Stidham Will Get Opportunity But Will He Take Advantage

Chris Mason of Mass live wrote an article: "New England Patriots are going to give Jarrett Stidham every opportunity, Says former executive Mike Lombardi". By now we should all know this but let's dive in and see what the article had to say.

“We’re learning that because people are on television, me included, there is a sense of opinion, Todd is giving his opinion. He has every right to give his opinion because ESPN pays him for his opinion. What you try to do is base some of your opinions on facts. Where I think Todd, unless he knows somebody in that building, I don’t know if he has any facts to his opinion.” - Mike Lombardi 

For anyone with intelligence this is common sense. As Patriots fans, we know nothing gets out unless the team wants it to and it's never the big picture. Television personalities have to play a character. If they don't draw in ratings, they don't have a job. They might have some intelligence, they might be good at story telling but they don't care how accurate their opinions are. 

Lombardi wasn't done. “I think Stidham is way better than Todd does. I think Stidham was a better college player, Now, do I think the Patriots could easily go out and sign Cam Newton? Yeah, I think there is no doubt they could easily go out and sign Cam Newton. I think if they could sign Jameis Winston, if he didn’t have some of the off-the-field stuff with him I think they would probably go out and sign Jameis Winston."

Jarrett Stidham prior to the 2018 college season was looked at as a first round pick. CBS had him going sixth overall in the 2019 draft before a bad 2018 college season. In 2017 Stidham completed 66.5% of his passes for 3158 yards. Throwing 18 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

Stidham had a number of things go wrong that were out of his control. In fact as we know stats don't always tell the tale and the same reasons Patriots nation has made for Brady over the last two seasons can be made for Stidham's 2018 Colgate season, where Stidham's stat line read 60.7% completion percentage for 2794 yards. Throwing 18 touchdowns and 5 Interceptions. 

Another thing to consider is the Patriots only have little over $800,000 in cap space. The team cannot afford their draft picks at the moment regardless if they plan on drafting a quarterback or not. There is no way at the moment that they are signing a Cam Newton or Jameis Winston. However, that is another story.

Back to Lombardi "That being said, they’re going to give Stidham every opportunity. Where I think Todd misses the boat here a little bit is that they’re not all-in on Stidham. Stidham is going to have to earn it. Where they’re not being blinded by Stidham. They’re not being the Mitchell Trubisky, MVP Mitch, and just saying, ‘OK it’s your job.’ They’re going to go in with an open mind. That, to me, is more important than anything.”

Of course Stidham is going to earn his job. Nobody is handed anything in New England. Doesn't matter how long you been with the team. Now keep in mind Stidham gained valuable experience sitting behind and studying Tom Brady. He also got a year to practice against a top five defense with the first string. There's no reason not to take a chance on Stidham for a season to see if he has the It factor. Hoyer wasn't just brought into hold a clip board. Hoyer is there to remind Stidham that his job is in jeopardy. Best case scenario the Patriots go 11-5, win the east and are back in the hunt. Worst case, they're in a position to trade up for Trevor in 2021. It's a win - win situation for the Patriots 

Mike Lombardi: Patriots are going to give Jarrett Stidham every opportunity

https://www.thescore.com/s/14119753