Chiefs Film Room: Kevin Hogan Is An Andy Reid QB

The most inconsistent part of Hogan’s game is his throwing motion, and this wreaks havoc with his power and accuracy. When Hogan is given time and room to step into his throws, you get results like you saw above. But when Hogan doesn’t step into his throws and shortens his throwing motion, you get a play like this:

Throwing outside the numbers like that from the far hash mark may work at the college level, but in the NFL that ball is being taken the other way for a pick-six. If you look at Hogan make that throw, he seems to fade away when he delivers it and doesn’t get anywhere close to the zip he’s capable of.

What makes this even more troubling is that there is no reason for Hogan to change his throwing motion here. The defense isn’t bearing down on him, the protection holds up fine, and he has plenty of time to plant his feet. Against USC, this is the kind of throw I saw him make in the same situation:

Why Hogan didn’t make that type of throw versus Notre Dame is a complete mystery to me. And it wasn’t only his power that faded at random times, his accuracy took major swings as well and it wasn’t uncommon to see him unleash a few bad overthrows at times.

I would be very surprised if Andy Reid’s first mission wasn’t to fix these inconsistencies with Hogan’s delivery.

Something else Hogan struggles with is progressing through reads. He often stared down his number one option for far too long before moving on to his second read. While he doesn’t get happy feet and take off if his first read isn’t available, taking too long between progressions is just as debilitating to an offense:

Hogan’s first read on this play is the receiver to the far right who is going deep. Hogan locks onto him throughout his dropback and stays locked on even when he begins stepping up. Meanwhile, over the middle of the field, his tight end is coming open and should be the target of this throw.

Hogan spends too long on his first read, and by the time he makes his way over to the tight end, the pocket is collapsing and he’s unable to get the ball out. In the NFL, pockets will collapse quicker and progressions must be made faster; adapting to the speed of the game may cause Hogan a few problems early on.

It’s easy to see why Reid drafted Hogan: he has the tools needed to run the west coast offense, he has shown the ability to make throws that are staples of a Reid offense, and he also has shown he can create big plays through the air. But Hogan’s success will hinge on his ability to develop consistency in his delivery, and adapt to the speed of the NFL game.

While it may not happen this season, Hogan has the tools Reid looks for and it’s only a matter of time before Hogan becomes the next fabled Reid backup quarterback.