National Football League

Is Jimmy Garoppolo ready to fill in for Tom Brady?

Published May. 13, 2015 11:23 a.m. ET

Ross Jones

For the first time in 15 years, Tom Brady won’t be the New England Patriots’ Week 1 starting quarterback.

Underinflated footballs and a lack of cooperation in Ted Wells’ investigation got the Patriots slapped with a seven-figure fine, loss of draft picks and a four-game suspension of their four-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

As Brady mounts an appeal, the Patriots must make plans to start the season with Jimmy Garoppolo, whom they selected in the second round of last year’s draft. NFL personnel guys have seen more of Garoppolo than most NFL fans, so they might be the best resource in determining how big of a setback this is for the defending champions.

“I didn’t do a lot of homework on him, but we watched one game as a group in meetings and we came away pretty impressed,” an AFC scout told FOXSports.com.

Garoppolo, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound strong-armed passer, will be New England’s starter until Week 6 if Brady’s suspension is not reduced (the Patriots have a bye in Week 4). It would be a mistake, though, to assume he will try to replace Brady in the offense. Instead, the Eastern Illinois product’s job will be to manage the game, be smart with the football and throw accurate passes.

If Garoppolo achieves those three things, the Patriots will be able to contend in a challenging first quarter of the season.

Nevertheless, that’s much easier said than done.

“I thought he had the tools to develop as a starter but needed time,” one NFC exec said. “Sitting a year behind Brady should have helped.”

In college, Garoppolo worked mostly out of the shotgun in a spread offense, and his footwork under center was thought to need improvement. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has worked with Brady for almost all of Brady’s career, helped lighten the learning curve for him in 2014.

“He had a lot of production at the lower level, but it was apparent he needed to sit,” an AFC exec said. “He was a player that I thought would be better with better players surrounding him. Tom knows that system through and through. It’s going to be a big adjustment for (Garoppolo).”

The Patriots will also be without running back LeGarrette Blount for the first game of the season as he serves a suspension of his own. However, New England upgraded its offensive line in the draft, spending two picks -- Florida State’s Tre Jackson and Georgia Tech’s Shaq Mason -- on interior linemen. Catching Garoppolo’s passes is a wide receiver group that includes two targets -- Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell -- who topped 900 yards last season.

The Patriots offense, of course, is buoyed by the playmaking abilities of tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Tim Wright, who accounted for 18 of the team’s 34 touchdown receptions in 2014.

The pieces are there for Garoppolo to prove he’s not only capable as a fill-in but also that he can be Brady’s eventual permanent replacement. Of course, four games can also be long enough for the young QB to prove he is not the future. The stakes are high for both him and the team.

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