NFL PR man Brian Murphy released a list of quarterbacks that have dominated in passer rating on third down and I’ll give you one guess who tops the list.
It’s Patriots QB Tom Brady. Brady is 41 of 53 (77.4%) for 742 yards and 7 touchdowns. His passer rating on third down is 158.2. For reference a perfect passer rating- the best you can score- is 158.3. Brady is almost perfect on third down.
Brady has been absolutely dominant and while it’s unreasonable to expect him to continue to produce at this level for the rest of the season, he’s showing no sign of slowing down. Despite missing four games, Brady ranks 7th in third down passing yards and 5th in third down touchdown passes. His 77.4% completion rate is the 2nd best of any player with 2 or more attempts.
Of course, the one player ranked ahead of Brady in completion rate is Patriots back-up QB Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo is 14 of 18 (77.8%) on third down for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. Garoppolo’s passer rating of 148.8 on third down ranks second only to Brady.
In other words, the Patriots have the two best third down quarterbacks in the NFL. You can be certain that this will be the first statistic the Patriots throw down at any trade negotiation table for Garoppolo over the offseason.