At one point this season, Indiana receiver Elijah Sarratt was watching old tape of NFL legend Aaron Rodgers throwing back-shoulder fade passes to Davante Adams when a light bulb clicked. Why couldn’t Sarratt try that with his own quarterback, Fernando Mendoza?
Adams does “a great job of getting the release off the ball, and then around 12, 14 yards, Aaron Rodgers just throwing a laser and … it drops in the bucket,” Sarratt said recently. “I tend to win off the line more times than not, so I felt like I had a good chance of [trying] it.” (Sarratt’s nickname is “Waffle House,” he once said, “because I’m open 24/7.”)
One day, Sarratt took the idea to Mendoza. “Same day after practice, we got a couple reps in, just trying to work it, be similar with how [Rodgers and Adams] were,” Sarratt recalled. “Then just communication after that. I try not to be picky. I just try to tell him let me get my hands on it, and he does a great job putting it on the money.”
This season, Sarratt has caught 62 passes for 802 yards and 15 touchdowns — the most receiving scores in the country. He has also caught a number of clutch back-shoulder fades from Mendoza. Look for that play when the game is on the line.