New England Patriots: Tom Brady ranked as one of the top deep passers

Throwing the football deep is one of the most exciting things to see. Recently, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots was ranked as a top deep passer.

In recent years, the New England Patriots have been famous for their deadly short passing attack. With quick wide receivers like Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, and Danny Amendola, the Patriots have been able to cause mismatches in coverage and use their quick wide receivers to make plays.

However, in 2017, the Patriots were without Edelman and we saw a bit of a change in their passing attack. With the addition of Brandin Cooks in the offseason, the Patriots added one of the top deep-threat wide receivers in the NFL.

In 2016, we saw Tom Brady throw the ball down the field to Chris Hogan a bit more and with Cooks, the Patriots figured to be looking to go deep a bit more. However, due to some injuries to the offensive line, getting the proper protection was an issue at times.

Recently, Bleacher Report ranked the top deep passers in the NFL. Brady came in 4^th on their list behind Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, and Aaron Rodgers.

While Brady was one of the top deep passers in the NFL last season, we might not see the Patriots throw it deep as much next season. This offseason, the Patriots traded Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams, which takes away one of their deep threats. Also, the return of Julian Edelman will likely result in Brady throw the short routes a bit more often to one of his favorite targets.

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Even though Brady might not throw the deep ball as much in 2018, he still does have Hogan, who is one of the most underrated deep threats in the league. When Hogan is healthy, he can make some big plays down the field, and the Patriots will still be using him to stretch the field. Also, having Rob Gronkowski on deep seam routes will help result in good things for Brady down the field.

Even though Brady is 40-years-old, he is still one of the elite deep passers in the league.  In 2018, we will have to see if he can do it once again.