Brady was part of the problem last year, and he wasn't GOAT Brady in 2018, either. We haven't seen very good QB play around Foxboro in several years. When they have someone who is both able to read a defense and throw (like Brady) and willing to work with the teammates he has (like Newton), the difference is going to be obvious.
True, he wasn't the GOAT in 2018..........but on that OT drive vs the Chiefs in the AFCCG he was incredible. I've lost count on how many times I've watched it and his 3rd and 10 passes were on another level, did it multiple times.
Problem is there just weren't great options in the 2020 draft. We had a shot at Jordan Love and passed. Could have landed Hurts but used that pick on Dugger. Maybe you could have traded up from the Uche pick to get him. Beyond Love/Hurts, those you're talking Eason, Fromm, etc. and none of those guys profile as more than backups, if that. There were only 3 QBs picked in Rounds 3-5.
You're not the only one to stay stuff like the bolded. I don't think it's true at all. N'Keal Harry got 14 targets in the last two games last year; he was awful with them (as he's been awful with most of his targets in his career). The problem was that at midseason last year they replaced Gordon with Harry, Meyers with Sanu, and moved Dorsett outside where he's less effective - all those moves were disasters. And obviously Bill figured that out, because since they let Dorsett walk, cut Sanu, and moved Harry inside (and later, cut his playing time in favor in Meyers), and added Byrd to play outside.
I have a semi-crackpot theory that they were interested in Hurts and Philly surprised them by taking him. They weren't in a great spot last year, and they probably aren't in a great spot this year. They seem to like the mid-rounds for QBs, but that's a lot easier area to mine when you already have a starter and are just looking for a backup, compared to now when they need a QB.
If 2018 wasn't "very good QB play" we're spoiled beyond imagination and I pity the young guy who'll take the reins knowing that kind of performance will be thought of as merely okay. It wasn't Brady's best season, but his games against the Chargers and Chiefs were absolutely vintage and even in the Super Bowl he wasn't as bad as the overall numbers indicate (they still put up 400+ yards of offense that game).
Brady was not GOAT Brady in 2018. That's what I said. He was more inconsistent and overall maybe a borderline top 10 QB. Obviously we'd take that in a heartbeat over Cam Newton, who is one of the worst 5 starters in the league right now. In 2019, Brady wasn't close to being a top 10 quarterback.
Guess the question is, what is premium?
That goes against pretty much everything we know about Bill Belichick.
Quoted for posterity.
Pretty sure he sees him on an every day basis in practice and knows better about whether playing Stidham is best for the team or not. If he plays him most will just say that his performance(if good) doesn't matter because they weren't meaningful games and if his performance is bad then that will be taken as gospel and he'll be written off as a bad QB. So Stidham is in a no-win situation in terms of being evaluated for the 2021 QB job.
Yeah, Stidham's best chance to take this job next year is not in a meaningless week 17 game against the Jets. It's in the offseason and training camp. That doesn't mean BB doesn't decide to give him the ball, but I'm not sure how much we could learn there.
I think part of the issue was that last year wasn't a good QB draft for them. There were 3 guys you'd want, and all went top 6. Then it was "do you like Jordan Love at 23" they didn't.
It's really not, there is no compelling reason to switch QBs for the last few games of the season between two guys who are likely to both be gone, and who aren't the future starter.
He may not have seen much in Stidham, but "the devil you know" unless someone popped up, like Cam, who BB obviously likes. What were the other offseason options in a pandemic year? I honestly don't recall.
Isn’t it as simple as at that time he was the best available option on the roster? And then when Cam was signed he was a better alternative and moved to the top of the depth chart.
The question is flawed though because......
The team had no cap space to sign a viable veteran QB, and had unfavorable draft position. Yeah, I get that the Pats could have let Thuney walk, but perhaps Bill decided stability on the OL would be best for this particular season, which was pre-ordained to be reset year no matter what.
