It’s easy to oversimplify and say that play-action alone causes a QB to hold onto the ball longer or increases time to throw. However, that’s not always the case.
PFF identified one of Baker Mayfield’s weaknesses out of college as holding onto the ball too long, and that was an individual tendency, not offense-dependent.
But back to play-action. Baker's offense under Lincoln Riley was a quick, tempo offense and the play-action they ran wasn't simply true, under center play-action (vary rare). Riley's true play action was not from under center, but was RPO based or out of the shotgun/pistol. True, under center play action, although ran, was very rare in Riley's offense when Baker was playing QB. Very rare.
Why is this important?
RPO Play action has a much, much faster release and is typically meant to get the ball out in 1.5-2.5 seconds. There is very little 'drop back' and the routes are shorter. It's the fastest form of play-action with the shortest time to throw.
Shotgun/Pistol Play action, the QB is already in position and doesn't have to turn his back to the defense. Depending on if it's a dump off or deep shot, the ball should be out in 2-3 seconds.
Traditional, under center play-action is where the TTT is very affected by the play calling. 3-4 seconds is typical to get the ball out. This was very rarely ran in Riley's offense with Baker. Very rarely.
Sanders ran a pro-style offense. He couldn't run play action because 1) His OL was too bad and couldn't block 2) he had no running game to keep the defense honest.
Sanders also had to process defenses faster than Baker out of necessity...he didn’t have the luxury of playing behind the #1 pass-blocking offensive line in college football, as Baker did. Even with that advantage, Baker still held onto the ball too long and took 11 sacks credited to him, not his OL.
It’s easy to run an offense on time when everything around you is elite. When it’s not, quick processing and decision-making become essential.
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