Based on his numbers this season, Hoyer is looking more like a rookie quarterback than someone with nine years of experience in the league. Steve Young spoke on Hoyer’s struggles and experience with Tolbert & Lund on Wednesday evening.
“I’m a little disappointed,” Young said. “As an experienced guy, I think Brian is a little disappointed. He’s played long enough to know that you have to play better.”
Hoyer began his career behind Tom Brady as the backup quarterback for the New England Patriots from 2009-2011. He went on to be one of four quarterbacks on the Arizona Cardinals’ 2012 roster before joining the Cleveland Browns, where he received his first starting role.
Hoyer started 13 games in 2014, in which the Browns went 7-6 and he put up 3,326 yards with a 55.3 percent completion rate. The following year, he started for the Houston Texans and his 5-4 record in nine starts helped them reach the Wild Card game in 2015.
Yet, Hoyer went on to throw seven interceptions and posted a 44.1 percent completion rate against the Kansas City Chiefs, who ended up beating the Texans 30-0.
Now, in the first season of his two-year deal with the 49ers, Hoyer is working to pull himself out of his worst stretch as a starting quarterback. Hoyer has thrown an interception in each of his four starts for the 49ers and has thrown a touchdown in only one game. His best came against the Los Angeles Rams when he put up 332 yards and threw his only two touchdowns of the season.
“His eyes are dropping. What happens is, it gets in your head,” Young said. “The first couple of losses, he can pin on himself and say, ‘I’ve got to get better.’ Then he plays pretty good and loses in the Rams game. Then he stays in the mode of kind of desperation and then he comes into this game and all of the sudden he’s pressing, ‘I need this. I’ve got to have it.’ Then your eyes drop and you’re thinking of something else and you’re not free to go play the way you can.”
Even after his offensive outburst against the Rams, Hoyer failed to score a touchdown against the Cardinals Sunday afternoon. Even when Hoyer was within 10 yards of a game-winning touchdown, he failed to put the ball in the end zone and Young believes this losing streak is taking a toll on his confidence.
“It killed me, the last play of the game for them offensively, where you know that he didn’t want to make a mistake, but he hadn’t thought it through because you can take a sack right there.,” Young said. “You can, you don’t want to, but you can. So you can take the extra look, but I think when you’re pressing or, I don’t want to use the word, but when you’re playing in a sense of desperation or an attempt that’s overwrought, you miss stuff.”
Nonetheless, in the years with the Browns and Texans, Hoyer proved himself to be a suitable starting quarterback. Perhaps all it will take is a win for Hoyer to rebound and play to his potential.
“I still firmly believe that whatever you thought of Brian Hoyer, by the end of the season you think it’s better, but right now it’s not and I think he’ll be the first to tell you because he’s been around long enough to know that you missed big plays,” Young said.
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 7:48 for Young on Hoyer.