New Orleans Saints: Taysom Hill or Teddy Bridgewater, choose one?
Teddy Bridgewater
Bridgewater is a fan favorite in New Orleans. Not only is his comeback story truly amazing, he filled in perfectly for an injured Drew Brees, winning all 5 games he started and kept the Saints alive for the one seed in the NFC.
He ended the season completing 67.9% of passes for 1,384 yards to go along with 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
The question often asked about Bridgewater is: was it his play that won the Saints games? Or was the Saints roster just that talented to find ways to win without their Hall of Fame quarterback?
In the 5 games he started, Bridgewater played very well in 3 of them: at Seattle, vs. Tampa Bay, and at Chicago. The score says differently after a few garbage time scores, but those games were basically blowouts and never in question.
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Bridgewater was the perfect backup quarterback, taking over and making very few mistakes. He didn’t try to replace Brees; all he did was get the ball in the hands of his playmakers. A very simple game plan by Sean Payton, but an effective one for sure.
Bridgewater, like Hill, has a ton of potential, but may not have as low of a floor. He has more experience than Hill as a starting quarterback with both the Vikings and Saints and is almost 3 years younger.
His major knee injury back in 2016 is certainly a concern, but it seemed to be some sort of freak accident since there isn’t much injury history at all.
The question I have about Bridgewater is can he do enough to win games without elite talent around him?
Alvin Kamara, the defense and special teams groups all seemed to peak during that 5 game stretch. In the other two games against Dallas and Jacksonville, Bridgewater looked pretty mediocre at best.
Now, did that have to do more with Sean Payton’s conservative game plan playing with a backup quarterback?
Or was it just Bridgewater’s play holding the offense back?
I’d argue it was a mixture of both. Nonetheless, at 27 years old and entering his prime, he should continue to improve his game. Especially with a full off-season of knowing he’s the starting quarterback.