Lol... arm strength is the biggest load of garbage regarding the Patriot's QB's... whether we're talking about Mac or Zappe.
Yeah, Mac has a weak arm, even though we’ve seen him complete multiple 45+ yard passes that were entirely air yards.
Let's review:
Quarterback
A needs to throw rainbows to get the ball down field requiring 3-4 seconds flight time.
Quarterback
B throws lasers the same distance with air-time 2-3 seconds
When Quarterback
A throws a deep pass, coaches and announcers refer to it as a 50/50 ball....aka...
Moon Ball / Prayer / Desperation Pass / Just As Good As A Punt / etc
When Quarterback
B throws a deep pass, safeties have less time to provide cover, and coaches and announcers often refer to the target as the
open guy...."Evans had two steps on the CB and the safety had no time to help out. Quarterback A drives the football down field and hits the open target....TD"
Note: 1 second = 30 feet traveled running full speed
Arm strength is the most overrated nonsense casual fans bandy about. Last season Sean Payton had Jameis Winston playing at a hyper efficient level by keeping the clamps on him, this year he is the same reckless decision maker he always has been, and all the arm strength in the world won't help him... and he has it in spades.
Winston's 2019 got him shidtcanned by Tampa.
His big arm stats:
33 TDs,
30 INTs, 5109 yds
Mac's projected 2022 stats:
12 TDs,
30 INTs, 4454 yds
Note: 33 is 21 passing TDs more than 12
One is called "reckless"
The other is described by faithful fans as a "smart decision maker"....yet DBs and Safeties are feasting on his mistakes and inadequacies.
One has the arm to zip it into tight windows
The other requires timing patterns and 50/50 prayers handcrafted by the Pats coaching staff to accommodate the QB's limited skillset and mitigate his deficiencies.
Last season, Mac (and coaches) played it safe......a run first/short pass/move the chains offense that required long/sustained/mistake free drives.
This season, Mac has been asked to be more vertical.
Initial indicators are
Winstonian (minus the TDs)