How Bridgewater might impact offensive strategy and personnel

[MHS831]

Bridgewater is a different QB than Cam--

If you go back to his rookie season under offensive coordinator Norv Turner,  Bridgewater did an excellent job behind a very bad OL.  He had Peterson, but not much else. His second season was not good, and people started using the bust word.  What happened?  Norv took away Bridgewater's strength to appease Peterson's strength.  Peterson was not good running out of the shotgun formation, so it pushed Bridgewater under center, taking away his ability to scan the field.  That season, the Vikings were the second worst passing team in the league, after finishing 12th the year before.  The problem?  A change based on personnel--not talent. 

The offensive line might have been the worst in the NFL (The panthers managed to steal a Tackle from that fine unit in free agency-- Matt Kalil, a player still on our payroll for $10m this year). with the LT rated the 4th worst, LG and C rated the second worst, and RT rated the fifth worst blockers in the NFL.  This led to Bridgewater's decline and injury.  Bridgewater was a good QB that was force to play in the worst circumstances--under center behind the worst OL in the NFL.  In 2015, his second season--he had Mike Wallace (WR1) and Charles Johnson (WR2), with Rudolph at TE.  Mike Wallace, in the 3 years prior to this Norv Turner transformation, was the NFL's premiere deep threat.  When Bridgewater went under center behind that terrible OL to appeal to Peterson's strength, Wallace saw fewer deep balls for several reasons--the OL and Bridgewater's skill set, and Teddy's ability to pre-snap read and adjust formations under center.  Wallace left very disgruntled, taking shots at Teddy.  It was downhill from there.  Norv Turner, in so many words, set Bridgewater up to fail so that Adrian Peterson would succeed.  Not a criticism--it was a decision many would have made.  Peterson was very good, and he was good behind a bad OL---so why fix the OL?

CMC is good working with a QB in the shotgun formation.  Expect Bridgewater to get rid of the ball fairly quickly, which should de-emphasize the need for great pass-blocking OL.  This offense is more suited for Bridgewater because we have WRs like Moore and Samuel and Zylestra (sp?---a player I think will win the #4 WR job after we draft one).  Bridgewater is great at pre-snap reads and is not at all second-rate at reading the secondary post-snap.  Below there is a "Chicken soup" article about him that breaks down reads and progressions.  Basically, in the New Orleans offense, you can see what he does with weapons at WR, a good RB, and a stout OL.

So what do we need to do?  Build the OL, add a WR.   Bridgewater needs options to be effective, and he needs to be in the shotgun formation.  Moore should flourish.  Samuel, if he goes to the slot, could become special.  A #2 WR with some size could be a red zone target.  Not sure about TE--I say give Thomas a chance and bring up Hemmingway from the PS.

Finally, the Turner trade was a bit odd, but we get the LT for a RG--win.  Daley is probably moving to LG---so where does that leave us at RG? Dunno.  Could they look at Little at LG, Daley at RG?  Dunno.  We need a C (to develop, if Paradis comes around) and a G to make me feel better--and a WR.  If we do this, the offense will be improved dramatically. 

Offensive needs:

G, C, WR

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/film-room/2016/film-room-teddy-bridgewater

https://www.canalstreetchronicles.com/2019/10/10/20907135/chicken-soup-quarterbacks-soul-teddy-bridgewater-nfl-football-new-orleans-saints

 

 

[Ship]

We have the right guys for Teddy to get the ball out fast and let them make plays in space. He’s smart and accurate. I’m excited to see how he does in this offense. 

[gmonjimbo]

I agree. Team needs LG and RG to replace Trai and GVR (they might decide to move Daley to LG) then a Center as insurance for Paradis. I like Samuel and Moore as buidling blocks but we need another receiver that defenses have to account for. I'm tired of having Jerricho Cotchery and Jarius Wright of the world as third receiver. This is a good draft to pick up an impact receiver.

[top dawg]

I'm not sold on Teddy, but I don't think he's nearly as bad as people are crowing on. I also don't give a sh¡t about a comp pick---Bridgewater is worth more than a comp pick---and I'm not an advocate for playing the tanking game to see if we're lucky enough to get an unproven legend-in-people's-minds during the draft.

