Tag: Patriots QB

Patriots Lose Fourth Game in a Row. Is This the End of the Cam Newton Experiment?

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I’m not going to put the blame all on Cam Newton here despite the way that game ended. This team is clearly just not that good and Newton’s top receiver yesterday was a former quarterback, and no I’m not talking about Julian Edelman. The offensive play calling was suspect at best. With all that being said, Newton hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass since Week 3. And I’m no NFL scout but it did look like Newton was laboring on a lot of his throws yesterday as he was still skipping passes on easy 5-10 yard routes. The offensive game plan yesterday was almost as if they were protecting Newton from himself. Newton was 15/25 with no touchdowns and no interceptions and there was almost nothing thrown deep. I looked at the drive charts for the Pats to see if my memory served me right and Newton had one completion of 28 yards, but that was thanks to a huge YAC play by James White. There was one medium range 22 yard completion to Damiere Byrd, but other than that there was nothing completed longer than 16 yards. So unsurprisingly the Bills were crowding the hell out of the box.

Meanwhile the Pats ran the ball 34 times, including 9 by Newton. So there was a lot of handing it off and more designed QB runs than we’ve seen in a while. I guess thats to be expected playing in the wind in Buffalo with two of your receivers out, but hey as Newton himself said the excuse basket is getting low. In the end the running was exactly what did them in as Newton failed to protect the ball while scrambling for a first and fumbled the game away.

To his credit he looked like he wanted to sit down in the shower and cry afterwards so I feel for him. But if you are unable to consistently move the ball through the air and are relying on your legs to make big plays then you have to protect the ball. The flashes this team showed on offense earlier in the season are now the Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

I respect the hell out of the venom from FS1’s Tanya Ray Fox though. Say it louder for those in the back!

So we now have to ask ourselves, is it time to move on from the Cam Newton experiment?

Sitting at 2-5 and having suffered four losses in a row this team is moving in reverse. They’ve guaranteed their worst record since 2018 (won the Super Bowl btw) and thats assuming they win out. I don’t know about you but I have a hard time imagining this team ripping off a 9-0 run. If they lose one more game, it’s their worst record since 2009 when they went 10-6 and lost in the Wild Card round. If they lose 2 more games it’s their worst record since 2002 when they went 9-7 and missed the playoffs sandwiched between two SB titles. And if they lose any more than that it would be their worst record since 2000 when they went 5-11 in Belichick’s first year at the helm.

The Patriots are now 4 games behind the Bills and 2 games behind the Dolphins so any illusion of winning the division went up in smoke yesterday. It’ll be interesting to see what the team does at the trade deadline because as I said yesterday that Bills game could legitimately decide the direction of this franchise for the next two years.

Now I’m not excited for it, but I think its time to rip the Jarrett Stidham band-aid off and find out what exactly the Patriots have here. The team needs to figure out whether he’s the next guy or not. If that means trotting him out there for ritual sacrifice then so be it, but the Pats need to determine if Stidham can get it done. If not then they have to make a move this offseason. Theres 3-4 potential first round QBs likely coming out this year and the Patriots should be in a good position to get one of them, even if it’s not Trevor Lawrence or Justin Fields.

There’s also been rumors about the return of the prodigal son Jimmy Garoppolo since the 49ers have reportedly been meh on him as the QB of the future.

But he did re-injure his ankle last night and according to Schefter will be out “indefinitely.” That comes after having already missed 2 games and then getting pulled in his first game back. Garoppolo has only made 30 starts out of a possible 56 games in four years in San Francisco due to various injuries including a torn ACL. My point being, I would not be shocked if the Niners decide to move on from him after this season. So if you’re a Patriots fan do you still want him? Do you think Bill can rekindle whatever magic he thought he had with the young QB? I’m not so sure of that as I was just a week ago. Especially after this latest injury since Belichick loves to say the best ability is availability. Either way the Pats will undoubtedly be kicking the tires on anyone with an arm attached to their body this offseason.

The Patriots are in a tough position brought on by the greatest player of all time leaving town, but also from poor drafting over the last few years finally catching up to them. The Pats are one of the oldest teams in the league as a result. Think about it, all of their best players are on the wrong side of 30: Edelman, Stephon Gilmore, both McCourtys, Matthew Slater, plus all the guys who opted out.

