Ice, you may not be anointing Garrapolo as the successor but many I have responded to certainly are. And unlike most positions on the team the element of performance under duress and in the most critical and pressure packed situations comes heavily into play as QB for the Patriots. It isn't a factor if it's the Jets, Bills, Dolphins, Bengals, Browns, Jaguars....you get the idea, but it's a huge factor if you are going to QB the Patriots, and even Belichick, as brilliant as he is has absolutely no idea how Garrapolo will respond with the season on the line. Brady, on the other hand, is quite simply the greatest clutch player to ever play the game, and with the team they have assembled could very well end up winning them another 2-4 Lombardi trophies, depending upon how long he decides to play.
I disagree with a large number of fans here in assessing how much longer Brady can play like this. Looking at his game it is based almost exclusively upon reading defense's, which he continues to get better at, and his accuracy, which like the rest of his game appears to be improving. And as far as his body goes he has done something no other QB has ever thought to do, which is to train and treat his body, through nutrition, hydration, sleep, yoga, and other efforts to be able to play well into his forties. Where others see a guy who is going to "fall off a cliff" I see a guy who is fully prepared in every way to continue at the top of his game into his mid forties. Christ Brett Favre made it to forty plus on the John Daly Fitness plan of suitcases of Bud and Vicodin, so I certainly think Brady can go an extra five seasons having trained for a decade to do just that. None of the quarterbacks before him ever thought to train to play to 45 but Brady decided to do just that, so now we get to see if he can pull it off, and I for one am a big believer in everything he is doing. They have a great young team around him, the best coaching staff in football to support him, and as long as his receivers are getting open there is no reason to think he won't be able to hit them.
I get why people are high on Garrapolo, he's a hard worker, he's a good guy, and he played well when given the chance. The downside is that he only lasted 6 quarters when they needed him to play 16, and he may not be able to hold up physically to the pounding of the NFL. Additionally he has no tape on him so coordinators haven't been able to scheme against his strengths and weaknesses, and we all saw what happened to RGIII, Kaepernick, and Foles after defensive coordinators got a season of tape on them, great QB's have to be able to see those changes and adapt constantly to them, and that is an unknown with Garrapolo. Likewise we have never seen Garrapolo up against great teams or playing from behind and don't know how he would fare against them or in those circumstances. And the last point echoes what I said earlier, Jimmy G has never been in a pressure situation, such as having the season hanging on the next play, so we have no idea if he would deliver or crumble. On the other hand Tom Brady has been through all of these situations many many times and has passed with flying colors. So the bottom line for me is that it makes no sense to move on from greatness when you have a great team that can win multiple championships with their GOAT QB, just to see if the back up might be able to have some success. It's too bad Garrapolo can't stay long enough to answer some of these questions but it's very clear from his play and his conditioning that Brady isn't close to the end yet, despite the evermoving Kellerman Cliff.
I honestly believe that given this team Brady is going to win at least two more Lombardi's, just as he did after many Patriot fans called for his head in 2014. I think he can play at least four more seasons at his current level, and have honestly not seen anything from him that suggests otherwise, and I see the rush to conduct the Jimmy Garrapolo Experiment as Ill informed and foolhardy. To me getting rid of the greatest while he is still the greatest makes absolutely no sense at all.
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