5 NFL QBs with the potential to outgrow Tom Brady
No third day of the NFL Draft is perhaps complete without the network of the analysts of your choice hinting that any of the quarterbacks chosen could be "the next Tom Brady".
Brady's ongoing antics, at two decades and (potentially) counting, should probably assure the football world that there is no "next" Brady; but perhaps those that have the potential to work past his historic accomplishments, even if they aren't "burdened" with them, are already among us.
SK has five names to keep an eye on when it comes to that endeavor.
Which current NFL quarterbacks have the best chance of surpassing Brady's on-field legend?
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
It would only make sense that the conqueror of Brady's AFC East empire β even if the arguable GOAT wasn't there to defend it β picked up where he left off in terms of on-field greatness.
Allen's ability to multi-task both through the air and on the ground for the Buffalo Bills makes him one of the game's most electrifying modern playmakers and a reliable prescience at the end of the game.
When the 2021 season began, many pegged the Bills and the Buccaneers to meet in a Super Bowl that could possibly serve as a change-of-the-guard. Allen's late-season showings, particularly in a late-season win over the Patriots, have kept this possibility healthy.
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals
Part of Brady's allure is that he was able to take one of the NFL's more downtrodden franchises, the aforementioned Patriots, and turned them into a gridiron dynasty so revered and feared that it causes audible groans from the NFL public when they win.
Burrow is in a similar situation with the Cincinnati Bengals, a team that hasn't won a mere playoff game, much less gone to a Super Bowl since the 1990-91 season. To put things in perspective, even the lowly Detroit Lions have advanced to a postseason round in that span.
Burrow's hyped NFL career got off to a slow start thanks to a devastating knee injury that ended his rookie year prematurely; but he has returned with a vengeance in 2021, turning the Bengals into playoff contenders after they won only six games over the last two years. He may only be heating up as he closes in on his first NFL postseason experience, tossing for 525 yards in Cincinnati's crucial Sunday win over the Baltimore Ravens.
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Justin Herbert, LA Chargers
As we learned in the 90s, chicks dig the longball β and it's likely that football fans feel the same way.
Herbert has been more than happy to give people what they want with one of the strongest young arms in recent memory.
Herbert, a first-round pick out of Oregon, was ushered into NFL stardom thanks to an injury to presumed starter Tyrod Taylor. That, however, is where the similarities between him and Brady end.
The Oregon alum was expected to fulfill great expectations right from the get-go, setting numerous rookie records last year. As the owner of the most such tallies over his first two seasons (72 touchdown passes, 8,730 yards, both counting), he's the most likely young candidate at the moment to break some of Brady's most hallowed NFL marks.