Patriots need to eliminate drive-killing drops with Stidham at QB
Drops are drive-killers. The 2019 Patriots are a prime example.
Players were guilty all across the board for failing to secure catchable balls.
Whether it was receivers, tight ends or backs, none of the passcatchers were exempt.
They all had their issues holding on to Tom Brady’s passes, prompting the Patriots to finish with the second-most drops (34) in the NFL last season.
While it’s great Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer have reportedly been working diligently with Patriots receivers, getting down routes and trying to establish chemistry with the group, the QBs will struggle if the dropsies continue in 2020.
Of course, the hope is, N’Keal Harry and Mohamed Sanu, along with Jakobi Meyers, will have better seasons than last season.
Fingers are also crossed Julian Edelman will not hit the age wall, and will produce for Stidham as well as he did for Brady. And maybe, either Damiere Byrd or Marqise Lee will prove a steal.
Post-GOAT, that would be utopia for the Patriots offense. The reality? If the pass-catchers don’t cure their issues with drops, forget
about utopia. Think more about having a hard time sustaining drives. Given all the drops last season, the Pats were in the middle of the pack when it came to converting on third down (38.3 %), a byproduct of all the botched reception attempts.
And, think about a second-year quarterback, who’s thrown a total of four passes in the NFL, trying to take over the offense for a legend.
The tide has to turn, or else Stidham won’t have any more chance of succeeding than Brady did in 2019.
Actually, it’s probably less.
NFL Network analyst Brian Billick, a former Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Ravens, believes a continued problem with drops would be devastating for Brady’s successor.
“Brady went through it (with the drops), handled it, and his basic efficiencies could kind of overcome it,” said Billick, “but for Stidham, that’s a different proposition. That’s a lot to overcome for a young quarterback trying to establish himself, and it stops a drive. That puts a whole lot of pressure for them to convert on third downs, which Tom Brady could do, but Stidham still has to prove he can do that.
“It would compound the problem for a young quarterback if you continue on with those kinds of drops.”
According to Pro Football Focus, the chief offenders last season were Edelman (11 drops), Sanu (4), Sony Michel (4), Harry (3) and Meyers (3).
Looking back, one of the lasting images of the Patriots playoff loss to the Titans was a crucial drop by Edelman as Brady was driving the team late. With just over three minutes to go, trailing by one, an Edelman drop on second-and-4 on what should have been an easy wide-open catch proved a killer, as the Patriots ultimately had to punt on that gotta-have-it drive.
Harry also had a brutal drop during that 20-13 loss.
“Drops are kind of like sacks,” said Billick. “Bill Walsh was always a believer in that. It was, ‘Well, when do they happen?’ If a drop kills a drive like (Edelman’s in the playoffs), that’s tough. As it is, you’re going to have 12 or 13 possessions, and you’ve ended one on what was a makeable play. That’s hard.”
Even if they buck the trend, the Patriots are going to have a tough enough time putting up points, and generating offense without Brady. So the last thing Stidham or Hoyer can afford is having players fail to hold onto routine throws.
In an offense that lacks explosive players, an offense that needs to sustain long drives, drops spell doom.