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Jacoby Brissett: The forgotten up-and-comer
Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Jacoby Brissett: The forgotten up-and-comer

With no team trading for Jimmy Garoppolo during the offseason, it seemed as though Jacoby Brissett would spend the 2017 largely in obscurity deep on the Patriots bench. A suspension to Tom Brady coupled with an injury to Garoppolo early in the 2016 season pressed Brissett into action for two starts as a rookie.

Given he was a third stringer thrown into a surprise start in Week 3 action against a 2-0 Texans team, Brissett comported himself pretty well. The fact that the Patriots won that game 27-0 tells you the defense was dominant, Brissett obviously did nothing to undermine the effort, and contributed a few fine plays of his own, including a nifty 27-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Brissett and the Pats were shutout in turn the following week, but even then Brissett didn’t play terribly. It was clear the Patriot had at least three capable quarterbacks on their roster. In limited work, Brissett proved he worthy of at least a top backup role somewhere in the league. But with Garoppolo still in the way, it would take a remarkable set of circumstances to get Brissett back on the field.

Luckily for him, those were circumvented two days into September this year, as the Pats made a surprise trade, sending Brissett to Indianapolis for receiver Phillip Dorsett. The Patriots needed receiving help with the loss of Julian Edelman in the preseason, and the Colts needed to shore up their quarterback situation, as it was clear that Andrew Luck would not be ready for the start of the season, and their alternative was Scott Tolzien.

Tolzien stunk up the place in the Colts’ season opener, throwing two pick-sixes before being yanked for Brissett in the second half. In the five weeks since, Indianapolis has only won two of their games. Nevertheless, Brissett has made enough strides in his second season that it’s easy to see him getting picked up to compete for a starting job after 2017.

Even in the Colts’ most lop-sided loss since Brissett assumed the starting job, a 46-18 defeat in Seattle, Indy kept the game close well into the third quarter, when the Seahawks were finally able to start pouring it on. He’s developed considerably in short order on a team with line issues when he’s only been on the roster for six weeks.

He’s been able to shake off setbacks. In Week 5, he threw an interception in overtime against San Francisco, squandering a chance inside the red zone to end the game with a touchdown. Perhaps he was fortunate to get another possession after that turnover, and led the Colts down the field for the winning field goal.

This past Monday, Indy came up short in Tennessee. The loss drops them to 2-4, though with the rest of the AFC South at 3-3, they’re hardly dead and buried. Brissett each week proves himself a decent starter. In fact, so far this year he has a higher rating than celebrated veterans Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco, though that may have more to do with the precipitous decline of those two in 2017.

Andrew Luck’s continued absence likely means the Colts won’t be in any rush to unload Brissett, who they have signed for another two seasons beyond 2017. If you have a viable starter behind your oft-injured franchise quarterback there’s little sense in getting rid of that luxury, unless the asking price is just that high.

The 2018 quarterback draft class is expected to be a solid one, with multiple QBs thought to be likely first-rounders. A few weeks ago, it was taken as a foregone conclusion that the Jets would be among the top three picks, at the very least. But the surprising success of the last few weeks suggests New York might even fall as far as the middle of the first round. If that’s the case, they’ll likely end up missing out on the top prospects without a hefty trade up.

Josh McCown might be playing above expectations for the Jets. He’s still 38 years old. The Jets will have addressed quarterback by this time next year. If Brissett continues to improve before Luck returns, and Luck is able to stay healthy and effective after he does, Jacoby could be nearly as hot a piece of tradebait as Garoppolo was going into this past off-season.

There’s still no timetable for Luck to get back on the field, just a vague hope that return will occur sometime in 2017. Ample opportunity awaits for Brissett to pad his resume. Like Deshaun Watson, he’s emerged from the ruins of a disastrous Week 1 performance to give new life to his franchise. Watson’s celebrity might be brighter. Brissett is still likely to reap the benefits of a quarterback market also on the lookout for adequacy.

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