DeVito is getting Andrew Robinson 2007 beatings out there.
The 2007 OL was so bad it got Robinson killed and after that year he became shell shocked and couldn’t get it back.
Same thing happened to Tom Savage at Rutgers but he took 3 years and 2 transfers to turn it around.
DeVito has talent but the beatings he has taken has left him shell shocked and he won’t throw the ball away.
Wait a minute! Wait a minute!
What you are saying is that Tommy DeVito has been so battered (shell shocked) that he is now unable to throw the ball away? The result of this is that he gets hit more than less. (Shell shock was a WWII affliction in which soldiers couldn't function normally because they had been under fire.)
Seems to that this battering would have the reverse effect. That is, he'd be throwing the ball immediately to avoid getting hit. That's what a normal, rational person would do, right? But Tommy is so emotionally scared, he freezes?
I'm afraid I'm not going to buy your attempt at practicing psychiatry.
So what is going through TD's head when he pumps the ball, pulls it down and gets pinned underneath a couple of blitzing linebacker?
A couple of things, I submit.
The first is that he knows he really shouldn't throw a pick or get an intentional grounding call. He did both earlier in the season a couple of times and the coaches have convinced him he better not do it again. Any interception or Intentional Grounding call is worse than any sack. (Except for Troy Nunes).
The second is an almost instinctual vestige of his high school and youth football experience. He believes, maybe even at a subconscious level, that he can slip away. Until he manages to sublimate this instinct, he's going to keep pulling that ball down and hoping for a Houdini-like escape.
Now I hate criticizing coaches, because I know they know more than I do and that they have more information at any point. But why isn't the board upset about the play calling in the this avalanche of blitzes? We seem to be putting TD in a position that is beyond his current capabilities.