New England Patriots: Tom Brady named best quarterback over 30 years old
By Nick Ziegler
Pro Football Focus recently named the best player over the age of 30 at every position on offense. Did any New England Patriots make the list?
At the almost the age of 40, New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, is proving that age is just a number.
While most athletes begin to regress at this stage of their career, Brady is coming off of arguably the best season of his career. In 2016, Brady was able to win his fifth Super Bowl and another Super Bowl MVP award.
To start the season, Brady was suspended for the first four games. The Patriots survived without him, but he came back on a mission in Week 5. Brady showed no signs of rust in a great game against the Cleveland Browns when he returned from suspension. In 12 games, Brady suffered just one loss to the Seattle Seahawks and went on to set the NFL record for the best touchdown to interception ratio.
Recently, Zoltan Buday of Pro Football Focus made an offense of the best players over 30-years-old at each position. At quarterback, it was none other than Tom Brady.
"While Brady will turn 40 in August, he was still not only the best quarterback over 30, but the best signal-caller overall in 2016. Furthermore, Brady’s grade of 99.3 is the highest earned by a quarterback in the PFF era (since 2006). While players tend to decline at this stage of their careers, the New England quarterback has surprisingly been able to further improve in recent years, especially when it came to his performance under pressure and extending play. Brady had a passer rating of 84.9 under pressure in 2016, which ranked fifth in the league. In addition, he was sacked on just 10.6 percent of the plays when he was under pressure, which was the third-lowest rate among quarterbacks."
Even though Brady will be 40-years-old in 2017, he was arguably the best quarterback in the NFL last season. While Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan each had great seasons, Brady was extremely efficient in the 12 games he played in.
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Brady beat out Ryan and Rodgers for this accolade, as they are both also over 30-years-old. As Brady approaches 40-years-old, he will be seeking his sixth Super Bowl ring. His main competition might be father time.