The book is out on this year’s draft class, but offensive lineman Michael Onwenu may have been a steal in the 6th round as Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the No. 1 rookie in the league. It’s debatable how much stock to put into PFF rankings, but being No. 1 on any list is pretty damn good.

The books is probably still out on last year too. Chase Winovich looks like a nice role player, Joejuan Williams has shown potential, as has Damien Harris (now that he’s on the field), but N’Keal Harry has been underwhelming and we may soon find out with Jarrett Stidham. 2018 highlights include Isaiah Wynn and Sony Michel. Sigh. Ja’Waun Bentley has flashed at times, other than that there was Ryan Izzo, Braxton Berrios, and Danny Etling as notable names that year. 2017 landed them Deatrich Wise and three whiffs. 2016 was the year they took Cyrus Jones with their first pick and he was an unmitigated disaster. They did draft Joe Thuney that year though who’s been great, Ted Karras has been a solid contributor on the OL, Jacoby Brissett filled in for a game, Elandon Roberts, and a huge what if player in Malcolm Mitchell who looked awesome before knee injuries prematurely ended his career.

So yea, 5 years and arguably two elite players in Thuney and *maybe* Onwenu, but it’s way too early to tell. Other than that Belichick has collected role players, which is a far cry from the 2010 draft he absolutely NAILED, picking up Devin McCourty, Gronk, Brandon Spikes, pre-murderous Aaron Hernandez, and even a starting punter in Zoltan Mesko.

It’s hard to build a team when you don’t have the greatest QB of all time helping to mask any deficiencies on the roster. The Pats definitely got screwed with the $13.5M in dead cap money from Brady leaving and this is what Belichick had to say today on the roster.

In Belichick’s defense we wrote about the Patriots “mess of a salary cap” last season, but I can promise you people do not want to hear about the cap as the reason for why this team is free falling.

I don’t say all this to be an alarmist, I say it to be pragmatic. This team is facing a tall order and needs to really nail their next series of moves and the next draft to set themselves up for a rebound. If nothing else do it to shut up the Fired Football Coaches of America chirping from the peanut gallery like Rex Ryan.

I’m sure Belichick is taking names as he builds the next great Patriots team for what is likely the final act of his career.

Cam Newton is a Patriot. What Should We Realistically Expect?

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As you all have heard by now the Patriots did the most Patriots thing ever this week and signed a former elite player on a massively team friendly deal. The marriage of Cam Newton and the Patriots is not something I expected, but I also was told by the Boston media all offseason how high the team was on Jarrett Stidham with Brian Hoyer being the adult in the room for at least a little while. Welp, it seems like Belichick had merely been eyeing a fancy new toy for months just waiting for the price to drop before finally deciding to pull the trigger. Newton comes to New England on an incentive laden one-year prove it deal as the signal caller looks to bounce back from an injury shortened season last year.

Jarrett Stidham’s head must be spinning right now. The heir apparent to the Patriots QB1 only had to beat out veteran journeyman Hoyer to earn the job. Now he’s got Hoyer and a former league MVP boxing him out of the starting gig. Stidham took a road trip to Texas with the wife and got Wally Pipped before he even got off the Pike. Stidham checking his ESPN notifications and seeing the Newton signing:

By the way, this also goes to show you to never, ever, ever discount what the wise guys are saying in Vegas. Oddsmakers had the Patriots as the favorites to sign Newton months ago and we all thought what the hell are they talking about? Whoops.

Julian Edelman seems to already be on board with the former MVP coming to Gillette though.

Using the infamous and ridiculous Cam Newton font in his post legitimately made me laugh out loud.

Although Tom Brady was immediately in Edelman’s comments like an ex-girlfriend trying to honey dick him.

You left Jules, Tom! Let him be happy with someone else.

I’ve been a big fan of Ham Newton’s game ever since his days at Auburn when he crushed my dreams as a Boston based Oregon stan in the National Championship. So I’m pretty excited to see what one of the most dynamic QBs in the game can do with the best coach in the history of the league.

