Steven Thames got an up-close look at Taylor Heinicke’s remarkable performance.
Too close.
Fordham assistant football coach Thames was on the field the day Old Dominion quarterback Heinicke passed for 730 yards in a 64-61 win on Sept. 22, 2012.
In a battle of Colonial Athletic Association powers, Thames was a cornerback for New Hampshire, where he played from 2010-14.
Heinicke, who’s from Collins Hill High in Gwinnett County, is set to start for the Panthers (6-8) against the Falcons (5-9) at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
“ That dude, he was probably the best player, from top to bottom, that I ever played against,” Thames said via phone from New York Thursday.
Heinicke completed 55 of 79 passes and threw for five touchdowns as he rallied the Monarchs from a 54-38 deficit.
“He was really smart with the way he threw the ball, where he put it and with all of the reads,” said Thames, who is the assistant defensive backs/safeties coach at Fordham. “When we played them, you could tell that he knew what we were doing before we did it.”
The Falcons might want to prepare for Heinicke’s ability to keep plays alive.
“When you sacked him or you thought you’d sacked him, he would scramble around and still throw the ball down the field and complete passes,” Thames said.
He got to Thames, during that wild and zany passing-fest.
“I remember one play against him,” Thames said. “They were in the red zone. It was maybe the 15- or 20-yard line, I’m not sure. But we had him sacked. We had three people on him.
“He ran around in a circle and actually threw a touchdown over my head. When you think a guy gets sacked and you start lolly gagging around and then all of sudden they throw one over your head.
“He was a really good player for sure.”
Heinicke went undrafted, but was signed by the Vikings. He has also spent time with the Texans and Patriots.
“I wasn’t surprised when he made it to the next level at all,” Thames said.
The Falcons may also want to prepare for Heinicke’s deep balls. With Cam Newton playing with a sore shoulder, the Panthers have not been able to throw the ball downfield.
“Yeah, he can throw it down the field for sure,” Thames said. “Against us, it was more of the intermediate passing. He didn’t throw too many deep balls down the field against us, but I remember what he did on film watching him and he definitely can throw it down the field.”
But Heinicke’s specialty is the precision passing game.
“He’s definitely really accurate,” Thames said. “The thing about him was that he wasn’t the biggest guy. He was probably about 6-foot, 6-1. Probably about Drew Brees’ height. But everything else that he brought to the table made you forget about his height for sure.”
