With Max Hall taking over as the Starting Quarterback for at least this week against the Saints, I'm wondering what the rest of RotB wants to see from the undrafted rookie does in his first game as a starter (besides a win, that one is so obvious that it doesn't need to be mentioned).
Some of the things I want to see:
- Be accurate: This is a given, we have seen that Hall is accurate during the Preseason, and on some of the throws he made last week against the Chargers. My biggest problem with Derek Anderson is that he missed too many of the easy throws. I'm not talking about the deep throws where a receiver was wide open (although those made you want to punch through a wall), I mean the short/quick throws where Anderson either missed the open man, or he threw the ball so hard that the receiver couldn't hold on to it. These are the kinds of throws that Kurt Warner would make, we need to see if Hall can make them too.
- Sustain drives: Another issue that I had with Anderson. It seemed like every drive with him was a 3 and out, or a drive that started out with promise but ended with some sort of turnover. On those promising drives that ended with a turnover (like the one where Anderson threw his first pick against the Chargers) you want to see Hall either lead the team to a Touchdown or a Field Goal.
- Don't force passes: If a guy isn't open, don't throw the ball. Simple as that. Now, throwing the occasional jump ball to Fitz when he is one on one is fine, but don't force passes that could get picked off. Be smart with the ball.
- Leadership: Everyone is talking about how much of a leader Hall is right now. Lets see some of this. How does he manage the huddle, how does the rest of the team respond to him.
- Don't take a ton of sacks: Hall was sacked 6 times last week, this can't happen again if the Cardinals expect to win. Hall needs to feel when the pressure is coming and either check the ball down to someone or throw it away. There are other things that could be mentioned of course. These are just some of the big ones for me. What do you want to see from him tomorrow?