KEY STATS

People point to Newton’s career 59% completion percentage as a reason why he won’t fit here, but I fully expect the Pats to run the snot out of the ball this year. They were already trending that way the last couple of seasons, drafting Sony Michel in the first round, and this past offseason using the franchise tag to bring back Left Tackle Joe Thuney. Now factor in that Newton’s completion % is nearly 10% higher on play action than it is on non-play action plays. His completion percentage on play action is 68%, which will pick teams apart if the Pats can develop a decent running game in 2020.

If the Pats do want to jam Newton into the Tom Brady quick, short pass offense? His accuracy is not as good as Brady’s (Brady is 63% career), but their time holding onto the ball and average yards per throw is surprisingly close. In 2018 (Newton’s last *almost* full season with 14 games) Cam averaged 2.69 Time to Throw compared to Brady’s 2.62 seconds and 5 Completed Air Yards compared to Brady’s 5.6. He also had a Passer Rating of 94.2 compared to Brady’s 97.7 with a Completion Percentage of 67.9 compared to Brady’s 65.8.

Tom Brady is the GOAT and my favorite athlete of all time, but Cam Newton is not a bad replacement if healthy. Newton also only threw two more picks than Brady despite having an Aggressiveness % of 17.2 to Brady’s 13.9. And if that stat is entirely new to you as it is one I found that fits my agenda, have no fear: “Aggressiveness tracks the amount of passing attempts a quarterback makes that are into tight coverage, where there is a defender within 1 yard or less of the receiver at the time of completion or incompletion. AGG is shown as a % of attempts into tight windows over all passing attempts.”

INJURY HISTORY

As with any player, especially at QB, a recent injury history like Newton’s is alarming. Pats Pulpit does a great job of breaking it down extensively, but here are the spark notes.

  • January 2019 – Shoulder surgery on his throwing arm
  • December 2019 – Foot surgery for a Lisfranc fracture
  • 2014 – Ankle Surgery

It’s not an overly lengthy injury history, but it is a very recent one. Shoulder and foot injuries for a 31-year-old mobile QB are not ideal. Thats why he was available though and the last thing you want to do is repeat the Dolphin’s fatal mistake when they passed on Drew Brees in 2006 because of his shoulder injury. They went with Daunte Culpepper instead and have sucked for the past 14 years, meanwhile the Saints took a chance and won a Super Bowl as Brees flourished into a Hall of Famer.

FIT WITH PATS

As I mentioned earlier, this Patriots team already seemed poised to run the hell out of the ball so bringing in Cam Newton makes sense as they could utilize any of their half dozen runningbacks (is Damien Harris still alive and well?) and run the old Full House package from Madden ad nauseum. I don’t expect the Patriots to morph into an RPO team overnight like the Ravens did with Lamar Jackson, but I do expect a ton of Shotgun and spreading the defense out so Newton can utilize his strengths.

I honestly think James White might catch 100 balls this year (career high 87 in 2018). Newton looves throwing to his runningbacks. Sure he’s had the best RB in the game in Christian McCaffrey, but Newton threw to his RB1 more and more each year. From 2016-2019 McCaffrey had 80, 107, and 116 receptions on 113, 124, and a whopping 142 targets last year. Somewhat surprisingly that was *only* 8th in the NFL in total targets, but it also was 34 (!) more than any other RB in the game.

Obviously the Patriots have not had a mobile quarterback really ever, even before Brady, but when you see the actual numbers compared to Newton it is jarring.

Mobile quarterbacks have only very recently started to find success in the NFL so it clearly never hurt the Patriots before, but adding this element to their offense will be a welcome bonus to having Newton under center.

Mike Reiss said on ESPN the other day he believes the Pats will keep their offense 75% the same with about 25% changed to suit Newton.

Lets not forget that Josh McDaniels did in fact draft Tim Tebow in the first round back in 2010 while he was the HC in Denver. The Pats also had some fun with their most mobile quarterback since Doug Flutie when Jacoby Brissett was forced into emergency starting duties against the Texans in 2016. The Pats ran some RPO and Brissett ran the ball 10 times that game, including this 30 yard TD on a designed QB run.

