What exactly are the Panthers getting with Teddy Bridgewater? He went 5-0 as a starter last year, but with modest numbers.
Bridgewater doesn’t have a cannon arm. He’s looking to connect on the shorter, safer throws underneath. He’s an Alex Smith type, only with less mobility. Don’t beat yourself, as they say.
Bridgewater passed for fewer than 200 yards in two of his starts, and the Saints easily could have lost both of them. They got a pair of touchdowns on returns at Seattle, and their defense allowed only 10 points in a 2-point win over Dallas.
Bridgewater also played a modest role in a 13-6 win at Jacksonville. His big game came against the Bucs, with 314 yards and 4 TDs, but that defense gave up a lot of passing production last year.
Count Bruce Arians among the Bridgewater believers. I heard him say in an interview yesterday he extensively studied eight quarterbacks in the offseason and concluded that only two of the eight would be an upgrade over Jameis Winston – Tom Brady and Bridgewater. Presumably, Arians is saying he thinks Bridgewater is better than Philip Rivers and Ryan Tannehill. I’m not sure if that group included the quarterbacks who would have needed to be acquired via trade – Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, Nick Foles – but if there were eight of them, than I would think so.
I’m not as confident that Bridgewater will thrive. I’m nervous about his ability to push the ball downfield. Among quarterbacks who started at least five games last year, only three averaged fewer yards per completion last year – Mitchell Trubisky, Mason Rudolph and rookie Drew Lock.
The Panthers earlier added Joe Brady to be their offensive coordinator. I like that, considering the pinball numbers they put up at LSU last year. And Brady and Bridgewater worked together in New Orleans in 2018.
But I doubt that I’ll be selecting Bridgewater on any of my teams at this point.
| QUARTERBACKS, YARDS PER COMPLETION | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pct | Yards | TD | Int | Y/Com |
| Ryan Tannehill, Ten. | 70.3% | 2,742 | 22 | 6 | 13.64 |
| Jameis Winston, T.B. | 60.7% | 5,109 | 33 | 30 | 13.44 |
| Matthew Stafford, Det. | 64.3% | 2,499 | 19 | 5 | 13.36 |
| Marcus Mariota, Ten. | 59.4% | 1,203 | 7 | 2 | 12.66 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 65.9% | 4,031 | 26 | 5 | 12.64 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 65.1% | 4,902 | 30 | 11 | 12.63 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 69.1% | 3,978 | 27 | 13 | 12.09 |
| Baker Mayfield, Cle. | 59.4% | 3,827 | 22 | 21 | 12.07 |
| Russell Wilson, Sea. | 66.1% | 4,110 | 31 | 5 | 12.05 |
| Philip Rivers, LAC | 66.0% | 4,615 | 23 | 20 | 11.83 |
| Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 66.1% | 3,127 | 36 | 6 | 11.80 |
| Jared Goff, LAR | 62.9% | 4,638 | 22 | 16 | 11.77 |
| Kirk Cousins, Min. | 69.1% | 3,603 | 26 | 6 | 11.74 |
| Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 67.3% | 3,852 | 26 | 12 | 11.57 |
| Gardner Minshew, Jac. | 60.6% | 3,271 | 21 | 6 | 11.48 |
| Dwayne Haskins, Was. | 58.6% | 1,365 | 7 | 7 | 11.47 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 58.8% | 3,089 | 20 | 9 | 11.40 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick, Mia. | 62.0% | 3,529 | 20 | 13 | 11.35 |
| Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 62.0% | 4,002 | 26 | 4 | 11.34 |
| Derek Carr, Oak. | 70.4% | 4,054 | 21 | 8 | 11.23 |
| Andy Dalton, Cin. | 59.5% | 3,494 | 16 | 14 | 11.13 |
| Sam Darnold, NYJ | 61.9% | 3,024 | 19 | 13 | 11.08 |
| Kyle Allen, Car. | 62.0% | 3,322 | 17 | 16 | 10.96 |
| Matt Ryan, Atl. | 66.2% | 4,466 | 26 | 14 | 10.95 |
| Tom Brady, N.E. | 60.8% | 4,057 | 24 | 8 | 10.88 |
| Jacoby Brissett, Ind. | 60.9% | 2,942 | 18 | 6 | 10.82 |
| Case Keenum, Was. | 64.8% | 1,707 | 11 | 5 | 10.67 |
| Kyler Murray, Ariz. | 64.4% | 3,722 | 20 | 12 | 10.66 |
| Daniel Jones, NYG | 61.9% | 3,027 | 24 | 12 | 10.66 |
| Joe Flacco, Den. | 65.3% | 1,822 | 6 | 5 | 10.65 |
| Devlin Hodges, Pitt. | 62.5% | 1,063 | 5 | 8 | 10.63 |
| Drew Brees, N.O. | 74.3% | 2,979 | 27 | 4 | 10.60 |
| David Blough, Det. | 54.0% | 984 | 4 | 6 | 10.47 |
| Carson Wentz, Phil. | 63.9% | 4,039 | 27 | 7 | 10.41 |
| Teddy Bridgewater, N.O. | 67.9% | 1,384 | 9 | 2 | 10.41 |
| Drew Lock, Den. | 64.1% | 1,020 | 7 | 3 | 10.20 |
| Mason Rudolph, Pitt. | 62.2% | 1,765 | 13 | 9 | 10.03 |
| Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 63.2% | 3,138 | 17 | 10 | 9.63 |
—Ian Allan