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Arena quarterbacks are similar to NFL brethren, but different
By TEREZ A. PAYLORThe Kansas City Star
So imagine his surprise at his first tryout a few years ago when he saw a quarterback who stood well below 6 feet. That quarterback’s name was Raymond Philyaw, and Bryant could hardly believe it when he found out Philyaw was the Indiana Firebirds’ starting quarterback.
“I was surprised,” said Bryant, who’s 6-1. “This little dude here?”
Yep. You see Bryant, who was just out of school, was still in an NFL frame of mind. To be an Arena League quarterback, you don’t need a big-time arm to fit the ball into some tight spaces. You don’t have to be 6-6 to see over your offensive linemen. And you don’t need Steve Younglike mobility to make a play when there isn’t one downfield.
No, in the Arena League, those things are just bonuses. But like the NFL, you have to have accuracy and good decision-making ability. And those are two things that Philyaw, who never really got a sniff from the NFL despite a prolific college career at Northeast Louisiana, has in abundance.
“He understands the game and he knows where the ball needs to go,” said Brigade coach Kevin Porter. “For a guy that’s not really tall, he has a high release on the ball, too.”
Below are six categories where quarterbacks are universally judged, and how important they are in the Arena League.
It’s no secret that NFL scouts drooled over current Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NFL draft, mainly because of his prolific arm strength.
But in the Arena League, players and coaches say arm strength isn’t a big deal — mainly because of the size of the field. At 85 feet wide and 50 yards long with 8-yard end zones, it’s roughly half the size of an NFL field.
“A guy on the NFL level has to have all the throws, with all the stuff they’re doing on defense and as fast as their guys are,” said Porter, who spent four years as a defensive back with the Chiefs. “There aren’t any 20-yard deep out routes in this league.”
A quarterback on any level needs to make good decisions and be accurate. But an offseason rule change has added a new twist to the arena game.
With the Jack linebacker, who used to be confined to a 5-foot box, being able to roam from sideboard-to-sideboard now, it has put even more of a premium on quarterbacks who can make quick decisions and be accurate with the ball — especially on short routes.
“A lot of times you have (receivers) who don’t look open, but they’re open, and it all comes down to ball placement,” Porter said. “That makes the difference between second and 2 and second and 10.”
This is something Bryant has come to understand. In his first arena game, he threw two interceptions to the Jack linebacker on short routes, including one toward the end of the game because he didn’t put enough touch on the ball.
Accuracy is important because defensive backs often gamble in the Arena League. Because of the offensive nature of the league — teams often combine for around 100 points a game — it’s worth it for defensive backs to go for interceptions by jumping routes. This means quarterbacks often have tighter windows to throw the ball than normal.
“It’s a win-win situation for DBs,” Bryant said. “They know they are going to get scored on because it’s an offensive league. It’s nothing for a DB to get scored on five or six times a game, but that one interception could change the game for their team.”
You won’t find many Michael Vicks or Daunte Culpeppers in the Arena League. Because you only have three offensive linemen trying to block three down linemen and two linebackers, running often proves to be futile.
“We don’t want the quarterback running with the football in our league, unless it’s around the goal line,” Porter said. “Because of the constraints of the field and because of the rules, you really want to keep (your quarterback) in the pocket.”
Porter says the main reason that height matters in the NFL is that the linemen are so big — just look at former Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long, who’s 6-7, 315 pounds and was selected first overall in the NFL draft last week.
Although arena offensive linemen have grown taller and wider, thanks in large part to the free substitution rule that displaced the league’s longstanding culture of “Ironman” football, where players had to play on both offense and defense, the offensive nature of the game allows for shorter quarterbacks, as long as they can make good, quick decisions with the ball.
Porter says that on any level, a good quarterback must have one thing.
“A guy has to have great leadership ability,” Porter said. “You’re out there with (six) other guys who are counting on you to do what you’re supposed to do so they can do what they are supposed to do.
“It’s the same (in this league). You’re the guy that has to deliver, all the time.”
That’s something that Bryant and backup quarterback Matt Kohn are currently trying to do. During the Brigade’s miserable 1-7 start, the two have combined for 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions — the latter number is way too high for Porter’s taste.
But that doesn’t mean Bryant will stop reaching for that status. Although he believes he has come a long way since his initial tryout with Indiana, he also knows he has a long way to go.
In fact, Bryant counts Philyaw — the Arena League’s career leader in touchdowns-to-interception ratio (nine-to-one) — as one of the quarterbacks he tries to emulate.
“He’s a guy I look at and try to pattern my game after,” Bryant said. “I’d like to put together a nice career.”