BobDigital
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2013
- Messages
- 16,350
- Reaction score
- 15,044
I had a bit of a lightning bolt hit me today. For a while I could not understand what BB was doing last year and the way he has coached this team with Brady at times. Recently something occurred to me and it all makes a lot more sense. While BB did at times build his team with Brady in mind, he just as often didn't. Only about half of Brady's time on the Patriots (maybe less) did they truly invest in putting guys around Brady. And now I think I know why. It wasn't so much that he saw what he had in Brady and let him carry the offense while investing heavily in defense. It is more to the point that BB simply doesn't build a team particularly with the QB in mind.
This is also why he has never invested a high draft pick into a QB or trading up into the top picks to get Brady an elite weapon. If one fell for value then fine. Otherwise he was happy to let the offense just do the best it could without investing high draft picks into it. None of this is exactly news, but it builds to the bigger picture I think many of us have missed. BB doesn't want to build his team around a QB. In fact he is stylistically and philosophically opposed to it I believe. Brady just happened to fall in his lap and was highly cost effective. It's a big reason why they went bargain basement hunting and signed the cheap Cam Newton at the end. He simply didn't care to invest in the the position unless he has a truly proven commodity. And even then he won't want to put too many pieces around him that will take away from other areas. It wasn't a calculated choice. I don't think he ever really believed or really cared if Brady was good enough to elevate often mediocre or below average talent to a high level. With a lesser QB he would have done the exact same thing.
I don't believe he has any intention to draft a QB in the first round at ANY point. It's a calculated decision. He knows it is long odds of getting a franchise QB and a good QB isn't typically good enough... He knows if you do get an elite QB they will often whine about weapons and either shoot their way out of town or not want to resign if you don't give them the support they want. As they should. Those guys aren't stupid an know their value. He also knows that even the typical elite QB (when built around) is usually only good for 1-2 rings. Particularly these days. Usually only on their rookie contracts.
He looks at all this and takes it all into account. He makes the calculated choice to punt on the entire position. Why sell all your picks and assets to buy a lottery ticket that has a poor chance of working out? Instead he elects to go hard in the other direction. His goal is to build the best defense and STs he can. Along the way he'll try to pick up a few decent offensive pieces, a serviceable QB and take a few measured gambles on talented players.
If I had to compare what BB is looking to do to anything... It would be something like what the Ravens have done for the past 20 years. And what he tried to do in Cleveland but didn't fully succeed at. Build an elite D and then try to figure the offense out. The only difference between what BB will do is he won't invest in or pay for a guy like Flacco long term. We have all been talking about the Pats getting or investing in a franchise QB all year, and I think we need to start to come to the realization that isn't going to happen. BB showed no urgency or willingness to do so last year when the need was clear and desperate. He won't this year either.
His plan is to become a 2nd Ravens team. He'll build a D that in consistently top 10 year in year out. Go cheap on the QB spot and wait for a guy who gets hot or over performs like Dilfer or Flacco did for team. Or the way Foles did for the Eagles. If you keep a good and disciplined defense together long enough eventually a QB will figure it out or get hot/lucky for a stretch and hopefully put you over the top. It is in some ways a more reliable system them trying to get a HOF level QB (of which maybe 1 is drafted every 3-4 years). And it also safe guards you from that one key piece shooting his way out of town like Wilson/Watson are trying to do. The down side is even if you are good on defense if you're staky at QB you'll have more ups and down. A franchise tends to give you more consistent year in year out results than a defense.
This is also why he has never invested a high draft pick into a QB or trading up into the top picks to get Brady an elite weapon. If one fell for value then fine. Otherwise he was happy to let the offense just do the best it could without investing high draft picks into it. None of this is exactly news, but it builds to the bigger picture I think many of us have missed. BB doesn't want to build his team around a QB. In fact he is stylistically and philosophically opposed to it I believe. Brady just happened to fall in his lap and was highly cost effective. It's a big reason why they went bargain basement hunting and signed the cheap Cam Newton at the end. He simply didn't care to invest in the the position unless he has a truly proven commodity. And even then he won't want to put too many pieces around him that will take away from other areas. It wasn't a calculated choice. I don't think he ever really believed or really cared if Brady was good enough to elevate often mediocre or below average talent to a high level. With a lesser QB he would have done the exact same thing.
I don't believe he has any intention to draft a QB in the first round at ANY point. It's a calculated decision. He knows it is long odds of getting a franchise QB and a good QB isn't typically good enough... He knows if you do get an elite QB they will often whine about weapons and either shoot their way out of town or not want to resign if you don't give them the support they want. As they should. Those guys aren't stupid an know their value. He also knows that even the typical elite QB (when built around) is usually only good for 1-2 rings. Particularly these days. Usually only on their rookie contracts.
He looks at all this and takes it all into account. He makes the calculated choice to punt on the entire position. Why sell all your picks and assets to buy a lottery ticket that has a poor chance of working out? Instead he elects to go hard in the other direction. His goal is to build the best defense and STs he can. Along the way he'll try to pick up a few decent offensive pieces, a serviceable QB and take a few measured gambles on talented players.
If I had to compare what BB is looking to do to anything... It would be something like what the Ravens have done for the past 20 years. And what he tried to do in Cleveland but didn't fully succeed at. Build an elite D and then try to figure the offense out. The only difference between what BB will do is he won't invest in or pay for a guy like Flacco long term. We have all been talking about the Pats getting or investing in a franchise QB all year, and I think we need to start to come to the realization that isn't going to happen. BB showed no urgency or willingness to do so last year when the need was clear and desperate. He won't this year either.
His plan is to become a 2nd Ravens team. He'll build a D that in consistently top 10 year in year out. Go cheap on the QB spot and wait for a guy who gets hot or over performs like Dilfer or Flacco did for team. Or the way Foles did for the Eagles. If you keep a good and disciplined defense together long enough eventually a QB will figure it out or get hot/lucky for a stretch and hopefully put you over the top. It is in some ways a more reliable system them trying to get a HOF level QB (of which maybe 1 is drafted every 3-4 years). And it also safe guards you from that one key piece shooting his way out of town like Wilson/Watson are trying to do. The down side is even if you are good on defense if you're staky at QB you'll have more ups and down. A franchise tends to give you more consistent year in year out results than a defense.
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