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New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees makes most of back-shoulder throws
By Nakia Hogan, The Times-Picayune

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. - Joe Montana did it, so did Dan Marino and John Elway.

It is the back-shoulder throw, the one that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has seemed to master this season.
Until recently, though, there has been little made of quarterbacks throwing the football to the back shoulder of his receiver, tossing passes away from the defender and against the direction the receiver is headed in.
Still, the back-shoulder pass has been around awhile.
"I don't know that it's a phenomenon, " New Orleans Coach Sean Payton said. "I think when you evaluate as much bump-and-run coverage that teams play, you don't see as many just go old-fashioned bombs thrown, for instance, and completed. You still see some, but the percentages when you drop back and throw it versus bump and run diminish some. And if a receiver can win on his release, then there's a good chance that you're going to lead him down the field.
"But what happens in bump and run is you have a chance for a little higher percentage completion by putting it on the receiver's back shoulder. So I think you see a lot of teams doing that more and more, and they have been for the last four or five years in trying to come up with more efficient throws versus that coverage."
Brees, who will lead the New Orleans Saints into Super Bowl XLIV against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, has that tactic in his arsenal.
He has routinely thrown passes to receivers who appeared to be tightly covered, and he has delivered the ball on the outside shoulder of his receiver -- leaving the defender out of position to make a play.
Sometimes it appears to be a poorly thrown pass, but it's all by design and is extremely effective.
At times, the back-shoulder throw can be indefensible because the defender can't make a play on the ball.
"Well, really what it is is pretty much a simple philosophy, " Brees said. "It's, 'Throw it to our guy, away from their guy.' So just because your guy is running right next to one of their guys doesn't mean that there isn't a place where you can throw the ball where only your guy can get it. So that's the point of the back-shoulder throw, or any throw where, hey, maybe it looks like a really low throw or a really high throw. You're taking your receiver and kind of using it to their strength, where you can throw that ball and where you know they can get it and nobody else can."
Brees' favorite target on the back-shoulder throws is Marques Colston, who typically can shield defenders from the ball with his 6-foot-4, 220-pound frame.
But Brees has perfected the craft of the pass well enough to throw it to all of his receivers.
"I mean, that takes time, " Brees said. "That's chemistry. That's working at it. And now the fact that Marques Colston and I have had four years together, the same with Devery Henderson, Robert Meachem in his third year, Lance Moore, (Jeremy) Shockey from last year to this year, you know, all those guys, where you just go back and forth with them."
Moore said all the receivers have learned to be ready for the ball in whichever spot the defender isn't.
"It's something that has always been in existence, " Moore said. "But I think that's a throw that Drew really likes, and he's become really good at anticipating where you want to be and just being able to put that ball in the right place. He's one of the best at that.
"If the back shoulder throw is there, Drew is going to take it. We just have to adjust. There is no one look that you say, 'Hey, this is a back-shoulder look.' You just kind of adjust on the run."

New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees makes most of back-shoulder throws | New Orleans Saints Central - - NOLA.com

neugey

Hope we see more of these, this play is indefensible.

homerj07

He is a good QB & I agree the more time you have with a WR the better repoire you have