Trust key to A.J. McCarron’s success in St. Louis

St. Louis Battlehawks quarterback A.J. McCarron scrambles before throwing a touchdown pass against the Memphis Showboats on Saturday, April 20, in St. Louis.

Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

In the decade spent seeing A.J. McCarron playing quarterback in the NFL, has he ever earned the reputation of one who could scramble or break off a run?

The answer is likely no, but in the UFL, as a full-time starter, McCarron has been showing off the wheels lately and it’s led to him powering the St. Louis Battlehawks past the Memphis Showboats 32-17 on Saturday, April 20, in St. Louis.

McCarron completed 35-of-45 passes for 222 yards and three touchdowns, including a goal-line dart to Jahcour Pearson while on the scramble late in the fourth quarter.

“I thought A.J. played a really good game, managed everything well, used his legs again appropriately, which was huge in this game,” Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said. “It really is a difference maker.”

In an earlier fourth-quarter touchdown, McCarron started the play deep in the shotgun and ran outside to the right as close to the line of scrimmage as he could to draw the defense and throw a lob to tight end Jake Sutherland in the end zone.

“We actually ran it just like that in practice, which is kind of cool to see all the work we put in during the week play out just like it did during the game,” said Sutherland, who has also been a reliable short-yardage target for PATs.

It’s not often that a quarterback in his 30s suddenly becomes mobile enough to keep plays alive and even set up the receivers to get open. Much of that comes from the connection between the 33-year-old McCarron and offensive coordinator Bruce Gradkowski.

“Bruce trusts me to be able to use me in the running game and trust what I see and allows me to have input,” McCarron said. “That’s very rare for a quarterback to have that from an offensive coordinator.”

McCarron is working with one of the deepest groups of receivers in the UFL, and it shows in how so many players stand out as the leading target each week. Through the first two weeks, it was Marcell Ateman, then it was Hakeem Butler in Week 3, and then Jahcour Pearson this past Saturday with 70 yards and a touchdown in 10 catches during his first game back from injury.

“We’re an NFL receiving corp,” Pearson said. “I really believe that. I feel like everybody in our receiving corp can play in the NFL at the highest level.”

McCarron leads the UFL in passes attempted (138), completed (97) and touchdowns (8). With him under center, the Battlehawks (3-1) lead the UFL in points (106) and points per game (26.5).

“I played the game long enough to be able to trust my eyes, trust what I see, and just take what’s there,” McCarron said.

He makes it as simple as throwing the ball to whomever is open but the truth of the matter is the level of trust between the quarterback, coaches, and their bevy of weapons, has been the key to their offensive success this season.

“It’s just a lot of trust,” Pearson said. “If you get open, he’s gonna find you.”

The Battlehawks are benefiting from the continuity from the previous year to now but it still took a lot of work in limited time in training camp to forge such connections.

“It’s all the hard work in a short amount of time that we put in as a collective group,” McCarron said. “It’s tough coming into this league and not really having a ton of time in camp. You only got three weeks pretty much, and so it takes a lot of film, it’s a lot of on-the-field process, a lot of film process and guys being able to talk to one another and trust one another.”

The Battlehawks travel to Washington to take on the DC Defenders on Sunday, April 28.