Teddy Bridgewater told the media in his season wrap-up Zoom meeting on Monday that the Panthers are his team and even if they pick a quarterback in the draft that won’t change his mindset.
Coach Matt Rhule would not commit to naming Bridgewater the starter for next year, though. Here’s what Rhule said when he was asked about the QB situation going into the offseason, per David Newton at ESPN.
“We’ll see what happens moving forward. . . Teddy is here. I have a lot of respect for him. I believe in what he can do. I’ve seen glimpses, flashes of us as an offense looking really good. . . With regards to the draft and players, we’ll look at every opportunity to have the best we can have at every position, and that includes the quarterback position.”
In the same press conference, coach Rhule said he doesn’t feel that Bridgewater had been healthy since Week 10 against Tampa.
Matt Rhule says he feels that since Teddy Bridgewater got hurt in the 2nd half of the Tampa Bay game, he hasn't played his best football.
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) January 4, 2021
If Bridgewater was playing hurt, it would explain a lot. Remember, he sat out the next week against the Lions, which was a 20-0 shutout win and the only game P.J. Walker started this season.
Teddy returned to the lineup the next game to face his former team in the Vikings and didn’t look like himself. He posted a 50.1 QBR that day, which set the tone for the rest of the season. After that, the best he did was a 59.6 mark against the Packers. He bottomed out Week 17 against the Saints with a season-low 23.3 QBR on Sunday.
Healthy or not, the decision-making Bridgewater displayed over the last two months of the season was inexcusable. Some of his greatest hits included fumbling on a goal line reach, rushing a play before the two-minute warning, walking himself into sacks, no ball security, constantly throwing short of the sticks and too many picks in the end zone.
Those are the types of mistakes that starters can’t afford, especially if they’re not posting overwhelming passing numbers.
Heading into the season, we were expecting Bridgewater to throw somewhere between 25-30 touchdowns this year. Based on the receiving talent around him and the respectable pass protection he got most of the time, that should have been achievable.
Instead, too often Bridgewater stuck with his more passive instincts and his production suffered. Despite his offense boasting four players with over 1,000 scrimmage yards, Bridgewater finished the year with just 15 passing touchdowns and never had more than two in a game. He also led zero game-winning drives and turned the ball over a total of 17 times.
Add it all up and it’s difficult to justify starting Bridgewater in 2021 no matter how much they’re paying him.
It’s possible (even likely) Bridgewater’s performance will improve next year after having a regular offseason. That said, we’ve seen enough to know he isn’t going to be the QB1 for long. Expect Carolina to draft one early.
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