As far as accuracy goes, Stidham's accuracy is comparable to Tagovailoa's. Stidham's loss of pass catchers and offensive linemen in 2018 hurt his completion percentage. However, Stidham's pass catchers were subpar to begin with at Auburn.
Over Stidham's college career, he played with lesser talent. Looking at the rosters, I must ask who Stidham played with at Auburn, because they really were misfits. Juedy and Irv Smith were big time weapons but those weren't the only weapons at Alabama. In that aspect, I give that to Chris Simms, Tua was aided by better pass catchers.
Another stat that bodes well for Chris Simms' statement is that in 2015, of quarterbacks who dropped back over 100 times, Stidham lead them with a 143 rating. Had Stidham of stayed at Baylor would his stats of been better, one must ask.
One thing that has been proven again and again, is the system a player plays in can make or break them. Stidham chose to play at Auburn when he returned to football. Granted after 2017 he was one of the best quarterbacks in college. He still made a bad choice for his development.
By choosing Auburn, Stidham chose his fate. When Stidham played with Cory Coleman, college star at Baylor; his stats reflected that. He chose to play with lesser talent at Auburn and he paid for it.
In June of 2018, Chris Johnson and Eric Single of Sports illustrated ranked Stidham ahead of Tagovailoa. They ranked Tua at 84 and Stidham at 83 but why?
Tua will get "help from a trio of gifted sophomore wideouts (Jerry Jeudy, Devonta Smith, Henry Ruggs III)..." Stidham they ranked ahead because of "a sterling 17–4 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a win over Alabama to clinch the SEC West...." "and his consistency and aversion to mistakes edges him in front of his Crimson Tide counterpart."
Stidham without offensive line and receiving help in 2018 completed over 60% of his passes and threw on 5 touchdowns. Which is not bad for a guy with no offensive help. (Imagine what a Patriots quarterback would look like with no offensive line and no weapons.)
Ryan Hannable of WEEI wrote that Stidham was ranked one of the best quarterbacks in the country coming out of High School. He was a sought after prospect. In fact Stidham was a five star recruit.
"The high school class of 2015 had some outstanding quarterbacks — Kyler Murray, Kelly Bryant, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Jarrett Stidham just to name a few.
And according to ESPN’s 300 rankings, Stidham was the No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the entire country, trailing only Murray. The Stephenville High School (Texas) star was ranked ahead of players who have proven themselves at the NFL level in Darnold and Jackson."
In 2018 ESPN ranked Jarrett Stidham the 10th best player in college football, Tua was ranked 11th.
Heading into 2018, USA today also had Stidham a head of Tua. They listed Tua as "a pure talent" but said it Stidham's ability to put the ball where only his receivers could get it, was why he was ranked higher.
"Throws in college football, or any level of football, is a hard throw to defend if it’s placed perfectly and Jarrett can throw it perfectly.”
Basically going strictly off throwing the ball, Stidham was the more talented of the two men; according most analysts going into 2018.
Dennis Dodd of CBS in June of 2018 had Stidham as a top 10 college quarterback along with Jake Fromm, Ryan Finley, Will Grier, Drew Lock, Justin Herbert, and a few others. Tua wasn't one of them. Mind you, it was CBS who also projected Stidham would be the first quarterback off the Board in 2019; prior to the 2018 season.
While NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah had Tua as a top 3 talent in the 2020 NFL draft, he said this about Stidham, "this year I would say, if you just go off of talent, he’d be in the conversation as the fourth or fifth guy.”
I'll assume by talent he's basing it solely off the eye test and what the quarterbacks did with the talent around them, while ignoring the talent level around them. Don't get me wrong, Tua was my number two fit for the Patriots at quarterback in the draft. I have nothing against Tua.
However, I bring that up the Jeremiah because ESPN, Sports Illustrated, And USA Today all had Stidham as the more talented quarterback over Tua going into the 2018 season. CBS just had him as the better all around quarterback entering the 2018 season. So an NFL analyst ranking him just after Tua is something.
So take Chris Simms' evaluation with a grain salt but also look at the situations, talent levels, and coaching staffs around both players during their college careers. Ask yourself, did Tua really out play Stidham or was Stidham set up to fail by his own choices and was Tua a product of Alabama?
The best thing Stidham did by choosing Auburn, was selecting a school of a player that Belichick had already been scouting since High school; in receiver Will Hastings. That decision got him selected by Belichick and a year to learn from Tom Brady.
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