What Dolphins are getting in Bridgewater and where he ranked among best in league in ’21
This offseason, we have served up pieces with tidbits on Dolphins free agent pickups Chase Edmonds, Cedrick Wilson Jr., Terron Armstead, Tyreek Hill, Connor Williams and Raheem Mostert.
In part 7 of our 7-part series, some chatter on what the Dolphins are getting with new backup quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who will make at least $6.5 million in 2022, with incentives that could bring the value to $10 million:
▪ Bridgewater — who will be the backup but declined to acknowledge that publicly in his one media availability — had a higher passer rating last season than most players expected to be backup quarterbacks this season, with Gardner Minshew and Nick Foles among those ahead of them in that statistic.
Here’s how former Broncos coach Vic Fangio described Bridegwater’s best strengths: “Teddy has good quarterback awareness and instincts. I think it’s shown in the way he can move within the pocket and buy time that way. There are two types of elusive quarterbacks: One that runs around and then the other ones that manipulate the pocket to buy time. The best at that in the past 20 years has been Tom Brady. And Teddy has got a little of that in him.”
▪ Though Bridgewater, 29, has morphed from starter to top backup far earlier in his career than he likely expected, keep in mind that he’s 16th all time among active quarterbacks with a 90.7 passer rating.
His 94.9 rating last season was 12th best in the league for players who started at least eight games.
▪ What’s more, he’s fifth in NFL completion percentage among active quarterbacks at 66.5. Tagovailoa is sixth.
▪ His numbers were better than Tagovailoa’s last season, though that’s not relevant to the Dolphins, who are committed to Tagovailoa as their starter.
Bridgewater started 14 games for Denver last season, went 7-7 and finished with 18 touchdowns, 7 interceptions and 3,052 yards passing (218 per game) and a 94.9 rating.
Tagovailoa started 12 games, went 7-5 and finished with 16 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 2,653 yards passing (204 per game) and a 90.1 rating.
Bridgewater had a better offensive line and a much better running game than Tagovailoa had at his disposal.
▪ Bridgewater has thrown interceptions on only 2.2 percent of his career passes, which ranks 19th best all time, according to footballdb.com. Tagovailoa also is at 2.2 percent.
▪ Bridgewater’s deep ball, however, isn’t a strength. He completed only 16 of 52 passes thrown at least 20 air yards last season for 489 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
That 30.8 percent accuracy on deep balls was among the worst among starters, better than only Trevor Lawrence, Ben Roethlisberger, Jared Goff and Sam Darnold.
Though Tagovailoa didn’t throw a lot of deep balls, he was second in the league (narrowly behind Justin Herbert) in completion percentage on passes that traveled at least 20 air yards at 48.3 percent: 14 for 29 for 526 yards.
▪ Pro Football Focus assessed him this way: “Bridgewater has shown he is capable of starting and playing well in the NFL, but also that there is a ceiling to his play and a conservative streak to his passing that limits his effectiveness.
“He isn’t likely to take a team all the way to a Super Bowl, but he can back up the player who does — or keep the seat warm for a young player in the meantime…. An accurate passer who teammates and coaches love, Bridgewater is a viable starter, but nothing more. Any team chasing better than that will view him as a backup or a stopgap.”
▪ Bridgewater is only two years removed from signing a three-year, $63 million contract with Carolina, and PFF said he “has been more consistent behind a better Broncos offensive line.”
PFF cites his strengths as accuracy and leadership and weaknesses as “lack of big-time throws.”
He played in only five games with Minnesota in 2017 and five (with New Orleans) in 2018 because of a major knee injury. But oddly, he has been statistically better since he had the knee injury. He missed the final three games last season with a concussion.
▪ One common thread between last year’s backup (Jacoby Brissett) and Bridgewater is their close personal relationship with former Dolphins executive and NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells.
“My mentor,” Bridgewater called Parcells. “He texted me [after a game last September] and he was like, ‘Man, don’t take the cheese. It’s poison. It’s rat poison.’ Those are constant reminders to stay grounded, respect the game and continue to work hard.”
Parcells told the Minneapolis Star Tribune last year that Bridgewater is “a team player first and that’s what every team needs.”
▪ Broncos general manager George Paton, who ultimately decided to replace Bridgewater with Russell Wilson in a clear upgrade, said last summer that Bridgewater has “won everywhere he’s been. Obviously, Carolina was a tough spot for him. He’s a winner.” He’s 33-30 as an NFL starter.
▪ Bridgewater was among the NFL’s best quarterbacks under pressure last season, per PFF. So that’s an upgrade over Brissett, who struggled under pressure.
Tagovailoa avoided a lot of sacks while pressured but produced a poor passer rating under those circumstances.
Per PFF, Bridgewater had an 89.5 rating under pressure, second behind Joe Burrow among all NFL starters. He had seven touchdowns and one interception under pressure.
Brissett, conversely, had a 61.5 passer rating under pressure, with 2 TD passes and 3 INTs under pressure.
Tagovailoa was at 54.8 under pressure, with three touchdowns and seven interceptions.
The Dolphins allowed a league-high 247 quarterback pressures last season.
