Dan's Spring Camp Diary

This time of year for learning, experimenting, not stats

June 8 (OTA)

Media QB stats in spring practices are kind of kooky, and we are seeing them all over the place.

Especially in 7-on-7 drills.

QB stats in a 7-on-7 drill are particularly unwise because there are no linemen on either side of the ball, hence the name “7-on-7.”

In this practice, there were two passing plays in the 7-on-7 drill, one involving Zach Wilson and one involving Mike White, when each QB held the ball very long. They took advantage of the fact that there was no pass rush and eventually completed passes.

In a real football game, the chances of either QB having that much time to throw is rare, and both plays likely would have been dead before each pass was completed.

Sometimes these unrealistic plays also happen in the 11-on-11 “scrimmage” part of practice — full offense vs. full defense. Because defenders aren’t allowed to touch the QB, sometimes the signal-caller will complete passes perhaps past the realistic shelf life of the play.

But some writers continue to crank out cockeyed QB stats from spring practices. Expect this to continue in training camp. Why do they do it? Because the Twitter crowd eats it up, and Twitter is a driving force in journalism these days, like it or not.

There are a few reasons media QB stats, which coaches hate, are unwise.

First, the spring and summer are about teaching, learning and installing playbooks. It’s all about getting ready for Week One of the regular season, making sure players are ready for real games.