Old man rankings update: Tom Brady can attain top 5 stats for quarterbacks over the age of 40

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady has a handful of records for quarterbacks in their 30s. His passer rating of 102.5 from the age of 30-39 is the best of all time. His 309 passing touchdowns are the most of all time. His adjusted net yards per attempt of 8.31 is the best of all time. His winning percentage of 80.1% is the best of all time.

His 40,018 passing yards ranks second behind Drew Brees and his 5,160 passing attempts trails Brett Favre (5,522) and Brees (5,260). Brees is still only 38 and will likely have all of the records when he’s done.

But that’s okay. Tom Brady’s shifted his focus towards the 40-year-old age bracket and he’s already climbing the scoreboard.

Brady is one of 17 quarterbacks with 10 or more pass attempts over the age of 40 and he could rank in the top 5 of most of the statistics with a strong performance in Thursday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Passing attempts: 155 (9th)

Goal: 7th, Vince Evans, 175

With 21 attempts, Brady will rank 7th for most passing attempts after their 40th birthday in NFL history. He needs 72 attempts to pass Doug Flutie for 6th and 74 attempts to pass George Blanda for 5th.

Passing completions: 103 (8th)

Goal: 5th, Doug Flutie, 119

With 17 completions, Brady will rank 5th for most completions. Brady is almost a lock to achieve this. He needs 54 completions to pass Matt Hasselbeck for 4th place.

Passing yards: 1,399 (7th)

Goal: 4th, George Blanda, 1,724

With 326 passing yards, Brady will rank 4th all time. With 292 he will pass Matt Hasselbeck for 5th. He needs just 68 to pass Doug Flutie.

Touchdowns: 10 (t-6th)

Goal: 5th, Sonny Jurgensen, 11

Brady is tied with Flutie for the 6th most passing touchdowns and needs just two to take fifth place.

Brady also currently has the best completion rate for a quarterback over the age of 40 at 66.45%, a hair ahead of Len Dawson at 66.43%. Brady is currently the only quarterback over the age of 40 to avoid throwing an interception. His passer rating of 116.6 laps the field, with Mark Brunnell (94.8) ranking second on a mere 16 attempts.

It is likely that Brady will climb into the top four or five of every stat over the next two games (coincidentally against the Jets, the team that gave his career a boost) since he won’t throw the ball 74 times against the Buccaneers. But there are three quarterbacks that he simply won’t pass this year.

Brett Favre: 495/764 for 5,874 yards, 36 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions

Warren Moon: 474/823 for 5,538 yards, 37 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions

Vinny Testaverde: 453/776 for 5,290 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 32 interceptions

All others, Brady will likely pass in the 40+ year old rankings by midseason, with Blanda’s 22 touchdowns the only possible exception. But Brady has never completed more than 402 passes in a single season (on pace for 412). He’s never thrown more than 637 attempts (on pace for 620). He won’t break those records this year.

The other rankings are slightly more attainable. Maybe.

Brady is on pace for 5,596 yards and 40 touchdowns, which would put him towards the top of the list. It’s more likely that Brady will have to wait until the first quarter of the 2018 season to take down these marks.

For all of the despair surrounding the Patriots defense, let’s not forget that we’re witnessing one of the most impressive seasons of quarterbacking in NFL history, especially when you factor in Brady’s age. Make sure you enjoy the ride.