What does Brian Hoyer bring to the Patriots the second time around?

Now that Brian Hoyer has officially re-signed with New England, it's worth asking what sort of player the Patriots might be getting, at least when it comes to the rest of the 2017 season?

The Grover Cleveland of Tom Brady’s backups — the guy Randy Moss used to lovingly refer to as “Hoy Dog” — was Brady's No. 2 from 2009 through 2011 before he was jettisoned in favor of Ryan Mallett. Since then, he’s bounced around the league, going from backup to starter and back again over the last six seasons while playing for the Cardinals, Browns, Texans, Bears and Niners. He best stretch came from 2014-15, when the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder went a combined 12-10 as a starter with Cleveland and Houston while completing 58 percent of his passes for 5,932 yards, 31 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

(One note that we have to include here, particularly when it comes to the Browns and their recent history at quarterback. Hoyer, who played in Cleveland in 2013 and 2014, is the only Browns’ quarterback since 1999 who started at least 15 games who has a winning record. Cleveland went 10-6 in the 16 games Hoyer started for the Browns.)


In his limited run as a starter, Hoyer, who turned 32 last month, has displayed a relatively efficient style as a quarterback, foregoing deep balls in favor of short and intermediate passes. (Part of that is because he’s always lacked the arm strength to take deep shots.) If he does end up taking significant snaps for the Patriots in 2017, expect New England take on more of a run-first approach for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that, according to one scouting report on him, he remains effective when it comes to play-action rollouts.

Let’s be honest — he’s not Tom Brady. But given the fact that he knows the system, has a background with Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels, and is capable of operating in shorthand with much of the rest of the franchise given his previous stint in New England, the Patriots are confident that if something does indeed happen to Brady, Hoyer can go in there and not make a complete mess of things. He’s the default choice to play the role of backup for the rest of the 2017 season. After that? Well, it’s time to go back into the draft and look for a signal-caller with a mid-round pick, regardless of what sort of deal Hoyer might be signing with the Patriots.

“It doesn’t seem like a stretch that Hoyer makes the most sense to get you through the rest of the season if you’re the Patriots,” said former NFL scout Dan Hatman. “He’s the easiest person to plug in and move forward with, especially over what will be a relatively small window. He knows the offense and he’s been in the system. I mean, you’re not going to go out and get the heir apparent off the street at this time of year. They’ll use Hoyer, and they’ll go out and get someone in the draft next spring and get him on a whole new rookie contract.

“The really interesting thing is that now, the rest of the league is going to sit up and take notice. Next spring, when it comes to draft needs, New England is going to have ‘quarterback’ as one of them,” he added. “Everyone is going to expect that the Patriots are going to go out and get a quarterback, and they’ll maneuver around that. That piece of gamesmanship will now be in play.”