The case for Jacoby Brissett

[rogerthat]

I have 0 interest in Brissett and less than 0 interest in Mariota.
If we can't get Jimmy G, I would take a crack at Nick Foles or Jameis Winston. As to Winston, there is talent there so there is something to work with.

 

[stinkypete]

Brisset is my #1 target in free agency.

There is no affordable player on the market who can lead this team to more than a 10 win season in 2021. Spending big money on one of the remaining options will only kill our cap and mire us in mediocrity.

Signing Brisset assures we have a competent passer who knows the system at a low cost. This at least allows us the cap and pick flexibility to build a contender around the QB position. Then, we wait for either the right guy in a future draft, or take advantage of a vet capable who needs a change of scenery. This is the path that both Super Bowl participants took, by the way.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

I don't think so. There's a prospect that they've been developing for a couple years named Jacob Eason that I think may have the eye of the Colts' brass. And if they do choose to go with a veteran I have a hunch they don't want to go back to Brissett's more grinding offensive style. Irsay seems to have an aversion to that style of football, afraid fans find it unattractive. (on the other hand, Belichick one defined himself by it and the Patriots are past masters of it)

Grinding offensive style means what, exactly? It seems like a strange way to acknowledge Brissett is a very limited quarterback while not simply cutting your losses and moving on.

In largely the same system, same offensive line, coaches, skill players:
Brissett - 60% completion pct, 6.6 yards per attempt, 84 passer rating
Rivers - 68% completion pct, 7.7 yards per attempt, 97 passer rating

What you're seeing in those numbers is a very clear, unambiguous distinction between a solid NFL starter's production and a solid NFL backup's production. It couldn't be any clearer.

I'm quite sure that all of the coaches, owners, GMs involved here would prefer to win games, which requires an offense that scores as many points as it can while being efficient. Are you really suggesting that Irsay doesn't want to play Brissett because he doesn't like the style rather than the results? I'm pretty sure every owner and coach in the NFL would gladly trot out Vince Wilfork at quarterback if it gave them the best chance to win.

The Patriots do not have an offense suited to Brissett either, which is why they traded him, but it goes well beyond style and scheme; Brissett just doesn't have the right stuff to be a solid NFL starter. It happens. Many quarterbacks don't have it. He's a solid backup.

The only reason the Patriots might in any way be associated with a grinding style of offense is because they've mainly stayed away from highly paid big-play wide receivers and because they have a gritty, lunch pail image. Beyond that, there's really nothing about the Patriots offense that makes Brisset more compatible there. Again, if he really fit in well, they wouldn't trade him for a 3/4 wide receiver in 2017; and if they thought he could develop into that solid backup, they wouldn't trade him for a 3/4 wide receiver in 2017. They spent a 3rd round pick on him in 2016, saw him in a couple of real games, saw him for an entire season, and dumped him for a player that many thought would cut cut anyway, leading many to suspect (including beat writers in 2017) that Brisset was also going to be cut if he weren't traded.

How much clearer could it be?

 

[Simpelton]

Grinding offensive style means what, exactly?

A style focused on the run and the short pass, rather than on big gain plays. I would have thought that anyone who had a basic idea of football would grasp that. A high flying offense favors quick possessions and a lot of the. A grinding style favors fewer drives that consume more time, with the idea that the defense is counted on to limit opposing possession and that if the defense does its job, those fewer drives will be enough to win. The offense thus supports the defense by limiting the number of opposing possessions through burning clock on offense. In other words instead of being the offense the QB is just another part of a machine designed to control the time of possession and limit the opponent's opportunities to take the game away. It's a style Brissett showed some effectiveness in playing out before his injury, including wins over playoff teams TEN and KC

In other words, a style that removes the requirement that a QB take over the offense and uses the QB instead as the leader of the offense, using his arm to set up the run but not counting on him to take big bites out of the middle of the field.

As for Rivers --- you conveniently forgot a very important number in your analysis -- turnover differential. That's what kept Rivers from greatness, was his tendency to sprinkle the occasional boneheaded pick into his offensive game because he was a big game passer type. He threw away more than a few games that way.

You can deal with a QB in a reduced role if you're willing to grind and be strategic, but not if that QB turns over the football every other thing. Despite his lower offensive production Brissett manages a roughly 3-1 touchdown to pick rate, which considering he's not a TD machine, means he's very stingy about turning the ball over, which allows the rest of the offense to be productive in their drives and doesn't sabotage the defense the way a high flying offense can.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

A style focused on the run and the short pass, rather than on big gain plays. I would have thought that anyone who had a basic idea of football would grasp that.

