How does a QB 'layer' throws? Let a Hall of Famer explain
Super Bowl champion Kurt Warner chatted with Purple Insider about JJ McCarthy's development as a passer
By Matthew Coller
Layering, layering, layering, layering.
Every time that either Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell or quarterback JJ McCarthy has talked about the young QB’s development of a passer, they have used that word.
What does it mean? Why do they keep talking about it?
When the 10th overall draft pick first arrived in Minnesota in 2024, he made it clear right from the jump that he could throw the football very hard but every pass was breaking the sound barrier regardless of whether a rocket was required or not.
“At Michigan, I was kind of a one-speed pitch kind of guy,” McCarthy said.
Last summer, he made progress as a thrower but then he was sidelined for the entire season with knee surgery. When McCarthy came back for OTAs and minicamp, he want back into Nolan Ryan mode.
“[In] the spring, there were definitely some throws where the maximum RPMs probably weren't required,” O’Connell said.
It’s great to throw the football super hard but the Vikings’ head coach explained that the way defenses play in the NFL requires the ability to drop the ball into spaces by throwing over or in front of defenders rather than just firing it between them.
“There might be a defender in front and a defender behind, and we've got to find a way to get that ball completed,” O’Connell said. “That's probably the biggest difference between college football and the NFL… the vertical voids.”
Throughout the spring, McCarthy focused on getting his feeling back for those types of passes.
“He's working on different trajectories,” O’Connell said. “You're still seeing the revolutions on the ball, but not that heavy finish, more so that up-and-down.”
In particular, the Vikings have been working on McCarthy’s feel for the parabola of the ball in red zone drills, where he had some struggles early in camp.
“There's been some growth… you can call it ‘throw variation,’ arm talent,” O’Connell explained. “From a standpoint of, ‘how do I get this ball completed?’ Where maybe there's not a direct path, but I've got to throw it up and over somebody, and I might only have 8-10 yards of space in the end zone in a low red (zone) period to get that done.”
But how does a quarterback really find the feel for “layering” the ball?
For that, I called one of the greatest throwers in NFL history: Kurt Warner.
Warner, whose resume includes a gold Hall of Fame jacket, a Super Bowl ring, four Pro Bowl appearances, and the highest completion percentage of any QB who started his career in the 1990s, wasn’t just willing to explain layering the ball, he wanted to show me how it was done.
“Can I FaceTime you?” Warner said.
A moment later, I was looking into the HOFer’s living room, where he stood in throwing position like he was just about to drop a dime to Ricky Proehl.
Before we got into the body mechanics of accurate passing, Warner gave me his definition of “layering.”
“If I’m layering it over the linebackers and in front of the safeties, we have to get the ball to go up and down,” Warner said. “It has to get up out of your hand but it’s got to be able to drop and dive into where you want it to go. All of that has to do with using touch on the football.”
Warner said that he likes to explain “touch” as throwing the ball “firm but soft.” For a minute, I thought that maybe I should have called a physics professor instead of a Hall of Famer. Firm but soft? How is that possible? What he means is that the ball is traveling fast enough to get where it needs to go but it also has the proper arc required to drop into the receiver’s hands softly.
“There is an art to it,” Warner said.
That art begins with taking your arm out of the equation. That also requires an explanation.
“Create the power with your body so now you don’t have to use your arm to create the distance on the ball, you’re using your shoulders to create that trajectory to be able to go up and down,” Warner said.
The former Ram, who ran the Vikings’ defense off the field in the ‘99 playoffs, explained that the “layer” throw starts on his back foot. He loads up his weight on his right foot and as he drives forward his hips turn and he uses his core (abs, chest) to generate momentum toward the target. The arm comes along for the ride and his wrist snaps at the last second to create the follow through.
Warner uses two analogies to describe how his arm is more passenger than driver. He once talked with a boxer who explained that their power came from the ground up, not just flinging their hands at their opponent with their arms. Good golfers also know that swinging the arms full speed instead of generating momentum with the legs and core is the reason that technically proficient people outdrive stronger people.
“When my hips and chest and core are synced up, my arm starts to come with it,” Warner said.
Still, it’s counter intuitive. All these great passers aren’t throwing with their arms?
“The real key for the arm is the follow through,” Warner explained further. “As my body takes everything forward, boom, I’m following through and I’m connecting my arm to my target.”
Where the rubber hits the road with Warner’s technique is the idea of controlling the exact amount of power and trajectory for the throw. You can drive the ball 300 yards with a pure arm swing but that means you are moving your arms extremely fast and it’s harder to be accurate.
“When I create the power here [core], now I can adjust the power on my arm,” Warner said. “The faster anything moves, the harder it is to control. The slower it moves, the more I can control it and create the accuracy. If I have to throw a 25-yard throw with my arm, I’m going to have to engage my arm and get it going fast and then it’s going to be harder to get it to be accurate and release at the right time because I’m going fast.”
We hear football coaches constantly talking about QB footwork, so I ask Warner about what his feet were doing to get the throw started. He has a theory about throwing on a line. He wants the feet to be headed toward the target. On the FaceTime call, he adjusts the angle so it looks like he’s throwing the ball right at the phone. It’s clear that his feet, shoulders and follow through are all headed right for me.
