my homestate team on Saturday night, the Portland Trailblazers, with confident hope that it would be a good use of my time. I had worked hard that day to make sure everything on my ‘honey-do’ list was completed so that I could relax and watch sports. I was in triple-sport bliss, because not only were the Blazers playing, but the Seattle Mariners were on FSN and I was watching an afl2 game online. Surely, this was heaven.

But what unfolded before my eyes on Saturday night was catastrophic. I saw a young team, that had been successful down the stretch and on a roll, be thoroughly stomped and schooled by thirty in the opening game of the NBA playoffs. It was as if the crowd corporately and simultaneously had the wind knocked out of them and they stood in a collective silence of shock and horror. The team they saw in front of them was not the same team that had revitalized the Portland sports community. Instead, they looked young, timid and experienced.

Its three days later and the Trailblazers have had a chance to soak in their first game failure. A loss like that eats away at your stomach and causes your heart to ache. But what happens after the empty stomach and broken heart is something interesting and remarkable…a hunger grows. A hunger grows to prove to the world that you deserve to be in the playoffs, in the game, in the arena, and though the defeat stings, there is renewed hope of once again rising to the pinnacle and experiencing the exhilaration of victory. It is what has driven men and women across the centuries, what inspires us to continue on and drives us to achieve more. It is the passion to succeed.

I am confident that the Portland Trailblazers will respond tonight against the Houston Rockets. We will see the team that got them there, and we will watch the way in which they respond to defeat, a true measure of a champion.

For the past month I’ve been the helpless neighbor. We moved into a new duplex in a cul-de-sac of houses and duplexes about five months ago and we love where we live. This is the first time we’ve actually had a yard to take care of and a garage to fill up with junk. Because of these new additions to our living we don’t have a lot of tools, etc. that are needed in maintenance of a home. In come our awesome neighbors. The other people in our cul-de-sac have helped us with lawnmowers, tools and other things and have offered us kindness and assistance. It has been great to receive such generous giving and kindness from our neighbors and we are enjoying getting to them.

I am also the helpless neighbor because I am forgetful. Two weeks ago, in the rush to get out the door in the morning, I locked our car key and house key in our house. We didn’t have a spare key or any windows open and so we were forced to call our landlord so he could open our house for us. Our neighbor allowed us to wait in her home for the landlord because it was cold outside.

So, trying to prevent this situation from occurring again, I took our spare car key and spare house key and put it outside in a safe place in case it happened again.

Fast forward to yesterday, ready and motivated to go to the gym, weigh in and work out, striving towards my goal of losing 2lbs a week. While we were driving to the gym, I realized I had forgotten to put some clothes in the dryer that I needed later on that night. So we ran back to the house and I rushed inside, set the keys on the washer, changed the laundry and went back outside and locked the door behind me out of habit. The moment I stepped out the door I realized I had done it again. The keys were locked inside. No problem! I’ve put our spare keys in a safe place outside. I went to grab the spare key and unlock the house. Unfortunately, I hadn’t check to make sure that the spare house key was actually the spare house key. It was, in fact, the house key from our previous apartment. So, we were locked out again.

As I realized I had to call my landlord for the second time in the month to unlock our apartment, I also realized that both our phones were inside. After a moment of despair and frustration, our next door neighbor, connected to us by a half wall of our duplex, comes around the corner. I tell him of our plight and ask if we can use his phone to call the landlord. He told me he could do one better. The crawl space above his garage was connected to mine and I could crawl over to my garage and drop down into it and open the door from the inside.

I figured it was worth the risk, even though I’m a big guy, to avoid the embarassment of calling the landlord again, so we started to put the ladder up. My neighbor started telling me about how they’d done this before with another neighbor, when that same neighbor walked by. I’ll be honest, I had visions of myself falling through the ceiling and spending months in the hospital from the fall, and at that very moment, the very neighbor that had competed this task before walked by and asked what we were doing. He then offered to crawl through the space and open our door. I willingly accepted his generous offer and he effectively got us back into our home.

This exciting story is all to say that we ran out of time to work out yesterday. However, may it be know, I still lost not 1lb, or 2lbs, but 3lbs, this past week, beating my goal by 1lb. I ate much better (minus Easter weekend) and worked out a few more times. I still have yet to reach my goal of five times a week but we are getting closer.

My point is this: We need each other. Having people that support you and are willing to come alongside you in your distress is paramount in a healthy and successful life. We are blessed to have great neighbors, friends and family that we can count on in our time of need. Hopefully you do too.

Well the day is finally here. Thank you to everyone who participated in the EverydayQB “Free NFL QB Jersey’ Contest! It has been a great start to creating a community to dialogue about sport issues and real life. Check out the video below for the big announcement!

EverydayQB Contest Drawing from EveryDayQB on Vimeo.

Happy Tax Day!

Hey there EverydayQB community. Just wanted to remind you that today is the last day to enter our contest to win a free NFL QB jersey of your choice. Post a relevant comment on this post or any previous ones and enter your name to win the jersey. We’ll have a special video drawing tomorrow here on EverydayQB, so stay close to your computer screen!!!

Thanks for reading EverydayQB and being a part of this special community. We are trying to provide you with relevant and exciting content with an inside window into the world of sports that then transforms your business and family lives.

There are a lot of athletes out there that are blogging. Many professional athletes blog for public relations and to provide inside information to their fans. Here are some of my personal favorite pro athlete blogs:

Donovan McNabb

Greg Oden

Marque Douglas

Ben Roethlisberger

Let us know what you think of these blogs and if you have other athlete or sports related blogs that you enjoy reading.

“Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope”

The Master’s Golf Tournament this weekend was anything but ordinary. With all of the hype and drama between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, the rest of the field seemed to fade away. But it was a trio of three men, tied at the end of four rounds, that set the stage for the first three-man playoff in fifty years.

But the playoff for the green jacket was not filled with amazing shots and fist pumping putts. Instead, it was Angel Cabrera, the first South American to win the Master’s, that simply outlasted the rest of the field. He simply made fewer mistakes then the rest of the field and it got him the win.

I was always taught in sports to ‘play to win’, instead of playing ‘not to lose’. But there is also something to be said for being consistent and steady, focused and able to stand at the end as the one who made the fewest mistakes.

Games like golf or baseball are often won or lost on errors. So as a player in the game of life, living and working in a consistent and focused manner is often one of the greatest keys to success. Just simply showing up, on time, day in and day out, shows employers and companies that you are reliable and can be trusted. This reliability is an important part of being part of a winning team. You want to be someone that people can count on when the three-man playoff begins, and you win by doing what you have always done, playing consistent, error-free golf.

So how do you maintain effective consistency in your life? Just a reminder that leaving a comment enters you into our contest with only two days left until the grand drawing!