But during 2011, Welker did not have to make a leaping back-shoulder catch with the ball way above his head.
Not even close.
I know, because I watched all 195 of Welker’s targets, from the season opener at Miami, until the fateful incompletion in Super Bowl XLVI.
Here are a few notes on why Brady was more at fault than Welker.
Difficulty: Brady put a little air under it to give Welker a chance to adjust to the ball. But it’s an incredibly difficult catch to make, going from a full sprint to turning around the other way while trying to make a catch. Even if Welker caught the ball, it’s not even definite that he would have kept possession once he hit the turf hard – which he was going to do because the throw put him so off balance.
Vertical does not suit Welker: On those 195 routes Welker was targeted on, do you know how many were of the vertical variety on the route tree – a fade, post, corner and a slant-and-go? Twenty eight. Or 14.3 percent. Only 17 were a version of that fade route (8.7 percent). Those vertical routes are not Welker’s game, which is why the Patriots seldom throw those to him. Welker’s bread-and-butter – 85.7 percent worth – is on the lower end of the route tree: the flat, slant, comeback, curl, out, dig and various quick passes. Vertical receivers have long arms and big hands. Those help when you have to make those circus catches. Welker has neither. The Patriots, better than any team, put their players in the best position to succeed. They know what they have or don’t have. They know Welker is better catching the ball to his body and absorbing contact or running to the boundary.
