GIMME JIMMY
Brady disciple poised to be fantasy factor
TOM BRADY can do anything, right? He can be the greatest quarterback ever. He can be a model. He can marry a model. He can star in an acclaimed blockbuster. (OK, so maybe “Ted 2” wasn’t acclaimed).
Is there anything he can’t do? Well, the Madman might have found that one thing Brady isn’t good at: teaching.
Let’s take a walk past those neophytes who have worked under his tutelage: Damon Huard, Matt Cassel, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Jacoby Brissett. These are the “Ted 2” of NFL quarterbacks.
Now comes the latest member to enter the Class of Tom: Jimmy Garoppolo. Sure, his name is hard to pronounce and even harder to spell, but is he a good QB, or just another scrub embarking on a career as a retread thanks to having “Patriots” on his résumé?
Can Garrapollo (spelling?) excel where his predecessors have failed? Can he become the first great Tom Disciple? Though we’re not ready to commit to such lofty expectations, we can say we’re not ruling it out. And call us kooky, but we like his chances to take a step in that direction this week against the Texans.
Look, this just isn’t about Geralopo’s (sp?) success in limited opportunities, but in 133 career attempts he has a 68.4 completion rate to go with six touchdowns, and his lone interception came last week on a pass his receiver caught, but had ripped away by the defender. Garofalo (sp?) seemed to be making good reads. He got rid of the ball efficiently. He didn’t rely heavily on check-down options. He looked like a perfectly capable NFL quarterback.
The only knock was his inability to get the ball in the end zone, but it was just his first start, and the Bears are among the top 10 stingiest defenses to opposing QBs. It should get much easier this week at Houston. Only the Jets are more generous to opposing fantasy QBs than the Texans. If Blaine Gabbert and Jacoby Brissett can carve them up, why not Jimmy Jumpoffalo? (sp?)
Bear in mind, we’re not telling you to start him over his mentor, Brady. And we don’t recommend playing him ahead of Carson Wentz, or Russell Wilson (even in a bad matchup), or Kirk Cousins, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethlisberger, Alex Smith, Derek Carr, Josh McCown or Case Keenum.
But … if you’re planning to trot out Cam Newton, Matthew Stafford, Jameis Winston, Dak Prescott etc., that is the time to say Geronimo! (sp?)
Maybe Brady hasn’t taught his past proteges well, but perhaps he has this one. Now, I wonder if he can teach me to spell Jimmy’s name? After all, Brady can do anything.