After Jimmy Garoppolo led the New England Patriots to a win over the Arizona Cardinals, pundits began to speculate that Tom Brady was a system quarterback. If Garoppolo was able to lead the Patriots to a win over a Cardinals defense featuring Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu in his first start, maybe Brady isn’t all that great. Maybe Brady is just a cog in a much bigger machine. Frankly, that’s ridiculous.
The System Quarterback Argument
What System?
If Tom Brady is a system quarterback, what is the system? Is it the run-first attack that Brady ran early in his career? What about the spread from 2007? The Patriots ran a two tight end offense with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez in 2011, and that was a completely different scheme than what they’d used before. Back in 2013, Brady opted to compensate for a lack of receivers by returning to a run-first offense. The Patriots offensive scheme is constantly evolving, so how could Brady possibly be a system quarterback?
Tom Brady and Matt Cassel
Historically, this isn’t the first time the success of a backup has made people question Brady’s ability. During the first game of the 2008 season against the Kansas City Chiefs, Brady was sacked by Chiefs safety, Bernard Pollard, and he tore his ACL. Brady would miss the entire season, but Matt Cassel would achieve a modicum of success in his stead.
The Patriots would go 11-5 with Cassel and barely miss the playoffs. Cassel’s performance was good enough to impress the Chiefs, as they signed him to a six year, 63 million dollar contract. Unfortunately, Cassel didn’t pan out for Kansas City, who only threw 59 touchdowns in four seasons with the team.
If Cassel could be successful with the Patriots, but not with the Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, or Dallas Cowboys, what did that say about Tom Brady? Perhaps Tom Terrific wasn’t so fantastic, but was only a product of his offensive scheme.
Frankly, that’s ridiculous. Yes, the Patriots did win 11 games with Matt Cassel at quarterback, but that’s where the comparison ends. The year before Brady’s injury, the Patriots went 16-0 and Tom Brady threw for 4,800 yards and 50 touchdowns. In 2008, Cassel only threw for 3,693 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Brady threw for over 1,000 yards and 29 more touchdowns more than Cassel did and the Patriots won seven fewer games. Matt Cassel wasn’t terrible as the starting quarterback of the Patriots, but his production was nothing like Brady’s. Insinuating that Tom Brady relies on his system to be successful just because Cassel wasn’t awful on a team loaded with players like Randy Moss and Wes Welker is insane.
Aaron Rodgers and Matt Flynn
Curiously enough, nobody calls Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers a system player. This is curious because if anyone in the NFL has an elite receiving corps, it’s Aaron Rodgers. While most NFL quarterbacks would be thrilled to have one talented wide receiver, but Rodgers has Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Davante Adams, and Jeff Janis. But nobody ever says that Aaron Rodgers is only good because of his offensive system.
Just like Tom Brady had Matt Cassel and Jimmy Garoppolo, Aaron Rodgers had Matt Flynn. When Aaron Rodgers was too hurt to play against the Patriots back in 2010, Flynn stepped in and performed admirably. In his first start, Flynn threw for 254 yards and three touchdowns, barely losing to New England.
The next season, Aaron Rodgers decided to sit out the season finale, so Flynn got to start again. How did he respond? He threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns in one game. With performances like these, Flynn was destined for success.
Or at least he was supposed to be. Flynn would sign a big contract with the Seattle Seahawks before he was beat out by some rookie named Russell Wilson. Eventually he was traded to the Oakland Raiders, a team desperate for a franchise quarterback. However, he would lose the job to Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin on separate occasions.
The Raiders released Matt Flynn, and then something strange happened. After a stint with the Buffalo Bills where he never saw playing time, Flynn returned to the Green Bay Packers to fill in for an injured Aaron Rodgers. Flynn would see extensive playing time with the Packers, throwing for 928 yards, six touchdowns, and four interceptions in four starts. That’s an average of 232 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception a game. That same season, Rodgers was averaging 282 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception per games.
After leaving Green Bay, Flynn would sign with the Patriots, New York Jets, and New Orleans Saints, but he wouldn’t see playing time.
The NFL
The reality is that every player in the NFL is a system player. Each coach has a scheme in mind for his team, and he drafts and signs players accordingly. When Peyton Manning had the greatest passing season in NFL history back in 2013, wasn’t that part of a scheme? He ran a spread offense with several talented receivers, doesn’t that make Peyton Manning a system quarterback?
