The steady buzz out of New England has Jacoby Brissett, not No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye, opening as the starting quarterback. Sometimes that stuff is just talk, motivating the youngster and whatnot, but in this case I believe it. There's no need to rush the rookie, and Brissett is a capable starter.
Brissett has bounced around since originally being drafted by the Patriots, but he's been better than you might think. Back in 2019, when Andrew Luck retired on the eve of the season, Brissett took over and had an 18-6 touchdown to interception ratio for the Colts. Those modest touchdown totals hint why he's never stuck around anywhere for long, but he's been better than that the last three years (while replacing Deshaun Watson in Cleveland and then Sam Howell in Washington).
Among quarterbacks to start at least a season's worth of games the past three years -- there are 41 such players -- Brissett comes in 18th in terms of total yards per game (231 passing, 18 rushing), so slightly above average. Respectable for a journeyman backup. And he's done that while doing things coaches love, including taking care of the football. Only five of those 41 have averaged fewer interceptions per start. That's not everything (Daniel Jones and Kenny Pickett also graded out well in that metric), but those guys were doing it while also doing a lot less as a passer, so simply throwing the ball a lot less and taking fewer chances.
Table is sorted by quarterback yards. Other guys like Brissett who grade out well in terms of both generating yards and not throwing interceptions include Jared Goff and Geno Smith. Those guys have both emerged as very solid starters with second or third teams. Perhaps Brissett will do so this year.
| QBS WITH 16-PLUS STARTS, 2021-2023 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | PYd | RYd | TYds | TD | Int |
| Patrick Mahomes | 50 | 285.4 | 22.6 | 308.0 | 2.2 | 0.8 |
| Josh Allen | 50 | 259.9 | 41.0 | 300.9 | 2.6 | 0.9 |
| Tom Brady | 34 | 294.4 | 2.4 | 296.8 | 2.1 | 0.6 |
| Justin Herbert | 47 | 274.2 | 14.4 | 288.6 | 1.9 | 0.7 |
| Joe Burrow | 42 | 271.3 | 11.0 | 282.3 | 2.2 | 0.8 |
| Lamar Jackson | 40 | 220.1 | 58.8 | 278.9 | 1.7 | 0.7 |
| Kirk Cousins | 41 | 270.7 | 5.8 | 276.5 | 2.0 | 0.6 |
| Dak Prescott | 45 | 262.8 | 12.7 | 275.4 | 2.2 | 0.8 |
| Kyler Murray | 33 | 241.0 | 32.9 | 273.9 | 1.8 | 0.7 |
| Jalen Hurts | 47 | 227.7 | 45.7 | 273.4 | 2.1 | 0.6 |
| Matthew Stafford | 41 | 266.8 | 2.9 | 269.6 | 1.9 | 0.9 |
| Brock Purdy | 21 | 256.1 | 7.4 | 263.5 | 2.1 | 0.6 |
| Tua Tagovailoa | 42 | 254.0 | 6.5 | 260.5 | 1.7 | 0.8 |
| Jared Goff | 48 | 255.4 | 3.8 | 259.1 | 1.7 | 0.6 |
| Geno Smith | 35 | 242.2 | 15.4 | 257.6 | 1.6 | 0.6 |
| Jordan Love | 18 | 241.6 | 15.0 | 256.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 |
| Trevor Lawrence | 50 | 235.4 | 19.3 | 254.7 | 1.4 | 0.8 |
| Derek Carr | 49 | 249.1 | 5.1 | 254.2 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| Jacoby Brissett | 16 | 231.1 | 18.4 | 249.4 | 1.3 | 0.6 |
| Matt Ryan | 29 | 242.2 | 5.2 | 247.5 | 1.2 | 0.9 |
| Sam Howell | 18 | 228.6 | 16.6 | 245.2 | 1.6 | 1.2 |
| Gardner Minshew | 17 | 237.4 | 7.2 | 244.6 | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | 31 | 235.4 | 3.8 | 239.2 | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| Russell Wilson | 44 | 220.6 | 18.2 | 238.8 | 1.7 | 0.6 |
| Aaron Rodgers | 34 | 229.7 | 5.7 | 235.4 | 2.0 | 0.5 |
| Daniel Jones | 33 | 198.2 | 36.7 | 235.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 |
| Ben Roethlisberger | 16 | 233.8 | 0.3 | 234.1 | 1.4 | 0.6 |
| Justin Fields | 38 | 173.8 | 57.5 | 231.3 | 1.4 | 0.8 |
| Carson Wentz | 25 | 214.3 | 14.3 | 228.6 | 1.7 | 0.7 |
| Taylor Heinicke | 28 | 209.7 | 17.9 | 227.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
| Baker Mayfield | 41 | 215.4 | 9.2 | 224.6 | 1.3 | 0.8 |
| Andy Dalton | 21 | 216.1 | 6.7 | 222.8 | 1.2 | 0.9 |
| Sam Darnold | 18 | 203.8 | 18.7 | 222.5 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
| Davis Mills | 26 | 216.6 | 5.5 | 222.0 | 1.3 | 0.9 |
| Ryan Tannehill | 37 | 208.6 | 11.9 | 220.5 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| Mac Jones | 42 | 212.3 | 7.8 | 220.1 | 1.1 | 0.9 |
| Desmond Ridder | 17 | 205.2 | 14.5 | 219.6 | 1.1 | 0.6 |
| Teddy Bridgewater | 16 | 200.8 | 7.0 | 207.8 | 1.3 | 0.5 |
| Zach Wilson | 33 | 186.5 | 14.9 | 201.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 |
| Bryce Young | 16 | 179.8 | 15.8 | 195.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Kenny Pickett | 24 | 181.4 | 11.5 | 192.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
To be clear, Brissett's not a guy anyone need think about drafting, except for perhaps in SuperFlex formats. New England, with a modest group of young receivers, isn't likely to be putting up big passing numbers. And no matter how well Brissett plays, eventually, it's going to be Maye in the lineup.
But this is a Patriots team that's probably going to want to run the ball, play defense, and protect the football. They can be competitive with Brissett at quarterback doing his thing, and I think they'll be trying that for a good portion of the season. Nobody should be selecting Maye with much optimism of him making early starts or helping fantasy teams. Brissett is the better bet.
--Andy Richardson