Throwing Long
June 22nd, 2020
“Yes Tom, I know you can still go deep.”
It is a question that has persisted since the Bucs signed park-violating, home-invading quarterback Tom Brady. Can he fit in Bucco Bruce Arians’ no-risk-it-no-biscuit offense.
Eyeballing Brady late last season raised an eyebrow or two, and the question of whether Brady still had the arm. A former NFL general manager and consultant with the Belicheats, Michael Lombardi, seems to think Brady has lost his arm strength.
Writing for The Athletic, Lombardi said his biggest question for the Bucs is whether Brady still has magic in his right wing to throw deep the way Arians likes it.
Can Tom Brady make plays down the field?
The Bucs love to throw the ball down the field, and last year, Brady was 20-53 on throws over 20 yards. He had six touchdowns and two interceptions on those throws. But the real concern occurs when he has to throw the ball outside the numbers. Brady had a less than 60% completion rate when throwing the ball outside, right or left last year for the Patriots. Can he adapt to the Bruce Arians offense?
Of course, one reason why Brady had poor numbers throwing deep last year was he didn’t have the horses. And Bill Belicheat isn’t dumb enough to try to make chicken salad out of chicken s(p)it. He’s never going to ask a player to do what he cannot do.
So that is a big reason Brady’s numbers were down throwing deep. Those same concerns have not followed Brady to Tampa Bay; the Bucs are rich in receiving talent.
And despite the poor “football card” stats, official NextGen stats show Brady was one of the better quarterbacks throwing deep last season.
In Joe’s mind, the only question concerning Brady is whether teammates keep him on his two feet for the full season (and hopefully playoffs).
June 22nd, 2020 at 8:12 am
throwing deep is only ONE part of playing QB. the biggest thing Brady has going for him is from the neck up. he will do great in Tampa. the biggest concern to me is will there even be a season?
June 22nd, 2020 at 8:37 am
That caption is pure gold…
June 22nd, 2020 at 9:09 am
The long ball will not be of concern….until it is a concern!!! I CAN’T BREATHE!!!
June 22nd, 2020 at 9:10 am
Another over analysis.
June 22nd, 2020 at 9:31 am
Finally…..an article without Jameis or our running game……..things are looking up!!!
June 22nd, 2020 at 10:08 am
Jeff Garcia got more out of less than any NFL QB I can recall. He was a winner in his two years with the Bucs. He had a rubber band arm…I got so tired at yelling at the TV with a receiver behind the D having to stop and wait on a ball from Garcia to arrive.
Again…despite not being impressed with his arm strength…I was a fan of Garcia’s for all his other attributes.
TB12 obviously has a far stronger are than Garcia and while lack Garcia’s mobility he exceeds Garcia in every other area.
His deep ball will not be an issue.
Big Hog…Hear ya bro…and feel ya too…give us till November and then we’ll get you some oxygen.
June 22nd, 2020 at 10:17 am
probably one of the best picture captions ever on this website.
June 22nd, 2020 at 10:46 am
@spbf: Jeff Garcia was a pure warrior at QB. Few ever got more production from less talent than he did.
He is the classic case study proving smarts + mobility > great arm + dumb a$$.
June 22nd, 2020 at 2:05 pm
No one is above criticism, and everyone loves to speculate, but I’ll take TB12 over JW3 every day, every way. They personify the proverbial apples and oranges argument.
The Bucs instantly got better when JW3 left the building for the last time, and they got better again when TB12 signed his contract. Brady’s legendary chip has propelled him to legendary status, and frankly, we are fortunate that he chose our Bucs. Licht & Co. had done enough, it seems, and he rolled the dice. I’ll take him, warts and all.
There’s a lot that I don’t know about football, but I do know that our new guy is better than our last guy.
June 22nd, 2020 at 5:41 pm
Spot on about Garcia!
Dude was a warrior!
I’m not worried about Brady’s arm. Could get questionable if we make the post-season, but let’s just worry about the regular season even happening first.
June 22nd, 2020 at 8:09 pm
With someone like Godwin, you don’t have to go deep. You will have to go deep a couple of times a game to keep opposing defenses honest.
The really good thing is that long balls will no longer get thrown to contested spots.
Brady knows how to pick battles his guys can win.
June 23rd, 2020 at 2:53 am
BA strategy is killing D with chunk plays.
Will be interesting to see if Brady can go long (40+ air yards) when needed. Saw one of his long passes on ESPN in 2019 and was an ugly floater that was INT. Not sure he has the arm for play beyond 30 yrds from deep behind line of scrimmage, and may not matter. Remains to be seen….but fans should not count on deep passes from Brady….