Alright!  Let's get things started off with the most important position in football. First up, Quarterback.

Quarterback


Tom Brady- What else needs to be said? We're talking about TFB!  For the sake of the blog though, I will say a few things.  Tom, we missed you last year and, in your first season back from a year long injury, you actually played pretty damn well.  I didn't miss a game this year, my wife and I were forced to ride the highs and lows of your excellent comeback effort.  Extremely rusty out of the gate, you really turned it up mid-season just to slow down again at the end.  A lot of things contributed to those high's and low's.  Let's discuss them.

  Brady is still the best QB in the league, no one can convince me otherwise.  Two of the top three pass defenses this yr. (lucky for us) happened to be in our div.  The NY Jets ranked #1 in pass defense, closely followed by the Buffalo Bills at #2.  Considering those two teams alone represent four games on our schedule, its a testament to Brady's MAD skill that he was able to have one of his best statistical seasons (4,398 yds. 65.7 completion percentage, 28 TD's, 13 INT's).  Coming in at #3 was the Denver Broncos.  Yup, we played them too.  Five games against the top 3 pass defenses in the league.  Here is the complete list if you would like to take a look for yourself. NFL Stats

  Taking all of that into consideration, throw in Brady's obvious challenge catching back up to the mental and physical aspect of the pro game, having a banged up Wes Welker not active the first to games of the yr. then having Mr. Welker out for the playoffs, and you can pretty much see what contributed to the actual problems Brady had out there.

  The once grid iron clutch god seemed to have lost his mojo.  At moments when we would expect Brady to lead the team down the field to win us the game in dramatic fashion , he would instead fail to convert on downs or just throw a pick.  The moments were there, but not enough to carry this team farther into the playoffs and, can you really blame the guy?  The offensive play calling was vanilla, aside from Moss and Welker, Brady had no legitimate receiver to toss the ball to.  Why did we let Gaffney walk again? The running game was statistically solid, but if you watched the games, you know damn well it never scared anyone.

  Brady's in a contract yr. and barring any CBA complications, next yr. he will be a FA.  No way in hell this team lets the man walk, but when will he be extended?  That's a very important story line to watch this offseason.  Many key guys need to be extended, and none of it can realistically be done until the Kraft's know how much they are forking over to Brady.  As we saw this yr. Brady still has many good yrs. left in him but, do we draft a QB this yr. and start grooming him, or wait until a later time and date?   Hoyer proved to not be terrible, which in my opinion proved to be a very positive sign, and who knows?  Maybe the kid develops into something more than a back up over the yrs.  That would be the best case scenario of course.  Where does Standback fit into all of this? He doesn't. He's a luxury player in the mold of a Wildcat type of guy.  Let's hope the only time we continue to see this man behind center is in serious garbage time and involved with some sorta trickery.

Options at QB to consider for the 2010 NFL Draft:


Tim Tebow, Florida-Projected  rd. 1-2 2010 NFL Draft QB scouting reports.
  My Take:  Yes. I went there.  Look, you either love Tim Tebow or you hate him.  I don't care either way, because this is my blog and I love the guy :)  Would I take him in the first rd.?  If it was after pick 20, I wouldn't even hesitate to pull that trigger.  Tebow is a very raw QB prospect, but put him behind Brady for 3-4 yrs. let him learn the ropes of the pro game, and the guy would be a star.  He has incredible intangibles, and the guy is a playmaker, always coming up big in the biggest games.  If it doesn't work out with him at QB, then put him behind Brady and watch him bring a power running game back to New England.

Bill Stull, Pittsburgh-Projected rd. 3-4 
  My Take: Stull has good size, plays smart in a pro-style offense under former NFL Coach Dave Wannstedt.  Stull gave Pitt it's first Ten win season this past yr. since 1981 and led Pitt to rank at #15 in the AP poll.  He had a solid completion percentage this past yr. (67.3) and has experience playing in cold weather.

  There really isn't much in the way of QB's in the draft this yr. for this team to even consider spending a draft pick on.  Do you guys have someone you think I should take a look at? Mention the player and provide a link in the comments section and I'll take a look.

  Next up: Running Backs