It’s been quite some time since the Patriots had any concerns about their quarterback situation.
Tom Brady’s 20-season run in New England was nothing short of remarkable. The future Hall of Fame signal-caller helped guide the Patriots to 17 AFC East titles, nine conference championships and six Super Bowl triumphs. Even before Brady, New England received solid QB play from Drew Bledsoe, the No. 1 overall pick in 1993 who was named to three Pro Bowls during his time in Foxboro and also led the team to a Super Bowl XXXI appearance.
Given Brady’s unprecedented tenure in New England, coupled with Bledsoe’s and Steve Grogan’s contributions to the franchise, the Patriots owning the top spot on ESPN’s power ranking of quarterback play in the Super Bowl era isn’t terribly surprising.
“Is one quarterback enough for a franchise to top these rankings? Not exactly,” Doug Clawson wrote for ESPN.com “Thanks to Brady’s combination of longevity (20 seasons) and production (second all time in passing yards and touchdowns), he’s essentially two Hall-of-Fame quarterbacks in one. Brady added nearly as much Approximate Value (280) in his New England career as Joe Montana and Steve Young combined for with the 49ers (304). The Patriots also got significant production from Drew Bledsoe and Steve Grogan to help them top the list.”
Patriots fans surely are hoping Jarrett Stidham can continue this trend in the upcoming season when he’ll likely replace Brady as New England’s starting signal-caller.