And Brissett’s not even a mobile quarterback! He just looked that way compared to the Clydesdale that is TB12. Cam Newton ran a 4.59 40 yard dash at the combine compared to Brissett’s 4.94. Granted Newton has since had foot surgery, but my point is the Pats had a great game plan for a guy that runs a slower 40 time than me. Imagine what kind of damage they can do with a guy like Newton?

EXPECTATIONS

I’ve said in the past that watching Newton last year he looked cooked, but coming off a shoulder surgery less than a year prior and then injuring his foot really decimated any chance he had of stepping into throws. Not to mention his ability to scramble, so its no surprise he looked terrible. But Cam was great as recently as 2018 even though his season was cut short after 14 games with the shoulder injury. In 2018 Newton threw for 3,400 yards, 24 TDs, 13 INTs, 67.9% completion percentage, 94.2 Rating, with 488 yards rushing and 4 TDs. A far cry from his MVP year, but this is also with him throwing to his runningback, DJ Moore, Devin Funchess, Jarius Wright, Curtis Samuel, something called Ian Thomas, and a 33-year-old Greg Olsen. Not a ton of household names in there outside of McCaffrey.

CBS Sports’ Will Brinson was on Toucher and Rich this week calling Cam the greatest QB in league history and is *very* high on the fit.

“I think if Cam is healthy, Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick will unleash a really lethal offense…Rob Gronkowski is the second greatest red zone threat in league history and Cam Newton is No. 1 because he can run the ball.”

Although would it surprise me if Belichick just up and decides it’s not working and cuts Newton in training camp? With an incentive laden one-year contract, it would not shock me. I’d hate to see that happen though because this is the most excited I’ve been to watch the Patriots since Brady left for Tampa.

The fit remains to be seen, but I think Newton is DYING to prove he is still an elite QB in a league that is now littered with mobile QBs. Newton was the prototype so it must really piss him off to see half a dozen QBs winning with his blueprint. He wants to prove he is still the alpha and if he is fully healthy, motivation will not be a problem so I am excited to see what Belichick and McDaniels do with him.

JERSEY TIME?

I have to admit, I was pretty meh on the new Pats jerseys when they came out, but I think part of that was probably with Brady leaving town there wasn’t really any other players that made me want to buy a $100 jersey. I already have an Edelman jersey, Devin McCourty flirts with retirement more and more these days, Dont’a Hightower is also on the wrong side of 30. I love Chase Winovich, but I need to see him on the field more before I even think about elevating him to jersey status. N’Keal Harry needs to catch about a dozen touchdowns this year to get into this conversation. So who does that leave? Maybe Stephon Gilmore? I guess if I had to pull the trigger it would be either White (a Super Bowl hero) or Patrick Chung (a longtime Patriot who does anything and everything). BUT, I gotta say, this looks pretty sexy.

I have a rule that I don’t buy jerseys of players unless they have recently signed a contract extension so as to not end up with another Sergei Samsonov jersey that immediately became a throwback about a week after I bought it. But if Ham Newton has 10 touchdowns in September, it’s going to be pretty hard to keep my credit card in my pocket. Even if he is only on a one-year contract.

Would still be a better jersey to won than the two *different* guys I’ve seen wearing John Lynch Patriots jerseys in Allston over the years (Lynch retired before the start of the 2008 season).

Or maybe the injuries have finally caught up to a guy who has absolutely abused his body for the past decade and Newton really is cooked. Well its a win-win situation for the Pats. They get a 31-year-old, hyper motivated former MVP QB, who will not be fazed in the slightest about replacing a legend and ultimately dominates with a fresh start OR we get A+ fashion shows every week that will provide weeks worth of content.

Like I said, win-win.

Is Deshaun Watson Watch Officially On for the Patriots? Because It Feels Like It Is.

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I am exhausted from years of [insert player name] Watch over the years only to watch said player never even come close to landing on my team. We just did it with Stefon Diggs for two years, people continue to do it with Odell Beckham Jr. and don’t even get me started on Danny Ainge. Pining for a superstar your team has no shot at ever landing (Anthony Davis, Karl Anthony Towns) is basically a requirement for Celtics fandom.

