Is Tom Brady Merely A System Quarterback?

Tom Brady has been winning in the NFL pretty much since the moment he stepped on the field back in 2001 in reserve for Drew Bledsoe. Back in 2001 there was a huge Quarterback controversy over who should start when Bledsoe got back to the field and ultimately, Head Coach, Bill Belichick rode with second year Quarterback, Tom Brady. As of right now, Tom Brady has one of the greatest home winning records, an amazing touchdown for interception percentage, four Super Bowl Championships and given the title of arguably being the greatest Quarterback in NFL History. However, one of the biggest question in the mind of certain fans is "is Tom Brady merely a Belichick system Quarterback? Or is he just that good?" To put things into perspective, if Tom Brady played for the Cleveland Browns, would he still be as good as he is right now? 

To answer this question, one has to look into the history of other Quarterbacks in Patriots history under Bill Belichick. Since Tom Brady started for the team, only three other Quarterbacks have started for the Patriots. These Quarterbacks were Matt Cassell back in 2008 after Tom Brady was lost for the season in week one, Jimmy Garoppolo starting in this season after Brady was suspended for four games because of "Bounty Gate" and finally Jacoby Brissett, who played on Thursday against Houston after Garoppolo was injured against Miami last week. Do you want to know what the total record of all three of these Quarterbacks are? Their record is 14-5 with the five losses being in 2008 if I am not mistaken. 

The thing that people need to understand is that Bill Belichick runs his football team like a submarine. Nobody is more important than the next guy, they all work hard and there are not very many distractions from their players. The Patriots have a motto that is "Do Your Job" and the players play with much intensity, they make mistakes and never make them again and despite not very much talent on their team, they have a great scheme and they play smart. Personally, I think that the Patriots could win with just about any Quarterback in this league as they did so with rookie Quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Not that Brissett is a bad Quarterback, but the defense did the job by blanking the Texans. Belichick also has a very Quarterback friendly offense with Rob Gronkowski at Tight End and quick receivers that can play in the slot. 

I do think that Tom Brady is the best Quarterback in the league right now, despite being in a great scheme. However, I think that if Brady didn't have Belichick as a Head Coach, he would never have won four Super Bowls. I think that most people feel that way and I believe that we will see a possible Quarterback controversy in the future. If Brady plays the rest of the season this year, which I think he will, I don't think that both Brady and Garoppolo will be on the same team one or two years down the line. I don't think both can coexist and if the Patriots do not trade Brady, a team will definitely go after Garoppolo much like the the Texans did with Brock Osweiler last offseason. No matter what the Patriots decide to do, I think it is a win-win scenario because Garoppolo does seem to be a talented player, I am just not sure he will win multiple Super Bowls like the man before him. I think the bigger question is who the Quarterback is going to be in week four against the Buffalo Bills, it could be receiver Julian Edleman. 

The four best Quarterbacks in the AFC East

Does Jeff Fisher Deserve Contract Extension?

A few weeks ago, the Front Office for the Los Angeles Rams offered fifth year Head Coach, Jeff Fisher, a three year contract extension and everyone thought he already signed it. However, to my dismay and a few people that I talked to, he actually signed it today and I am dumbfounded that the offer was still on the table. This especially after the horrible showing by the Rams where they lost to the 49ers on Monday Night Football 28-0. This was a game where the Rams not only scored zero points, but also crossed the 50 yard line twice only to have starting Quarterback Case Keenum throw an interception both times.

I am going to put it bluntly to anyone reading this, but it is something that I have been saying for weeks, the Rams could be the worst team in the NFL this season and I have a hard time seeing them win a single game. Now they do play the Seahawks twice this season, a team that they have taken three games out of four against, but this team is absolutely depleted. They lost their starting Defensive End, Chris Long to the New England Patriots, their starting Middle Linebacker, James Laurinaitis to the New Orleans Saints, they lost their best Cornerback, Janoris Jenkins to the New York Giants, and their best Safety, Rodney McLeod to the Philadelphia Eagles. So in all actuality, the best players on their team is Todd Gurley at Running Back, Michael Brockers at Defensive Tackle, and Alec Ogletree at Linebacker.

Here is the main reason why I feel that Jeff Fisher does not deserve that extension and the Rams were not smart to give it to him. Jeff Fisher is a great defensive coach. You can look back at how daunting his defenses have been and the number of great players that have come out of his system of play. But much like the late great Buddy Ryan, Jeff Fisher doesn't care about offense at all and will unintentionally constrict the play at Quarterback. The best Quarterback he ever had was Steve McNair, who not only went to a Super Bowl with the Tennessee Titans, but also won Most Valuable Player in 2003 with Co-MVP Peyton Manning. However, McNair's play declined because of the "ground and pound" play calling of running it on first and second and then passing it on third down, which would have worked twenty years ago, but didn't work in 2004 when the NFL became a passing league. That along with the fact that the league has overrated Fisher as a Head Coach as he only has five total playoff appearances in the last twenty years.

