A Quick Thought on Tom Brady Sports Wunderkind

Written by: Coleman Kelly on June 12, 2013.

Credit: Jack Newton

Recently, I’ve been hearing some concern over the Patriots receivers, and how it will negatively affect Tom Brady’s performance next season. It seemed strange to me, given that the mantra is “great quarterbacks make the wide receiver.” If you have a quarterback like Brady, you can literally trot anyone out on the field, it doesn’t matter. If you have a quarterback like Matt Ryan… you have to mortgage the farm to get another wide receiver and elevate his performance. Can you imagine the Patriots ever trading up for a stud wide receiver? Never, and they would be rightly vilified (I hope). Here’s a table that shows you the top wide receiver on the Patriots that year along with Brady’s finish among the fantasy quarterbacks:

Player	Year	Receptions	Yards	Brady’s Finish
Troy Brown	2001	101	1,099	QB19
Troy Brown	2002	97	890	QB6
Deion Branch	2003	57	803	QB10
David Givens	2004	56	874	QB9
Deion Branch	2005	78	998	QB2
Reche Caldwell	2006	61	760	QB7

The one year Brady did have a 1,000 yard receiver, it was his sophomore year. After that, his receivers were crappy more often than not, but it didn’t matter. Brady turned in a QB7 year with Reche Caldwell as his leading receiver; could Molasses Mike Jenkins really be that much of a detriment? Danny Amendola and Aaron Hernandez will be around to provide some quality targets, Aaron Dobson could do a passable Brandon Lloyd impression, and Julian Edelman and Donald Jones are solid pros. The Patriots also have some nice projects in rookies Josh Boyce and Mark Harrison, although I doubt they make much of an impact year 1. Consider the Patriots 2005 receiving yards leaders: Deion Branch, David Givens, a 34 year old Troy Brown, Ben Watson, and Tim Dwight. If I had to pick between that group and one consisting of Amendola, Hernandez, Edelman, Dobson, and Jones, the choice is easy. If you’re of the ilk that draft quarterback early, take Brady with no fear.