With that being said, are we now doing Deshaun Watson Watch for the next Patriots QB? It sure seems like it. This all started the other day when oddsmaker BetOnline.com set Deshaun Watson as the PROHIBITIVE favorite to be the Patriots starting QB in 2021. Huh? Granted this came just days after Bill O’Brien made one of the dumbest trades in league history and gave away arguably the best receiver in the league in DeAndre Hopkins for spare parts. Getting a washed up David Johnson and a 2nd round pick for an elite talent like Hopkins (not to mention one of the last lifelines for a seemingly flailing relationship with Watson) is a fireable offense in my opinion.

There were rumors floated by HOF receiver Michael Irvin that Hopkins and O’Brien had a tumultuous, shitty, bordering on disrespectful relationship, but thats no excuse to dump your second best player for a running back who hasn’t been good in THREE years. Trust me, I’ve had him in fantasy 2/3 of those seasons and got burned every time.

The Texans No. 1 goal every year should be to keep Deshaun Watson happy. No. 2 is make the playoffs. In that order. Thats how important Watson is to this franchise…sooo maybe don’t spit in the guy’s face by trading his best weapon. This would be like if the Patriots traded Julian Edelman last year. Just doesn’t make sense.

Even with all that I still find it very hard to believe an elite young QB in his prime would somehow find his way under center for the Patriots next season. It just does not happen in the NFL. Watson is entering the final year of his rookie deal with a 5th year option in 2021 so theres no huge rush for the Texans to trade him, yet. He is going to sign a contract somewhere close to $40M per year depending on what Patrick Mahomes signs for, but as Mike Reiss reports the Patriots coincidentally are set to have around $100 Million in cap space next offseason. Hmmm

Andddd now we are officially getting subtweets from Deshaun Watson!

My team suddenly doesn’t have a QB of the present or the future and now one of my favorite young players to come out of college in years is subtweeting Drake lyrics just days after his team traded his top playmaker?

I’m not sure I’m emotionally ready to handle another [insert player name] Watch, but I don’t think we have any choice. Deshaun Watson Watch is officially on.

Lets Grieve Tom Brady’s Departure Together

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Tom Brady Sr. always said it was going to end badly in New England and that’s exactly what happened. It wasn’t a Drew Bledsoe-esque ending where he got hurt, benched, and traded, but it was an awkward, tense, anticlimactic close to Tom Brady’s Patriots career.

It was a less than stellar final season in NE where Brady just didn’t have the weapons, the defense slowly fell apart, leading to an upset loss on Wild Card weekend to Ryan Tannehill and the Titans, with a pick-six being Brady’s final play. Now with Brady announcing his decision to move on from New England we’re left to grieve the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.

It’s yet to be announced where Brady will sign, but guys like Colin Cowherd are starting to report that he’s headed to Tampa Bay. Imagine TB12 in 70 degree weather throwing to Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, OJ Howard (and maybe Antonio Brown)? Good god. Tampa Bay also has the 16th hardest schedule in the NFL this year, compared to the No. 1 most difficult schedule facing New England.

We all knew this day was coming, but it still sucks to see the end of an era. I don’t fault Brady, especially if he did get a massive payday somewhere else and the Pats offered him peanuts. Can’t blame the guy for wanting to make market value after taking discounts his entire career. Especially if the Patriots and Belichick wanted him to sing for his supper just to lowball him again.

What a start to 2020 huh? A homegrown MVP in Mookie Betts gets traded, literally every sports league in America shuts down, the entire country is isolating themselves due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and now TB12 is gone.

This is going to be weird. Since 2001 the only QB to play anything more than garbage time was Matt Cassel after Brady got hurt in 2008. So who the hell is going to play QB for the Pats next season? I broke down all the potential QB options a couple weeks ago, but I still keep hearing *Andy Dalton’s* name for some reason.

Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill are both off the market. Teddy Bridgewater apparently is going to get $30M a year so I’ll pass on that. Philip Rivers is also an old so I don’t see the Pats going that way. I can’t imagine Belichick wanting to sign a guy in Jameis Winston who just threw 30 goddamn INTs. Maybe the Pats do swing a trade for Matt Stafford if the Lions draft a QB?

