Brian Hoyer’s Deep Passing Tops League

Brian Hoyer has been the name of the day today. One more from us, and many more to come hopefully, on the Browns starting quarterback. One of the concerns about Hoyer, even coming into the season, was his arm strength. In pre-season action he wasn’t given many chances to show off his arm but so far during the season he leads all quarterbacks in yards on deep throws:

We found this tweet when perusing an article on the Browns official site that was a leading misleading in title: “Brian Hoyer rated as the best deep passer in the NFL.” The Locker Room Report hits on a number of other issues as well but technically the PFF tweet doesn’t rank Hoyer as the “best” deep passer just the one with the most yards. Mincing words a bit.

Hoyer has shown great accuracy and acumen with his deep passing game. Kyle Shanahan has given him great chances to take advantage on play action and roll out passes to have time to set his feet and throw.

What is most interesting is that even with the most yards on deep throws Hoyer still only has one interception. Most deep ball throwers tend to have higher INT numbers because of the risk of those throws. Hoyer’s only interception was on a deep ball.

The report on the Browns site hits on a few of these things as well:

"Hoyer’s deep passes were on the money against Pittsburgh. He only needed eight completions for 217 yards. Yardage numbers against the Steelers went for the following: 51, 42, 31, 31, 24 and 17. And this is nothing new, either.It’s offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan’s system that’s also helping. If you re-watch the Browns games on All-22, more often than not, Hoyer’s deep bombs have been in one-on-one coverage. The potent running attack lures safeties and the way the Browns disguise their formations (they used three tight end sets on several deep passing plays against the Steelers) has really thrown off defenses."

More from Dawg Pound Daily

• Cleveland Browns critics continue to misplace their judgement
• 3 Cleveland Browns players who don’t deserve another season in 2023
• How the Browns could maximize Nick Chubb in 2023
• Can Deshaun Watson get to Patrick Mahomes level for Cleveland Browns?
• 3 Cleveland Browns who should see an expanded role in 2023 and 1 who should not

Every week Hoyer continues to knock down arguments against him as a possible Franchise level quarterback. He has led his teams from behind, protected the ball, made big plays, led a dominating win and has good deep passing results. The only thing many fans are waiting for from Hoyer is him doing it for a full season. At that point his price tag might be up there with the Philip Rivers of the world, just like his deep passing yardage.

Are you surprised by this number?