In 2018, Brady ranked 9th in attempts, 8th in completions, 18th in completion %, 13th in completion % among QB's with over 3500 yards passing, 7th in passing yards, 13th in INT% (11th if you remove Flacco and Wentz), 13th in yards/attempt, 11th in adjusted yards/attempt, 14th in yards/catch, 12th in rating (11th if you remove Ryan Fitzpatrick's 7 game season), and 9th in QBR.
They may have thought that they could bring in Cam as competition and motivation for Stidham, to give him incentive to win the job, and it hasn't happened. There have been rumors that the Pats were disappointed in both Stidham's conditioning and preparation level when he showed up for camp in the summer time. And it's very likely that they are waiting to see Stidham improve and fight enough to grasp the starter's job, not to simply have it given to him.
That's where we differ. I think what it takes for the Pats to have a "totally average" passing game is a very good to great Quarterback, and not merely an average one, because their receiving options are horrific. You think Baker Mayfield has this team 8-5 right now?
I am pretty sure he particularly has a lifetime pass on all “who is the starting quarterback for this team” decisions.
I strongly disagree with the bolded. Brady wasn't the top QB in the league in his last couple years in NE, but he was "very good" by nearly all statistical measures. People can argue about his attitude, and his willingness to work with the WR corps, but if 2018 Brady wasn't "very good" then I'm not sure what is.
Before Cam signed there were reports that Hoyer was possibly on track to start. I recall Jeff Howe suggesting as much in a radio interview, and most thought he was trolling. I imagine most everyone on the staff wanted Stidham to be the guy, it sure would have made their lives easier. But even the obligatory puff pieces about him in the late spring/early summer rang hollow. I'm fairly certain that had Cam not signed here, Hoyer was QB1 starting the season.
That's all fair. I mean, we can argue about whether there are 9 "very good" QBs in the league at a given time or 15, but the point is, IMO, just upgrading from Newton will make this offense look a lot better. Upgrading Newton AND adding a #1 WR would be a quantum leap.
So he was slightly above average for all QBs and average for high volume QBs.
Being firmly in the Top 10 of the 34 or so QB's that played is certainly better than "slightly above average", but YMMV.
This is what I'd hoped for, and Hurts was available when the Patriots used their 2nd round (37th pick) on Kyle Dugger.
A trivia note: The Eagles' first 2 picks had first names of Jalen. The other was TCU WR Jalen Reagor, taken as the 1st round (21st) pick.
Rodgers had a mildly down year that year by his standards; Packers finished 6-9-1 while Rodgers was thoroughly outplayed by Brady in their one matchup that season, a 31-17 drubbing by New England.
And in the playoffs he was damn good and epically clutch. He didn't have the otherworldly stats of his 2017 playoff run but he outplayed 3 Pro Bowlers in a row.
You listed his rankings above as 9, 8, 18, 13, 7, 13, 13, 14, 12, 9 for the stats you wanted, that doesn’t look like a firmly top 10 QB. He looks to be anywhere in the 8-12 range out of all QBs. The only thing he was elite in was sack % and even then he was 4th behind Luck/Brees/Ben.
If you're that good at everything, you're going to be, in composite, better than those rankings. There are going to be guys who are better than Brady in a couple of those stats and terrible in others. The Patriots passing offense finished third in expected points added. It was not as good as 2016/2017 - arguably, the best two- year stretch of Brady's career - but it was still very good, objectively.
This is a good point. Speaking of those seasons, I was just remembering that Brady obviously went to the Super Bowl both years, throwing for 466 yards the 1st time (and winning) and 500 yards in the 2nd (and losing, inexplicably). That's wild. Sorry for the digression.
Adjusted net yards per attempt aggregates a lot of the individual metrics. Incompletions have zero yards; interceptions and sacks are deducted based on average yards lost for each. It ignores TD%, which can be very teammate dependent. If posters want to ignore that metric, they should at least give a reason why.
