Teddy Bridgewater, Panthers QB

Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts. Teddy Bridgewater, 6-foot-2, 215 pounds, is in his first season with the Panthers, the first time he has been entrenched as a team’s clear starter since the 2015 season with the Minnesota Vikings. The Panthers signed Bridgewater to a three-year, $63 million contract after he played well with the Saints last season when Drew Brees was injured.

The match is good for Bridgewater. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady was an assistant with the Saints before his coaching profile exploded at LSU working with Joe Burrow. Bridgewater is familiar with much of what Brady wants to do, and it shows. Bridgewater leads the NFL, completing 73.4% of his passes while averaging 8.2 yards per attempt. He has thrown for 1,460 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. “This is very similar to Sean Payton’s offense last year at New Orleans,” the scout said. “It’s a heavily schemed passing game that gives the quarterback leveled reads. That allows him to process quickly and for him to get the ball out quickly. That’s what he’s done. He struggles throwing the ball deep down the field. He really has to push it because he doesn’t have that arm talent, so you have to scheme up, and he’s hitting high-percentage throws. The ball is coming out quick. When they do go vertical, you’re seeing a lot of three-step fades, or they scheme up deep-over routes. But it’s working for them because they’ve been efficient offensively. It’s saved them that Mike Davis can catch the ball out of the backfield after Christian McCaffrey went out. (Davis is) not a high-level talent but he fits what they’re doing in that system.

“It’s interesting how they’ve built the offense because Robby Anderson was a vertical guy for the Jets. That’s not Teddy’s game. They’re using (Anderson) more on intermediates and shallows.

D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel are both run-after-the-catch guys, and Teddy puts the ball on them where they have a chance to create.”