Short, low risk, low reward passes at near a league low completion percentage of ~60%. I can’t believe the Colts and Patriots aren’t all-in on this.

Good stuff...keep up the good work, man. How’s that fullback conversion project of Winovich going? Same as always...you bring up an idea that’s far fetched, claim to be “just throwing it out there,” and then arrogantly double down on it with insults and increasingly absurd takes.

 

[captain stone]

He's a UFA, so he'd cost a comp pick, yes?

Depends on how many FAs the Colts lose.

And on how many big-ticket UFAs we sign.

 

[captain stone]

I have 0 interest in Brissett and less than 0 interest in Mariota.
If we can't get Jimmy G, I would take a crack at Nick Foles or Jameis Winston. As to Winston, there is talent there so there is something to work with.

If there is a value less than Less Than Zero, then that's how little I want Jaboo Winston.

 

[VrabelJr]

This is our best option if we want to make the playoffs next year. We can use our first on BPA or flip it for extra 2nd rounders so we have more darts.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I am an unabashed fan of Jacoby, so I am not neutral. I realize his ceiling isn't super high, but I think he has learned a great deal and will be a good bridge

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Is he a better bridge than stidham?

 

[Froob]

Is he a better bridge than stidham?

Without a doubt

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Besides being an affordable bridge QB until we secure a true Franchise QB, Jacoby brings character & leadership to a young rebuilding team. Were the Pats to lose their culture the rebuild would be still born. We've lost character leaders and are about to lose more through age, etc. Bisquick fills the gap with competence. He's not the upside guy we are searching for in our franchise quest but a guy who'll hold the fort.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Besides being an affordable bridge QB until we secure a true Franchise QB, Jacoby brings character & leadership to a young rebuilding team. Were the Pats to lose their culture the rebuild would be still born. We've lost character leaders and are about to lose more through age, etc. Bisquick fills the gap with competence. He's not the upside guy we are searching for in our franchise quest but a guy who'll hold the fort.

If he were that guy - a reliable but unspectacular player and a good leader - then would the Patriots really have traded him after one season after spending a third-round pick on him? The QB position is so important; you don't trade a good backup or fringe stater who fits in well with your team for Philip Dorsett, who the Colts were considering cutting anyway.

It was an exchange of two players who probably weren't making the final 53.

The Patriots were clearly thinking about trading Garoppolo at the time, which would have given them more reason to keep Brisset as the third QB.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Desperation trade by BB for a badly needed missing piece WR knowing that he can't draft one.
It's happened more than once.

 

[borg]

I am an unabashed fan of Jacoby

Are you a big Dwyer High School fan?

 

[Zuma]

Not a fan of bridge players at any position. Why waste the players time...the teams time knowing it's not going to work out. So what...were going to tank to get a top QB in the draft down the road. What kind of message does that send to the team. If your not going to tank then why burn multiple years with a QB that's not going to get you to the super bowl? What is going to change between now and then? Where is this unicorn player going to come from after the bridge player? I'd prefer to get players now that have the potential to help bring the team another super bowl even if said player is a project that may take a few years.

*Jimmy Garoppolo
*Marcus Mariota
*Carson Wentz
*Mitchell Trubisky
-Gardner Minshew
-Sam Darnold
-Drew Lock
-Kyle Allen
-Mason Rudolph

* designates potential QB1 in 2021
- acquire only if QB is drafted 1st round 2021

The time it takes to get a unicorn player after the bridge player is the same amount of time for a project player to become valuable and potentially help the team to the super bowl.

 

[Simpelton]

One thing a lot of people are ignoring is that nobody is guaranteeing that any of the current options can get this team deep into the playoffs. So the (unsubstantiated) idea that Brissett can't get us there is so much irrelevant fluff.

If you aspire to ongoing 9-7 records and hopes for that last wild card spot this is a great option.

I think we're looking at a couple years going forward which are going to make 9-7 feel pretty good, especially if we try to plug in a mercenary QB who isn't familiar with our system

 

[Simpelton]

If he were that guy - a reliable but unspectacular player and a good leader - then would the Patriots really have traded him after one season after spending a third-round pick on him?

A QB they couldn't play yet and would be a UFA by the time they could? The answer is yes. And Brissett benefitted by picking up 2 years of starting experience he wouldn't have otherwise had.

I doubt that any of the Patriots, Colts, or Brissett himself are in any way bitter about the way the trade happened. It gave the Colts a desperately needed quality backup QB, we got a WR who didn't do a ton overall, but scored 2 key playoff touchdowns in the runup to Sb53, and Brissett himself is not just a more experienced assett, but he's locked himself in as a career NFLer, which wasn't necessarily the case when we traded him