Tom Brady has been in the NFL for as long as some of his competitors have been alive, but that doesn’t take him out of MVP contention with the Buccaneers.
At this point, it seems like nothing more than a fool’s errand to believe that this will be the season that Tom Brady finally regresses and shows some of his antiquity on the field. In fact, all the conditions seem perfect for an MVP-caliber season for the Buccaneers star above all else.
Brady will finally be healthy and well-rested to begin the season this year. Considering that he really didn’t hit his stride till the second half of the season, at which he was surely playing with a torn MCL the whole time (although the time of that injury is still under speculation if it happened earlier), an entire season with a healthy knee could only improve his already stellar performance from last year.
The return of O.J. Howard and the emergence of Antonio Brown will also prove to be a significant boost for Brady’s stat lines. After his return this season, Howard will provide Brady with a deadly tight end option to go along with the rest of the Bucs ensemble of top-tier targets downfield.
The pair had great chemistry off the bat last year, connecting for two touchdowns in four games before Howard’s injury, so the sky is the limit this season. Similarly, with a season back under his belt, Brown looks like he will be back in his All-Pro status as one of the best receivers in the entire league.
With these two back in form, Brady will surely find the end zone just as much, if not more, than last year.
It is probably no surprise that the most important part of Brady’s MVP season this year will be the return of pre-season camp. Brady has always been exceptional at preparation and building chemistry with fellow teammates, however, this takes time and a great deal of practice with the team to create.
Even with the inconsistency of the team’s performance throughout much of the first half of last season, Brady still put up fantastic numbers throwing for the second-most touchdowns of his career and over 4,600 yards.
With both a full season under his belt and the return of all of his team’s starters, the stage couldn’t be better set for an explosive season that sees Tom Brady front and center at the top of MVP voting.
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