Tom Brady just confirmed what I felt all along last season, that he is the best QB EVER!  He might not have the strongest arm in the NFL and he’s not the swiftest runner….but he always seems to get the ball to his receivers on time.  Not only that, but he spreads the ball around to keep all of his receivers involved in the game and that puts tremendous pressure on the defense.  Brady played started all 16 games last season and he completed 398 of 578 passes (68.9%) for 4,806 yards with 50 TD passes and only 8 interceptions (117.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 37 times for 98 yards (2.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs but a lot of those were kneel downs at the end of games.  Brady showed what he was all about two years ago when he didn’t have any good receivers and he still led the Patriots to the playoffs and they almost upset the World Champion Colts on the road in the AFC Championship.  Brady has now played in 112 games (110 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 2,294 of 3,642 passes (63%) for 26,370 yards with 197 TD passes and 86 interceptions (92.9 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 276 times for 533 yards (1.9 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  Look for Brady to have another MVP type season in 2008.

Behind Brady the Patriots have a bunch of young QBs battling for the job.  Matt Cassel, Matt Gutierrez and rookie Kevin O’Connell will duke it out in training camp and the pre season to see who will be the #2 QB.  Matt Cassel has the most experience in the NFL but it still isn’t enough to know if he could handle the job if something happened to Tom Brady.  In fact, Cassel wasn’t even a starter at USC.  Cassel played in 6 games (0 starts) last season for the Patriots and he completed 4 of 7 passes (57.1%) for 38 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 interception (32.7 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 4 times for 12 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Cassel has to be the favorite to win the backup job but he’s only a slight one.  Cassel has now played in 14 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 22 of 39 passes (56.4%) for 253 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 interceptions (71.8 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 12 times for 28 yards (2.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.

Matt Gutierrez made the Patriots as an undrafted free agent last season.  He didn’t get to play much but the Patriots like him enough to give him a chance to battle for the backup job.  Gutierrez played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last season and he completed his only pass attempt for 15 yards.  He also carried the ball 5 times for -13 yards (-2.6 ypc) but they were all kneel downs.

Rookie Kevin O’Connell has the most potential of the backups.  He is a dropback passer just like Brady is and his arm is more than strong enough to make every throw needed to succeed in the NFL.  Look for him to be the #2 QB for the Patriots by mid-season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  A+