Well here’s the thing, having a “deep threat”, for lack of a better term, is desirable simply because of physics. The best offenses are those that will stress a defense on all levels.
But as the bread-and-butter of the offense – protection, quick reads and quick throws are tough to stop because every defensive call has a weakness. A quarterback who can identify the defense and make the correct throw is far more dangerous than one who can throw it 60 yards on a rope to a streaking speed demon.
The 2007 offense was special unto itself, but outside of that one season, the Pats offense has really been one of efficiency – spreading the ball around to the open receiver.
We’re getting into “Brady is a system quarterback” here, but as I’ve written before, the ideal is to have a system and quarterback that perfectly compliment each other.
Two things I will say is that I don’t think Belichick thinks a quarterback who can run really well is the future of the game, nor is the Drew Bledsoe/Ryan Mallett model.