Or if we’re being honest with ourselves, it’s starting to look like the dawn of the Jarret Stidham era, folks.

Something that I have not been eager to explore about myself is how Tom Brady leaving will affect me as a sports fan. Brady has been under center in Foxborough since I was 12-years-old. As a 30-year-old that is aging in dog years, Brady was one of the few remaining Boston sports icon that is older than me. I’m a full blown Jersey Guy, but I do feel a little odd dishing out $100 bucks for a jersey of a guy that literally just became old enough to buy a beer. With Brady’s departure the best player in Boston is probably 21-year-old Jayson Tatum or maybe 34-year-old Patrice Bergeron or 31-year-old Brad Marchand. But with all due respect, none of those players really compare to Tom Brady.

After Mookie Betts got traded I talked with Big Z about how it didn’t really bother me all that much. Probably because we’re jaded and it’s hard to care as much as you did when you were 15. Tom Brady was the exception to that.

Now as we look to rebuild, to all my friends that are fans of the Jets, Bills, Dolphins, Giants, Colts, Steelers, Chiefs and any other fanbase crawling out of their dumpsters?

If the World Ends and Tom Brady Does Leave, Who Do You Want at QB for the Patriots?

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I hate even typing these words, it’s like saying Candyman five times in the mirror; just don’t. But what if Tom Brady does leave? What are the options and who do you want under center in Foxborough? With the legal tampering period beginning on March 16th and Free Agency beginning on March 18th, we should have an answer one way or another in the next 2 weeks. If Brady does decide to take his talents elsewhere, the Patriots have a host of different options available, some more attractive than others. Lets break it down.