I'm curious to see Brady & Bridgewater make a little music together with the still shiny---albeit with a few scrapes---skill-players we have on offense.

If it's a rebuild, retool, or whatever you want to call it, I'm going to watch it in earnest, and just might enjoy it. 

Let's go Teddy B!

 

[Mr. Scot]

My biggest concern with Bridgewater when he was up for the draft was whether he'd be durable enough to last in the NFL. His passing skills were certainly top notch. No question about that.

Granted he had the nasty knee injury a while back but so far he's still going.

[top dawg]

16 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

My biggest concern with Bridgewater when he was up for the draft was whether he'd be durable enough to last in the NFL. His passing skills were certainly top notch. No question about that.

Granted he had the nasty knee injury a while back but so far he's still going.

He's always looked frail to me (just being honest), so I share that concern, and rightly or wrongly the knee injury still looms large in my mind. But, you know, he's played/practiced a fairly long time on it now, so perhaps it shouldn't be thought of as an issue anymore. His knee, among other things of course, could be a reason why we will probably undoubtedly acquire a rookie via draft or UDFA!

Honestly, my worst nightmare in regards to the QB position now is that Teddy goes down and we return to Kyle Allen. That was some unpleasant QB play to watch for the most part.

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, top dawg said:

He's always looked frail to me (just being honest), so I share that concern, and rightly or wrongly the knee injury still looms large in my mind. But, you know, he's played/practiced a fairly long time on it now, so perhaps it shouldn't be thought of as an issue anymore. His knee, among other things of course, could be a reason why we will probably undoubtedly acquire a rookie via draft or UDFA!

Honestly, my worst nightmare in regards to the QB position now is that Teddy goes down and we return to Kyle Allen. That was some unpleasant QB play to watch for the most part.

Brady's system might actually be a better fit for Allen than Norv / Scott Turner's was.

With that said, I'm okay if we never find that out.

[firefox1234]

We had a once a generation talent of a QB as our signal caller for nearly a decade and used him up like a cum rag. I have little reason to have any more faith for a QB like TB with this franchise outside of hoping for the best.

[sml1950]

You can bet that the decision to move on from Cam and sign Bridgewater was based on analytics.  Whatever data they threw into the equation pointed toward the change and the way they use him will ultimately be based on those same analytics. We are in the initial stages of being schooled in how an analytics driven football team operates.

[Mr. Scot]

9 minutes ago, sml1950 said:

You can bet that the decision to move on from Cam and sign Bridgewater was based on analytics.  Whatever data they threw into the equation pointed toward the change and the way they use him will ultimately be based on those same analytics. We are in the initial stages of being schooled in how an analytics driven football team operates.

I don't know if it was based on analytics.

I do believe that the decision was probably influenced by Joe Brady.

[Wes21]

1 hour ago, top dawg said:

I'm not sold on Teddy, but I don't think he's nearly as bad as people are crowing on.

 

There's really nothing "bad" to say about Teddy.  But I think people who try to say a bunch of good things about him are stretching that part too.  He's a really smart QB who gets the ball out of his hands quickly, and rarely takes chances or tries to be dynamic with his throws.  He's like an Alex Smith.  If the playcalling and defense are good, you can win with him.  If not, he can't make his own plays.

[mc52beast]

So basically Teddy will be just good enough to screw us in next years draft 

[Waldo]

38 minutes ago, sml1950 said:

You can bet that the decision to move on from Cam and sign Bridgewater was based on analytics.  Whatever data they threw into the equation pointed toward the change and the way they use him will ultimately be based on those same analytics. We are in the initial stages of being schooled in how an analytics driven football team operates.

If we were using anaylitics Hurney wouldn't have a job. 3-13.

This is the new staff making moves and building their team with little NFL experience.

[MHS831]

4 hours ago, firefox1234 said:

We had a once a generation talent of a QB as our signal caller for nearly a decade and used him up like a cum rag. I have little reason to have any more faith for a QB like TB with this franchise outside of hoping for the best.

I get it, but Rivera, Shula are the biggest reasons Cam is banged up.