I can't recall if I posted my article on KM to this forum. I will post it now as my last comment on this thread since 601 has refused to list his reasons to support KM beyond his fan devotion.
KM plays small. His baseball background still haunts his mechanics. In baseball, the outfielder is taught to put the lower part of the body into the throw by crouching down, make the catch, and explode forward with the throw using the muscles in the lower leg. (A QB also uses the legs). KM will take the snap from under center as if he is fielding a ground ball in the outfield. He gets low—of course, he then cannot see over the picket fence of lineman who are 5"-to-8" taller than he is. When KM is crouched under center wonder what the height is of his eyes is while looking over the top of his Center? He had a chance when bowling ball 6'1" Shipley was his center, probably not with C 6'5" Hjalte Froholdt. One big reason KM preferred the shotgun.
Listen to this training video link below on how to throw the baseball from the outfield and then take a look at the way KM throws a football. A lot of his mechanics are true to the outfield throw, not a football throw. He will even ‘pat’ the ball in the same fashion an infielder will as he waits for the 1st baseman to get to the bag. KM wants a stationary target—that is how a defender in baseball operates. Throws go to a base, not a moving player. KM can make the throw to a spot on the field, but it becomes the receiver’s duty to get somewhere along that trajectory and intercept the ball (picture that favorite 10-yard back shoulder throw to DHOP). KM is not hitting the guy in stride; he throws on a line that requires the receiver to run into the arc of the ball. A throw to the back of the endzone is a toss to hit the back pylon and not necessarily a receiver in motion. (Look at that TD toss to MHJ in the first Seattle game.) A lot of NFL QB will do the same but for KM it is his primary method of passing. It is why his intermediate-to-deep throws have gone down each year. Defenses know to intercept/defend that throw to a spot on the field. When he has to hurry a throw, he will leap into the throw off his back foot—like an infielder making a catch and trying to get it to first base ASAP.
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KM needs to dance in order to find a clear line of sight. That gets him out of any defined pocket—much to the dismay of his OL who are trying to establish that protective shell for the QB to step up and throw. The OL—especially the big dudes the Cards have—can’t monitor KM’s location as they are trying to pass protect against guys like Parsons and Donald (retired). They have their back to the QB and their focus is on the combat going on around them. The OL have to ‘feel’ the other lineman and how they are performing in the event they have to slide off their protection and chip a D player. An OL can do everything right as far as his mechanics to stop the D with his primary blocking assignment and his ‘teamwork’ coordination with the other OL---but if KM is not where he is supposed to be, the play gets blown up. Of course, sometimes KM can salvage the situation with a scramble or off-time pass, off-schedule pass. In both situations, all the effort by the OL is pretty much null-and-void.
Just as KM can’t see the receivers, they can’t see him behind the scrum along the line. Receivers want to know where the ball is going to come from—they need a pass launched from a definite spot from behind the line (the pocket) as much as the OL need to protect that pocket. When KM is doing the dipsy-doodle behind the line, he is no longer at the launch point position that a receivers will look to. Imagine the receiver running his route, goes into his break, and turns to find the ball coming to him from the ‘pocket’ launch point behind the line. Problem is, KM has gone dancing to find a lane to see his receivers and the launch point is yards away from where it ‘should’ be. Because they might not see KM, that ball is coming from who-knows-where.
A ‘pro’ receiver has the quick twitch reflexes to make the adjustment—sometimes. When they come out of their break, the ball needs to be within that target area for them to pull the ball in and get the YAC and/or defend themselves from a hit(s). KM’s completion percentage was saved by guys twisting themselves into a pretzel to make the catch—McBride is an example of making up the difference between a well-placed pass and one that is in the general vicinity. Sometimes he gets a bullet throw against his helmet. MHJ has trouble correcting for KM’s ill-timed, ill-placed throws and had fans second guessing his ability as a wide receiver. Those routes that required MHJ sit down in the zone, stop, turn to KM to receive that ball—didn’t go well for MHJ. No receiver wants to be standing still and waiting for a late throw with DB bearing down. That was the kind of plays Fitz was getting—and convinced him it was time to retire. Fitz saw the implications of that KM contract extension and knew is was time to go play golf. Note how JB is developing a chemistry and connection with MHJ that just wasn’t there all the time with KM. The practice reps with MHJ and JB were on display in the Cowpie game during the Cards first drive . . . and especially on the TD that had the DB twisting himself in the turf as MHJ plucked the pass out of the air. Wonder how much time the young WR spent with the vet QB JB after practice to get that timing down? Did KM offer that same commitment after practice? It is a thing of beauty when a QB hits a speeding WR in-stride and the guy literally glides past the Defense. Check out that JB pass to Wilson to start the second half of the Cowpie game that went for 50 yards—the longest pass play of the year.
How to throw a football:
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Note the different mechanical set-up motions a QB goes through and the reset as he goes reads his progression. Compare that to the smooth delivery required as an outfielder makes the throw to a stationary base with no need to adjust. Outfielders are taught to decide where they are going with the ball before the batter hits the ball. Now, that is exactly what the KK offense requires the QB to do—single read and throw. The QB looks at the alignment of the D and decides where to go with the ball before it is snapped. When DC and players appreciated the KK’s early version of his pro-offense, they shut down both KK and KM. When DP got together with KM to decide the content of their playbook—KM opted for those plays that were close to the single read and throw type of plays. That just cut DP’s playbook down to a dull dink-n-dunk. Add in the inability to see over the scrum of big dudes on the line and you lose a lot of the over-the-middle throws.
All of the above was evident BEFORE the SK/MB huge contract extension.
You can’t touch the receivers nose if you can’t see him.
With that, I rest my case on KM. Best of luck to him going forward. Best of luck to any OC who believes they can change him. You can’t coach a player to be 6" taller. You can’t uncoach a lifetime of reactive memory that got you a Heisman, selection as the #1 overall pick, ROTY, two pro-bowls—that’s what a new OC will need to do to salvage KM since he has so far failed and/or refused to evolve his game and do it himself.
