Randy Fichtner's 2019 has been all about finding ways to work with young quarterbacks week to week. Whether it's been Mason Rudolph or Devlin Hodges, Fichtner has had to simplify the offense while still drawing up schemes to confused defenses and open opportunities to score.
But this week it's all about Hodges and how he can do just enough to capitalize on the Browns' mistakes, while not making the dooming mistakes that Rudolph did when he threw four interceptions to the Browns two weeks ago.
Let's look at how that can happen:
Rudolph came out with pedestrian numbers against the Bengals despite hitting a deep 35-yard pass to Deon Cane that looked like it could spark the offense.
Some of his missed opportunities came from poor throws even when he made the correct reads. But most of Rudolph's issues seemed to stem from him not sticking to his reads. That was evident in the interception he threw to Shaun Williams when it was deflected by Carlos Dunlap.
The Steelers send out three receivers, Jones, James Washington and Diontae Johnson. Jones runs a hook pattern to the inside, while Johnson runs the same pattern to the outside. The dual hooks are designed to force the Bengals' zone defense to decide which route they should commit to stopping.
The beauty of this design is that even if the Bengals commit to covering both, that opens up Washington's deep crossing pattern behind them. Rudolph's read should rotate away from Jones once he sees the Bengals' zone defense with several players in the middle, he should've either rotated to Johnson or tried to hit Washington behind the safeties.
But none of that happens, Rudolph doesn't move in the pocket to maintain his space, and he targets Jones with a pass that gets tipped and intercepted:
Rudolph has to rotate to at least a secondary read in this situation. Hodges will be challenged in a similar way, with Fichtner tasking him with having one or two reads to focus on to make his decisions. This would allow Hodges to remain comfortable and not overthink the game, while still giving him chances to throw the ball downfield.
A perfect example of such a read was Hodges' first pass against the Bengals. He motions Jaylen Samuels out of the backfield to match him up with linebacker Germaine Pratt. Pratt has to maintain inside leverage, which means with Samuels' out, Hodges just has to make sure the outside cornerback is backed off Samuels.
Once he sees the space, even with a bobbled snap, Hodges makes a solid throw:
All defenses have certain tells that tip off weaknesses to be exploited. Hodges just has to take advantage of those moments to find the easier passing windows to hit. Take this slant to Johnson as an example, where B.W. Webb is backed off with outside leverage.
This positioning means Hodges just has to make sure no underneath coverage can help against Johnson's slant. Once Sam Hubbard clears out to run with Samuels and Williams drops back as the deep safety, it's an easy read and throw for Hodges:
But in the NFL defenses regularly disguise their true intentions to trick quarterbacks into forced throws into passing windows that are truly covered. Sometimes they'll show that certain routes might be available before the snap, only to cover them up with post-snap adjustments.
This is where it can get tricky for Hodges, because if he catches their adjustment it could lead to a big play. But if he misses on it, that could lead to turnovers.
But Hodges did show he is capable of catching those adjustments with his 79-yard touchdown pass to Washington. The Bengals show Cover 1 Man with their cornerbacks appearing to press the Steelers' receivers and a single deep safety.
Once the ball is snapped, those cornerbacks drop back deep into a zone while the deep safety bumps up closer to the middle of the field. This turns the defense into an inverted Cover 2 Zone. But Hodges saw this and recognized the best way to attack a Cover 2 was already in this play, a deep post. He keeps his cool and delivers with a solid read and throw:
Those reads won't come often for rookies, as it's not easy to always catch those adjustments and rotate through your progressions to find the right target. But Hodges can take advantage of the designed moments if he sticks to his primary and secondary reads without bailing from them too early.
Rudolph lost his group on those reads against the Browns and Bengals, which was why those were his two worst games. Hodges cannot afford to fall into the same pit, as that's where the game becomes too fast and quarterbacks start committing unforced errors and missed opportunities.
An example that showed Hodges making this kind of mistake was a play where he bailed from the pocket too early. The Steelers' offensive line maintains enough of a pocket for Hodges to stick around, but he scrambles to his right and gets chased out of bounds by Hubbard.
Had he stuck around for just another second, he would've had Nick Vannett wide open for about a 15-yard gain:
It's a difficult balance to maintain, which is why playing quarterback is so difficult. But Hodges shouldn't be asked to throw much more than 18-25 times against the Browns. If the Steelers' defense keeps the Browns' offense from building a significant lead and the Steelers' ground game can be effective, Hodges' attempts should fit right in that range.
When he gets his opportunities, Fichtner will most likely draw up plays like this where he's tasking Hodges with just a couple reads so that the game doesn't get too complicated. Hodges just has to stick to those reads and not abandon the plan too early, and let the game come to him.
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MORE CLASSROOM
Nov. 28: Heyward wins anywhere
Nov. 26: Watt, Dupree double-dominate
Nov. 25: Snell plays closer again
Nov. 22: Fichtner doing enough?