Not to mention, the drafting of Quarterback Jared Goff and sticking him at the number three Quarterback position and deactivating him on game days does not validate Fisher either. Their defense is not good enough nor does their offense have enough talent to give Case Keenum the nod at Quarterback. You could see a lot of griping by the fans if Goff does not start soon and I still wonder why the Rams organization did not pull the plug on this Jeff Fisher experiment. Hopefully for their sake there is a clause that says they don't have to give Fisher all of his money if they fire him, but as of right now, it looks like he will get all of his money and the Rams will be out of luck. As a final matter of speaking, if the Rams are last place in the NFL this season, they will not get the first pick, but rather it will be given to the Tennessee Titans, the team that got copious draft picks in exchange for the pick the Rams used on Jared Goff. 

Third String 1st Round Rookie Quarterbacks

When a team drafts a Quarterback with their first overall pick and especially when that Quarterback is selected within the top 5, then usually coaches and fans expect that Quarterback to start immediately. Instances where first overall picks that were Quarterbacks were drafted and started immediately was first overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Cam Newton, for the Carolina Panthers, first overall pick in the 1998 NFL Draft, Peyton Manning, for the Indianapolis Colts, and second overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, Robert Griffin III, for the Washington Redskins. All of these player came in, started for their specific teams in week one and were expected to make an impact. Now some of these first round rookie Quarterbacks have successful careers and some of them merely fizzle out.

In the 2016 NFL Draft, the top two picks were Jared Goff out of the University of California Berkley and Carson Wentz out of North Dakota State. These two players were picked by the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles by trading multiple picks in order to get into the first and second position, primed to draft their future Quarterbacks. What the Rams did was they swapped first rounders with the Tennessee Titans (the 15th overall pick for the 1st overall pick), then the Rams sent the Titans two 2nd rounders, one 3rd rounder, and their 1st and 2nd rounder from 2017 for a 4th and a 6th rounder from 2016. The Eagles also made some blockbuster trades to make it from pick number 13 to pick number 1. First they traded linebacker Kiko Alonso and cornerback Byron Maxwell and the 13th overall pick to the Dolphins for the 8th overall pick, then traded disgruntled running back Demarco Murray and their fourth round pick to the Titans for their 4th round pick (100th overall). Then they traded the 8th overall pick, a 3rd round pick, a 4th round pick, their 1st rounder in 2017, and their 2nd rounder in 2018 to the Browns for the 2nd overall pick and a 4th round pick in 2017.

Now originally, coach of the LA Rams, Jeff Fisher promised then Quarterback, Case Keenum, that he would be the starter before this trade ever went down as did Eagles Head Coach Doug Pederson promise Quarterback Sam Bradford. There was even a short hold out and trade demand by Sam Bradford after he found out that the trade took place because he feared his starting position on the team, however, this never happened with Case Keenum. And while Keenum has had a modicum of success in the NFL, he has been far from elite status or even the consideration of being good, while Bradford, despite being overpaid and overrated should always be penciled in as being a starter on teams that he is on until there is actually a Quarterback that has the skills to start about him.

Now a lot of speculation has gone into why both Carson Wentz and Jared Goff are being considered 3rd string Quarterbacks for their specific teams. Now Goff has played in every preseason game for the Rams, Wentz had a hairline fracture to his ribs in the first game against the Buccaneers that sidelined him for the whole preseason. According to many, Goff has played horribly and despite a shaky game where receivers dropped passes, Wentz played decently against Tampa. Now mind you, I am an Eagles fan so I am a bit biased, but it is saying a lot that Jared Goff cannot start above Case Keenum and even former 3rd round pick in 2015 Sean Mannion. Case Keenum, who is making 3.6 million dollars as a starting Quarterback and hasn't even put up that great of numbers would be considered a backup Quarterback on most teams and it is scary that Goff has not been able to beat The low paid Keenum out.

Carson Wentz on the other hand is currently not starting because A. Sam Bradford is currently the better Quarterback until injured or B. until Wentz proves that he is better, which he will only be able to do so if Bradfrod gets injured. Bradford is currently making 36 million over the span of 2 years with around 28 million guaranteed so there is no way that Wentz is starting over a player that is making that much money. And the backup, Chase Daniel is making around 4.5 million a year as a backup with Wentz signing a 4 year 26.5 million dollar contract. Now one could make the case that Wentz should be starting over Daniel and I think that would happen if Bradford were to get injured, but currently that is all up in the air.

I personally feel like Jared Goff was a huge reach by the LA Rams and I don't think that he will ever pan out. Not because he isn't a good person, but he isn't a good player in the Rams system. They don't have a particularly good offensive line and the only skill player of note is Todd Gurley at running back. As for Wentz, he has shown more promise with a better offensive line and better all around players around him, he seems like the better player picked. Now it is very early in the careers of these two guys and anything can happen, however, this rarely stops fans from trying to see the future and speculating the outcomes of their careers.