Quarterback

The quarterback is a position in the offensive backfield of American and Canadian football, directly behind players of the "line". He is generally the leader of the offensive team when it is on the field, responsible for initiating play by receiving the snap of the ball from the center.

Changing roles

Traditionally the quarterback called the team's offensive plays while on the field, based on the flow of the game and a reading of the defense. The "plays" are pre-arranged and practiced plans the team will use to try to move the ball downfield. The play itself is given to the other offensive players in the huddle before the offensive team lines up for the "snap," which is the start of the offensive team's attempt to move the ball past the defense.

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In recent years, with the rising importance of offensive coordinators and their reliance on scripted game plans and the use of headsets, the quarterback now usually receives which play to call from the coach on the sidelines. One of the few quarterbacks in the NFL who routinely call their own plays is Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts. In the 2004-2005 season he surpassed Dan Marino's record 48 touchdowns in a season with his 49. He also owns the record for the highest passer rating (121.1), a rating system based on a combination of touchdowns thrown, yards thrown, pass completion percentage, and interceptions thrown.

Related Topics:
NFL - Peyton Manning - Indianapolis Colts - Dan Marino - Touchdowns - Passer rating

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If time is running out in a game and the team with the ball need to score quickly, the quarterback will usually lead his team on a hurry-up offense, and will often call his own plays because there is no time for a huddle or to recieve a play from a coach on the sidelines.

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The quarterback also often gets to choose the "count" of the cadence for the snap. The quarterback usually calls out the signal for the ball to be snapped and may optionally change the play at the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped by shouting out additional signals to the other players on his team. This is known as calling an audible. A typical cadence might be something like, "Down, Set, Hut", where the ball is snapped on "Hut". If an audible were to be called, it would be shouted somewhere between "Down" and "Hut". A common way to call an audible is to call out a color and number. One color is designated by the offense to signal a true audible, and the number tells which play will be run. An example is "Blue, 42". If blue were the designated color, play number 42 would be run. If blue were not the designated color, no audible would be made and the play called in the huddle would be run. For strategy, the ball may be snapped on "Set" or after multiple shouts of "Hut" to catch the defensive team off guard. This is what is meant by the count of the cadence, or the "snap count". The quarterback may also use a hard count, where one word is yelled more loudly than the others. For example, it could be "down" "SET" "hut", "hut" being when the ball is actually snapped. The goal of this tactic is to try to draw the defensive linemen offsides.

Related Topics:
Cadence - Snap - Strategy - Defensive team

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In the modern game, quarterbacks are typically evaluated on their passing statistics, including total yardage, completion ratio, touchdowns, and the ability to avoid interceptions. Up through the 1990s, most of the prominent NFL quarterbacks were "drop back passers", who typically took between five and seven steps behind the line of scrimmage immediately after snapping the ball to look for an open passing receiver down field.

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In a more intangible sense, however, quarterbacks are evaluated on their ability to lead a team to victory, especially in close games. A quarterback who possesses the ability to dictate the flow of the game as a whole and to score points in critical situations is ultimately considered more valuable than one with good statistics who cannot lead his team to victory over time.

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In recent years in the NFL, partially in response to more mobile defensive linemen and increased use of the "blitz" defense, there has been a resurgence in the importance of the "running quarterback", whose mobility, speed,and power allows him the opportunity to gain yardage by running around the outside of the defensive line, even after initially dropping back to pass. For example, in the 2004-2005 season Michael Vick rushed for 902 yards and 3 touchdowns, while only passing for 2313 yards, 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Regardless of these mediocre passing numbers, his rushing threat makes him the one of the most dynamic players in football, and an elite quarterback. Although the emphasis of quarterback's performance is still on his passing abilities, such running ability provides an additional threat that allows greater flexibility in the team's passing game.

Related Topics:
Michael Vick - Touchdowns - Interceptions

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One of the first famous NFL quarterbacks ever to be known as a threat for both his passing and his running ability was Fran Tarkenton, who played in the NFL during the 1960's and 1970's.

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(See :Category:American football quarterbacks for notable individuals)

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