I’m sure when Tom Brady decided to end his 20-or-so-day retirement a few months back, he was expecting to return behind a healthy, championship winning O-Line. Well, things haven’t turned out that way with the recent news of Ryan Jensen’s long-term knee injury.
This really hasn’t been the “grand-return” kind of offseason Tom Brady may have expected. Sure, Tampa Bay was able to retain most of their free agents as soon as word broke out that Tom Brady was unretiring and coming back for another season. But the enthusiasm and fervor that Tom Brady’s return brought has quickly stifled as the 2020 champions offensive line has crumbled before our very eyes.
With yesterday’s news of center Ryan Jensen’s terrible knee injury potentially costing him the entirety of the 2022 season, Tampa has now lost 3/5 starting offensive lineman that protected Tom Brady on the way to the team’s 2nd Super Bowl championship.
Both of the starting guards left before training camp began, with Ali Marpet retiring and Alex Cappa leaving in free agency for the Cincinatti Bengals. And now Ryan Jensen has just gone down with what appears to be a season-ending injury. So, what does this mean for Tom? Well, he’s now going to be protected by backups and rookies in his bid to win one last Super Bowl.
Yeah, that’s not ideal. Especially for a QB like Tom Brady.
If there is anything that can actually stop Brady from tearing opposing defenses apart, it’s getting interior pressure on him. Brady may have been able to prove his draft critics wrong by becoming the greatest QB of all-time, but he never did become an athletic quarterback. Simply put, if you can get through to Tom Brady up the middle, he won’t be able to escape.
Just look at the 2015 AFC Championship game where the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots travelled to Denver to face off against the high-powered Broncos’ defense. Von Miller, Malik Jackson, and Derek Wolfe, and DeMarcus Ware had a field day against the battered and injured New England O-Line, getting 4 sacks, 17 QB hits, and picking off Brady twice in a 20-18 win for Denver.
The addition of All-Pro guard Shaq Mason from New England will fill up the whole left on the right interior side, but the left and center will be plugged by backups and rookies. Any opposing defense with a decent interior pass rush is going to destroy that part of the Tampa line and obliterate Tom Brady too.
If Tom thought he was in for another smooth ride behind a championship winning offensive line, he was horribly mistaken. Offensive line coach Joe Gilbert and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich better draw up some extravagant pass-blocking schemes, or else Tom Brady will be spending more time wiping the grass and turf from facemask than throwing touchdown passes.
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