@AndyJohnson, you didn't introduce anything I didn't already know, but I'll concede my post wasn't as clear as it could have been. I just gave it a once over.
Let me try to explain.
Brady, like every other player had an assignment on the play. He isn’t back there looking around, “surveying the field”.
Pre snap he is reading what he thinks the coverage is. The play has “progressions” which will vary depending upon what the defense is doing. Progressions mean which target the play is designed to get the ball to (ie throw here unless there is a problem) then the secondary route which is often a complementary route off the first, etc etc.
The routes are designed to work in conjunction with each other. For example 2 routes may pressure the same safety and his choice of where to go may open the other. Some routes are simply designed to take coverage away from where you want to get the ball.
On this play post snap Brady has determined his progressions and it appears his pre snap read was right on. And I need to clarify something here. This wasn’t a “slow developing play” it was about a 12 yard out. If you put the clock to it I’d guess the ball is out at about 2 seconds.
Bradys first assignment, knowing gronk is the primary target is to look off gronk in order to influence the safety.
His first progression is gronk. That means the play is designed to go to gronk. He isn’t leaving that progression until he makes the decision to throw there or not. His second progression means after ruling out the first he knows where the second is (I think it’s white in this case) and looks there.
You suggested he “scan his progressions” while route 1 is being run and that both isnt reasonable and isn’t way it works. If he tried to scan through all 5 receivers and make throw/no throw decisions on each then choose his target based upon liking them all over, first he would get sacked 12 times a game and second he would never deliver the ball in time.
When the okay call takes x time and the protection doesn’t hold up x time there is nothing the qb can do except escape. At the moment Brady saw pressure he abandoned the gronk route and turned to throw to white.
His assignment on the play says white isn’t a factor until
A) Gronk is covered
B) The play breaks down before gronk is in the throwing area
There is no facet of the play that say while the primary receiver is in his way to the target area, check if there is someone to dump it off to sooner.
A QB is never going to abandon the primary 12 yard out that the play is designed for to throw to an underneath route 2 yards down the field.
If that were the case Brady would spend all day dumping off and never throwing the ball down the field.
