If Brady Appeal Fails, Patriots Won't Miss a Beat With Garappolo
 If Tom Brady's suspension is upheld, the Patriots offense with Jimmy Garappolo will look the same with the same philosophy. He'll require little tailoring of the play calls to be successful. (USA TODAY Images) |
Much of the talk around New England centers on the appeal of the four-game suspension for QB Tom Brady. However they face the chance that the process won’t include the vacating of the suspension and must look to 2nd year QB Jimmy Garappolo.
If Brady’s appeal results in only a reduced suspension, or worse no reduction at all, Garappolo will be looked to lead the team for up to a quarter of the 2015 NFL season. While this may make many fans nervous, the team will continue to function normally and there’ll be no worry coming out of 1 Patriots Place.
These aren’t exactly uncharted waters; when Brady was injured in the first quarter of the 2008 opener, they turned to Matt Cassel, now with the Bills and the Patriots went 11-5. This was after Cassel struggled in pre-season and was looked at as a possible cut at the end of training camp. But Belichick showed faith in Cassel and they played to his strengths and the team missed the playoffs due to a tie-breaker.
When Garoppolo was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2014 NFL Draft, many criticized Bill Belichick for “wasting” the pick. Now the selection of Garappolo may seem like another master stroke by Belichick of looking forward.
Coming out of Eastern Illinois last season, Garappolo boosted his draft stock with a good performance at the Senior Bowl and the Patriots pounced on him in the 2nd round, taking him with the 62nd overall pick.
Not Much Tape To Evaluate: Garappolo didn’t see the field much as a rookie in 2014, throwing only 27 passes but completed 19 for 70.4 percent, good for 182 yards and one touchdown for a 101.2 quarterback rating.
We watched Garappolo closely in training camp and for the most part we saw what one would expect from a rookie signal caller. Garappolo’s camp had some good, some bad as he tried to ingest all of the Patriots playbook.
A couple of things that stood out were his good footwork and a lightning fast release. Once he made a decision, he got the ball out very quickly and was able to see the field well enough to dump it off to his secondary receiver if the primary was covered.
His accuracy was very good for the most part and his athletic makeup, the ability to move around the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield and make a play was excellent.
The question this season will be not whether Garappolo can handle the spotlight, because with Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell, Danny Amendola at wide receiver and Rob Gronkowski and Scott Chandler at tight end, he’ll have plenty of good options to throw the football to. In limited looks as a rookie, Garappolo showed he can run the offense.
The real question will be how many snaps will Garappolo get in training camp? Brady has always been a notorious hard worker who wants to take every meaningful snap. But with him approaching age 38 regardless of his suspension, the Patriots would be looking to reduce his workload in camp to keep him fresh for a late season push.
Belichick will have find a delicate balance of getting both quarterbacks enough work with the first team offense to get both ready to start the season. Brady won’t be thrilled with losing snaps but if his suspension holds or is just reduced; Belichick won’t hesitate to do what’s best for the team.
How Much Would the Offense Change With Jimmy G?: Not very much, Garappolo showed in his limited snaps last season that he can handle the Patriots playbook just fine. He worked the middle of the field, using timing routes and led the receivers so that they were able to catch the ball on the run.
Look for Josh McDaniels to create a game plan around Jimmy G’s strengths but the offense won’t look very different. Expect a lot of “12” personnel looks (1RB, 2WRs, 2TEs), which will allow the Patriots to run or make those quick throws, (slants, bubble screens) that will keep the Patriots out of long-yardage situations.
Play-action passes to tight ends Gronkowski and Chandler should be a staple of the offense regardless of who is under center. If teams bring pressure, look for McDaniels to call for a controlled roll out and take advantage of Garappolo’s athleticism.
The play book may get pared down a bit to simplify things at least initially, but the offense won’t look very different with Garappolo under center.
Looking Ahead to Pittsburgh:The Steelers are going thru major changes on defense; with long-time defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau gone, many of the zone blitz schemes he was so known for may be gone as well.
The Steelers are looking to re-tool a defense that was a far cry from the Steel Curtain defenses of fame. Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, Jason Worilds are gone and with the team releasing Brett Keisel back on March 9, the defense will look vastly different, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for a unit ranked 30th last season according to Football Outsiders.
The Steelers did get a nice edge rusher in Bud Dupree from Kentucky in the draft. Dupree will fit very nicely as an outside edge rusher and will upgrade the Pittsburgh pass rush.
With two new cornerbacks in the draft, the secondary may go thru some growing pains but they selected two ball hawks in May. Senequez Golson (2nd Rd, 56th overall), is an undersized (5’9,176), but very aggressive corner who will be tested early in the NFL with bigger receivers. Doran Grant (4th Rd, 121st overall) from Ohio State is another talented corner. Both combined for 15 turnovers in 2014. With an improved pass rush, Pittsburgh will get these two rookies baptized quickly. This is a matchup that would favor the Patriots if Brady is on the field going against a pair of rookie corners. It will be interesting to see how they fare against Garappolo on Opening Night.
So if Brady’s suspension holds up, don’t expect much gloom and doom to come out of Foxboro. Many pundits are saying the Patriots should hope for a .500 start, as the team is a normally a notoriously slow starter anyway and with Brady possibly out, could be a best case scenario.
Some are even calling for a possible 1-3 start against a tough slate of Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Dallas the first four games. While entirely possible, don’t sell Garappolo short. The team drafted him in the 2nd round for a reason. While no one foresaw him possibly having to start this soon, he’ll be ready. Bill Belichick has always done a great job of putting players in a position to succeed. He’ll do the same with Jimmy G. ….if he has to.
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