Better Off Ted
A bridge over troubled water
The Denver Broncos decided on Wednesday to go with Teddy Bridgewater over Drew Lock as their starting quarterback entering the 2021 season. While Lock has the always tantalizing “upside”, Bridgewater has put together a fine preseason. The week 2 preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks was a good example of why the Broncos coaching staff thinks that Bridgewater is their best option at the QB position to lead their talented roster.
With Teddy Bridgewater you have to acknowledge there is some (valid) criticism that he is too safe as a QB and doesn’t create anything. In 2021, Bridgewater was 33rd amongst QBs with 200+ pass attempts in Football Outsiders’ ALEX stat - which measures the difference between the air yards thrown by the QB and the distance needed for a new set of downs on 3rd down pass attempts.
Additionally, his aDOT (average depth of target) hovered in the low 6s during his time in New Orleans - which was fine when he was filling in for an injured Drew Brees who at the time thrived off a dink-and-dunk game - but bumped up to a fairly respectable 7.1 yards as a Carolina Panther during the 2021 season. Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady did a nice job of matching Bridgewater’s skillset with the plays they ran: lots of timing throws with a couple of manufactured PA shot plays where Bridgewater could air out a throw:
So, what does that mean? It means that Bridgewater really likes his stuff to look clean before he attacks deep and he also adapts the best he can to whatever system he is playing in. If the look is clean, though, Teddy has all the ability to hang in the pocket and deliver some big-time throws:
Please also notice Bridgewater’s pocket movement on the two clips above. He has displayed good pocket movement (and willingness to hang in the pocket) throughout his career and it’s one of his strengths as a QB. This allows down-the-field plays to actually have a chance to develop and get completed and not turn into a scramble drill if the offensive line starts getting “edgy”:
A coaching staff doesn’t look at Teddy Bridgewater as someone who can “go get us a bucket”. He’s the classic game manager type who will execute plays exactly as designed. Nothing more, nothing less. A millennial version of late-career Brad Johnson or Alex Smith who will go as far as the talent level of his teammates and luckily the Broncos have quite a few talented teammates for Teddy!
That execution of concepts is another of Bridgewater’s strengths. Here are a smattering of dropback throws from the Seahawks game where you can see how Bridgewater gets all of his throws out on time to an open receiver and leaves very little fat in his footwork:
The 1st clip is one to highlight as it brings us to the best aspect of Bridgewater’s game: his understanding of defensive pressure looks and the offensive protections against them. He is not fazed whatsoever by the all-out Seahawks pressure because he knows he’s protected and has a plan with what to do with the ball (Drew Lock can look like he’s guessing on concepts and that remains one of my biggest knocks against him).
Bridgewater’s handling of protections is a huge attribute that I’m sure Broncos offensive line coach Mike Munchak and the rest of the coaching staff absolutely loves. And it’s already apparent the calmness that Teddy exudes in his pre-snap operation which allows the offensive line - most notably second-year Center Lloyd Cushenberry, who looks to have improved - to play fast and with confidence in their assignments like on this 3rd down play:
Ignore the incompletion and take note of Teddy’s process leading up to the throw. He has the awareness to utilize a double-cadence on his silent count - notice his step and the Center’s operation - before communicating to his offensive line.
Double-cadence is used to 1) draw the defense offsides and/or make them keep guessing when the ball will be snapped and 2) a way for a QB and Center to undress the defense for protection calls. You can see how Bridgewater uses it here to change the offensive line’s half-slide towards the left where typically they would half-slide right and away from the RB’s side.
What did Teddy notice?
With his receivers pressed across the board and Safety low over his TE, this screams an obvious man coverage look. With a few too many guys hanging on the left-hand side, Bridgewater slides his line towards that side and keeps his RB free from any protection responsibilities and allowed to cleanly release on his route.
Yes, there is a valid pressure-beating throw to #9 Kendall Hinton at the bottom of the screen. But this play also highlights that Teddy is willing to try and gash a defense that is trying to blitz him if he likes the match-up.
Bridgewater does this time and time again and has shown an understanding of protections no matter what system he is in. This clip from Carolina shows his understanding of who he would have to throw the ball off of if they blitzed. Bridgewater then proceeded to calmly make a throw with pressure coming at him off exactly that defender rushing:
Some of these throws aren’t sexy, but they’re the steady yards gained by a steady QB and not backbreaking mistakes that can cripple a team’s chance at winning.
Teddy is fine - he’s the Mendoza line for QB play - and I think he gives the Broncos a chance to be competitive in a lot of games with their outstanding defense. Does he make them a legit contender? Of course not. But, the Broncos made their bed when they had a chance at drafting a young QB in this year’s draft or making a bigger splash move at the position than trading for Teddy Bridgewater.
This is the path the Broncos decided to go down. Starting a quarterback who can execute concepts & throws on time and keep the offense’s head on its body for four quarters will be a nice breath of fresh air of competency for a franchise that has struggled to find decent play at the position for a half-decade.
Plus every once in a while Teddy reminds you that he was a first-round pick:
Songs from the Teddy Bridgewater Tape Session: