Patriots: What sort of offense will Garoppolo run?
In an ideal scenario, Tom Brady would be starting all 16 games plus any playoff contests for the New England Patriots in 2016. Unfortunately, the Deflation drama reached a conclusion last month and the face of the franchise is facing a month on the sidelines for essentially playing in a cold climate. While fans can continue to feel hard done by, no amount of complaining will change the fact that Jimmy Garoppolo will be the starting quarterback come September 10.
For Josh McDaniels and the offensive coaching staff, the question for them becomes how much do you alter the system to cater to Garoppolo’s strengths? Completely overhauling the offense for four games seems fairly counter-intuitive but they will have a quarterback with a somewhat different skill set directing traffic.
In his two seasons as the backup, the bulk of his work has come in the preseason with the occasional cameo appearance in a blowout or week 17 game. It is fair to say that he is not quite at Brady’s level but he can do certain things differently. From the limited time he has been on the field, we have seen a quarterback who has decent if not comprehensive control over the offense. You can expect him to get to the line and make all the necessary calls but he may not be able to make all of the adjustments Brady does.
In terms of arm strength, he has shown good short to intermediate accuracy and his arm may be a little bit stronger than Brady’s, even if he does not throw as tight of a spiral. One area he might be an upgrade is in the deep ball, something Brady has never excelled at throughout his career. As a 24-year-old, with no history of major injuries, you would also expect him to be just a bit faster than Brady, which may be something that the team looks to utilize.
So with that very brief and in no way comprehensive scouting report on what Garoppolo brings to the table, what sort of system changes will take place? The general principles will likely remain the same, since there is no real point using a completely different system for one month before reverting to the one that suits Brady. With a number of new players potentially in line for a start, they will have enough issues adapting to the playbook, something that has caught out some of the better acquisitions in the past.
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First and foremost, there will be a lot of short passes to keep the chains moving which means that there will be a lot of pre-snap reads to be made. These reads may be slightly simplified with a few less sight adjustments on the fly which means that there will be a higher emphasis on diagnosing the defense and working out who is the best option. With a slightly better deep ball, there may be a few more downfield passes called if a down field option makes the final roster. If he is under pressure it would not be surprising to see him use Rob Gronkowski as a safety net if nothing else is open. While those sorts of throws may put Bill Belichick one step closer to a heart attack, Gronkowski will usually stand a pretty good chance of coming down with the ball if covered one on one.
One area Patriots fans are not used to is having a quarterback with scrambling ability. They received a taste of it with Matt Cassell filling in during the 2008 season but generally speaking, they are used to a pocket passer than can slide around the pressure rather than elude it with athleticism. It will be interesting to see how McDaniels calls the plays and how much they use his mobility. They will not be taking any pages out of the 2001-2005 Atlanta Falcons playbook with Michael Vick, but it would not be surprising to have some movement built in to the calls. Perhaps the best way to take advantage of this is to call some bootlegs out to one side where there will be a deep passing option, a short check down and if neither of them are available he will have a green light to run it. The only concern here is exposing Garoppolo to too many extra hits when out running.
Overall the Patriots offense should look fairly familiar with a few slight tweaks to it when Jimmy Garoppolo is under center for the first four games. The pre snap reads will be slightly simplified but the throws will still be largely the same as he will get the ball to the receivers and tight ends to let them make a play. With some extra mobility on offer it would not be surprising to see him making a few throws on the move and scrambling a bit more but there will be strict instructions to slide before a defender has the chance to take him out. It is not as though the Patriots will be trotting out a subpar quarterback while Brady is suspended but they will have an unproven player so it will be interesting and a bit fun seeing how he is used.