Ten years ago (or thereabouts), stories began to emerge about NFL quarterbacks using virtual reality to augment their training.
The talk quieted fairly quickly, apparently because teams that were using it didn’t want to publicize how well it works.
That’s what made the inclusion of an extended look at Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels using a VR headset in the new season of Quarterback on Netflix a bit surprising.
“They select the play and I’ve got seven seconds to kind of process what coverage I think they’re in and the ball snaps and you’ve got to go out there and make a quick decision,” Daniels said.
The two-plus-minute segment includes both head coach Dan Quinn and then-quarterbacks coach (now offensive coordinator) David Blough talking about the benefits of the system.
“I can say, ‘Hey, we’re expecting this play against three coverages. Can I get these three coverages brought into the system,’” Blough said. “And then he’s able to see different defenses and operate from there.”
“You might have not had that exact play at practice,” Quinn said, “but now that you do, there’s recall that goes with it.”
It also gives a quarterback a chance to see, as explained by Cognilize CEO Verena Krakau, everything in the next stadium where a team will be playing, such as the location of the play clock.
One coach who, in recent years, was fairly talkative about the VR system was former Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians. In June 2019, he expressed hope that then-starter Jameis Winston had embraced it. (Given that Winston threw 30 interceptions in his first and only season with Arians, Winston possibly didn’t.)
The next year, Arians said new starter Tom Brady was “falling in love” with the VR system Arians had brought with him from Arizona. And the 2020 season culminated in a Super Bowl win.
Basically, any team that isn’t using VR for quarterback training should be. Which further explains the general reluctance of teams that are using it to zip it.
