The arrival of quarterback Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signifies that the team is in “win now” mode. Couple that with the re-signing of both Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul, as well as the tagging of Shaq Barrett, and the Bucs have gone from fringe playoff team to Super Bowl contender in 2020.
But while Brady brings 20 years of championship experience with him, he also brings 20 years of wear and tear on his body (no matter how great the TB12 method might be). The biggest concern regarding Brady joining the Buccaneers is whether or not he can consistently throw the deep ball, something most people believe is a staple of Bruce Arians’ offense.
Arians, himself, spoke Wednesday about his new quarterback and the perception that he can’t air it out anymore. “I thought his deep ball was outstanding last year,” Arians said of Brady, per ESPN. “Through [the Patriots’] play-action game, they hit a lot of deep balls.”
Arians quoted offensive consultant Tom Moore when talking about quarterbacks taking the checkdown. Moore’s saying is, “You don’t go broke putting money in the bank. Take the damn checkdown.”
But Arians also wants Brady to have the freedom to operate in the offense.
Per Arians:
“I think the freedom of looking downfield on certain routes and in certain situations, when the matchup’s perfect — take it, don’t be afraid to take it — some quarterbacks are afraid to take it. I’m not looking for a ‘checkdown Charlie’ quarterback.”
As ESPN’s Jenna Laine pointed out, Brady had a 43% completion rate in 2019 on passes of 20 or more air yards while the league average was 38%.
I’d say Brady and the Bucs are in good shape.
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