  • Options Currently on the Patriots Roster
    • Jarret Stidham
      • Drafted in the 4th round last year, the Patriots clearly saw something in Stidham who has impressed in the pre-season, but most fans remember him as the guy that blew the spread with a pick six against the Jets in relief duty of Brady last season. It’s too early to say if Stidham is the guy or not, but I don’t think his presence will prevent the Patriots from exploring any and all other options.
    • Cody Kessler
      • Kessler has been running the scout team on the Patriots practice squad and despite Belichick’s odd fascination with the career backup, he’s not the answer.
  • Trade Options
    • Andy Dalton
      • I hate to besmirch a fellow redhead because these are my people, but I just cannot get behind the Patriots starting the post-Tom Brady era with the Red Rifle. He’s had some decent seasons and has been dealing with a TON of injuries over the years to his top weapons in AJ Green and Tyler Eifert so maybe take his lack of sustained success with a grain of salt. He’s only thrown more than 25 touchdowns twice in his career though and hasn’t done it since 2013 so he hasn’t exactly been lighting it up. Whether thats more of a reflection on him or the disaster that is the Bengals is debatable, but this isn’t the guy I am pining for.
    • Matt Stafford
      • This one gained steam towards the end of last week when Patriots color commentator Scott Zolak floated it out of nowhere on 98.5 so it probably has at least been discussed by the Pats. Stafford has never gotten a ton of love, but has always been a legitimate (fantasy) quarterback despite playing for a desolate franchise in the Lions. His contract is also surprisingly cheap based on the way it’s structured so it definitely makes sense for the Patriots if they can get Stafford for a reasonable price. However he did BREAK HIS BACK last year though so proceed with caution on this one. With the No. 3 pick in this year’s draft the Lions could be thinking the same thing and looking to move on from Stafford so keep your eye on this one.
  • Free Agency
    • Marcus Mariota
      • Alright, hand up, I am a Mariota stan and watched as many of his games at Oregon as I possibly could so this may be a little biased. Granted, he’s not the only Heisman winning QB to flame out in the NFL (looking at you Troy Smith), but I honestly think with Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick coaching him the Pats could turn him into a legit starter. Like most scrambling QBs, Mariota hasn’t been the same since he broke his fibula in Week 16 of the 2016 season. Before that though he was pretty solid with 26 TDs and 9 INTs in his first full season before his TDs and Yards dropped off for 2+ seasons resulting in him getting benched. With a 7.5 Yards per Attempt he definitely doesn’t air it out, but even Brady was 26th in the league at 6.6 Yards per Attempt last season. In fact, you know what Brady’s average Yards per Attempt is for his career? That would be the same exact 7.5 as Mariota so you obviously don’t need to air it out to be successful in this offense.
    • Philip Rivers
      • I wouldn’t hate it as Rivers is only one season removed from making the Pro Bowl with 32 TDs and 12 INTs before getting upset by the Pats in the playoffs. He has thrown 15+ INTs six different times though so the Pats may not be keen on a 38-year-old cowboy.
    • Jameis Winston
      • Winston most likely gets franchised by the Bucs unless Tampa somehow convinces Brady to sign there. It would be a hard sell to bring in a guy that just threw 30 picks too. So despite Bruce Arians’ complete inability to hide his disdain for Winston, he may not be on the market unless Brady shocks everyone and moves to the strip club capital of the world.
    • Ryan Tannehill
      • Similar to the situation in Tampa, the Titans will probably franchise or workout a deal with Tannehill unless Brady signs with the Titans, which is the reported favorite outside of New England. Tannehill was excellent last year as were many of his former Dolphins teammates who all seemed to thrive after Miami traded them away. After never posting a rating higher than 94 in six years as the Dolphins QB, Tannehill had a rating of 117.5 last year for the Titans. That’s an absurd improvement. So I wouldn’t bank on Tannehill all of a sudden having turned into an elite QB.
  • Dip Into the Draft
    • Tua Tagovailoa
      • Barring a massive and unforeseen slide in the draft, the Pats would have to trade an absolute haul of picks to move up far enough to snag Tua so this ain’t happening.
    • Justin Herbert
      • The former Duck could go anywhere from No. 5-25 depending on how his combine and interviews go so it’s possible the Pats could trade up if he slides a bit, but I doubt they lust after him enough to move up too much.
    • Jake Fromm
      • This is the guy that I think makes the most sense for the Pats. An undervalued, smart guy who doesn’t have a monster arm but can still make all the throws, ran a pro style offense and has a ton of experience with 43 starts at Georgia. As someone who’s projected to go late in the first (or later), Fromm is someone the Pats could take without overextending themselves.
    • Jordan Love
      • A big arm, scrambling ability, and a ton of potential without a lengthy track record, Jordan Love is basically the 2020 version of Josh Allen. The Patriots have met with the Utah State QB so there is some interest, but this isn’t the type of player Belichick typically wants under center.
    • Random 6th round dart throw
      • Hey it worked for them once right?

Those are the best options barring a blockbuster move nobody sees coming, but the list of Free Agent quarterbacks is LITTERED with bums so pick your poison. If you don’t like any of the names above you can always pick from the likes of Case Keenum, Colt McCoy, AJ McCarron, Blaine Gabbert, Blake Bortles, Geno Smith ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ENOUGH. The point has been made.

An intriguing option nobody has mentioned is Kyle Allen, who had a pretty good stretch filling in for Cam Newton before falling back to Earth. The Panthers have said they are planning to roll with Newton in 2020, but Carolina may be wary of trading a solid backup with Newton’s health far from certain. Allen’s numbers weren’t exactly lights out finishing with 17 TDs, 16 INTs, 3,322 Yards, and an abysmal 6.79 Yards per Attempt, but he could be a dark horse candidate for a young QB the Pats think they can coach up.

So lets all just pray to the old gods and the new that Tom Brady doesn’t go anywhere, but if he does who do you want under center next season?

Shoutout to My Guy Tom E. Curran for Having The 300s on Quick Slants

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Okay so maybe *technically* speaking I wasn’t on the show, but I’ll take the exposure however I can get it so shoutout to my guy Tom E. Curran. For anyone thats too lazy to watch the clip Tom says I should zero in on the middle guy there in Ryan Mallet for the most appropriate comparison to Jarrett Stidham and thats not exactly promising.

Although I have to admit I am shocked and offended and hurt that Tom didn’t name drop us on the air. Had me feeling like Walter White, aside from all the blue meth making and money laundering.

But seriously, shoutout to my guy Tom E. Curran.