“Every time you throw a football there is a line from where you throw a football from to where you are throwing it to, it’s a straight line,” Warner said. “The goal when we throw is, how much power can we get down that line? If we can get 100% of our power down the line, meaning hips, core, arm, then I’m not going to miss that line. But as soon as I start doing things that take me off the line [it’s harder to hit the target].”
“What you see a lot of guys to is they move the [front foot] off the line and then they’re still trying to throw it to you,” he continued. “If I try to create a line in this direction [to his left] and I’m still trying to throw it to you [straight on at the iPhone], I’m counter productive.”
Makes sense. Baseball pitchers don’t step way off to the left or right when they are throwing to a catcher.
But what about that arc? That NFL Films classic spiral that goes up into the air with the nose pointed up and then turns magically downward to fall right into the receiver’s mitts. How do you get that angle to work?
“The only thing that really changes is our shoulders,” Warner said. “I’m going to change my shoulders to get the ball to go up a little bit. Then I have to get the ball back down. If I throw the ball with just my arm, it’s going to just keep going. I’m creating the power through the ground and through the core and the follow through brings the ball back down.”
OK I think I get it. If the ball is being driven by only the QB’s arm, then getting the shoulder angle correct is tricky. If you are throwing with your feet and core, then it’s easy to point the shoulders at whatever angle is needed and the ball will turn back down at the peak of its arc.
Warner has another pet peeve about how young QBs are taught to throw. They are often told that power can be generated by pulling the left arm down. He wanted nothing to do with his left arm. In fact, he said that his kids used to laugh at him about the way his left hand dangled along for the ride when he was in the pocket.
Warner gets frustrated by QB trainers who put all of their emphasis on throwing the football at its absolute highest speed and not enough on mastering the types of actual passes that QBs have to make in games. Speed on the ball might get attention at camps, passing wins games.
“If I’m throwing an 80 mph fastball on a crossing route and I’m a foot in front of that guy, it’s over,” Warner said. “If I’m throwing a 60 mph touch ball and the ball is going to end up a yard out in front of him, it gives my guy the ability to accelerate or slow down if the ball is a little bit behind him and adjust to it. A fastball, it’s either perfect or not. What’s your margin for error with your ability to throw the ball?”
As I’m still processing all the details of Warner’s tutelage, something pops into my head: What about the timing part of the “layered” throw? The anticipation element.
Is Warner just a freak? What if he just had The Matrix in his noggin and only a handful of other freaks can see the perfect arc and hit it.
Warner admits, he might be a freak.
“I wish I knew the answer to that, I get that question all the time,” Warner said, now sitting on the couch. “Even about playing arena football. Quick decisions, processing, accuracy, did [the arena league] teach you that or were you already good at that and it brought it out? I don’t really know the answer. I will say that there’s an aspect of it that is innate. The ability to understand spatial awareness. There has to be something that makes some guys better than others and being a guy that had it, I’m not sure.”
But he does think that there is something to the anticipation aspect of layering throws. The better command you have over the power and arc of the ball, the better you can adapt on the fly to the circumstances.
“One of the aspects of [anticipation] is that I knew I could make any throw that I needed to make,” Warner said. “I could throw it to a spot with the right timing no matter what throw it was and having that ability helps me to anticipate because I can throw it early, I can throw it late. I understand the different types of ways to throw it with the different types of timing.”
He continued…
“You have to be able to see the defense too. Anticipation, does that mean I have to throw it sooner and hit a window or drive the football or does that mean I have to lay the ball up and over somebody? You have to see what’s going on and then adjust footwork and mentality to the throw.”
Back to McCarthy.
When Warner won MVP and the Super Bowl in 1999, he was 28 years old. He was the furthest thing from a first-round kid who got tossed to the wolves. He developed his throwing mechanics and layering techniques and vision for defenses for years. When Warner talks about seeing the defense, he notes that he would pay attention to the angle of the cornerback’s stance because he understood what types of routes were going to work against it. All of this takes a lot of hours playing football that McCarthy doesn’t have. He isn’t going to be Kurt Warner tomorrow.
McCarthy might have to make up some of the difference with his legs as he learns the technical parts on the fly.
“When [the QB] is late [on a read] or there is pressure and they miss it, they are going to turn and run and create something positive out of a play,” Warner said. “The guys that are more limited in certain areas, they have to bring something else to the table.”
While he may not ever be Warner in terms of touch and arc — who is? — there is a similarity between them. When Warner was thrust into the starting position in St. Louis following Trent Green’s injury, he was a first-time starting QB on a team stacked with NFL greats. The Rams had an all-time great RB, elite WRs, a good offensive line and terrific coaching. Sound familiar?
Before we wrap up the 45 minute masterclass, I asked Warner for his advice for McCarthy as he takes on a pressure-packed situation as a first-year starter.
“The biggest piece of advice is: You don’t have to do it all on your own,” Warner said. “You’re still the quarterback and you still have to lead and make the throws but you don’t have to do everything. I had Marshall Faulk, where it was like, if you see it downfield then trust it and rip it but if you’re not sure then it’s OK to throw a checkdown to Marshall Faulk and get five yards. It’s OK to miss a read here or there and allow other players to pick you up in those situations.”