Patriots’ real perception of Jarrett Stidham prior to Tom Brady’s departure

Try to find anyone currently actively associated with the Patriots who will say something Bad about Stidham and you won't find anyone.

The Patriots wanted at least another season to develop Stidham and still have questions about who he is as a quarterback. That's according to Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal. 

Bedard said "How do I know? Well, for starters, multiple team sources told me after the season — well before Brady’s future was known or declared — that the team was pleased where Stidham was (similar to the spot to where Jimmy Garoppolo was after his first season), thought he had a chance to be a good player, but there much unknown about him. All things being equal, he likely needed at least another year of seasoning before really tackling the position."

Now when you go from possibly being a first round quarterback, to a fourth round draft pick; it's quite understandable how a team could still question a players ability after only one season. If only Belichick paid more attention to Brady's breadcrumbs, he would saw Brady leaving and Stidham would've gotten more attention.

People are drawing similarities between Brady and Stidham. Stidham will have to earn his job as there is expected to be a quarterback competition between himself, Hoyer, Smith, and Lewerke. Brady too had to earn his way, he wasn't just given the starting job permanently the day Bledsoe went down, according to our pal Marty Fenn over at Clutch Point.

"Brady was hardly “ready” to become the full-time starter in New England when Drew Bledsoe went down in 2001, but he earned his stripes and thus began one of the greatest careers in NFL history." Wrote Fenn.

The Patriots still have Majority of their number one defense and it would be shocking if the team didn't field a top 5 defense in 2020. Having a good defense will keep Stidham in games and could put him in a lot of pressure situations to lead gaming winning fourth quarter drives, furthering his development.

Expect Bill to open up more of the more mobile air raid plays in his "Air West Spread" system (Air Raid-West Coast-Spread). I expect to see Stidham on a few rollouts, options, RPOs and even designed scrambles from an empty formation. Hell, the wildcat and flexbone both have to be options the way the current roster is set up.

The hardest thing for New England this offseason will be, being patient with Stidham. The team doesn't have a lot of money at the moment and won't until they start making roster moves. Over the cap, who's probably the most accurate team salary calculator has the Patriots currently at $1,196,964 in free cap space. 

The Patriots have several players they could trade to acquire a quarterback. The two most obvious choices are Brissett who has experience in the system but comes with a 7.8 million dollar price tag, or RG3 who has experience starting and only has a $2 million cap hit.

The good news for Patriots Nation is when Brady left and Belichick called out "Next Man Up", although it took a while; four men answered the call. Thus leading to an upcoming quarterback competition. All four are gonna feel the pressure knowing that one wrong move could cost them a roster spot. 

So while the Patriots may have questions about Stidham, while singing his praises; The job is currently his to lose. It's going to be an exciting spring and summer in New England.

Can Stidham become the next franchise quarterback or will someone else step up in 2020?

The Patriots have a hole on their depth chart as one Tom Brady, decided he wanted to be a pirate in Tampa instead of being a Patriot on 'America's team'. Turning his back on Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, The coaching staff, teammates, and most importantly Patriots Nation.

The Patriots had the entire offseason both before, during, and after the draft to bring in a Big Name, High priced contract player. Instead the Patriots decided that their 2019 4th round draft pick, former Patriot Brian Hoyer and two undrafted rookies gave them the best options. 

At the moment Jarrett Stidham is the front runner for the Patriots starting job. The former starting Auburn quarterback became a Patriot in the 4th round of the 2019 draft, after a disappointing 2018 college season.

Matt Miller questioned NFL scouts on Stidham. He wanted to know if Stidham was a cheap option or a valuable option. 

"But is Stidham good or just cheap? 

'He's good.'

Speaking to scouts pre- and post-draft this April, many believe that Stidham was better than Jordan Love as a prospect and would have ranked as the No. 3 or 4 quarterback in the 2020 class—behind only Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa." according Miller.

People forget the prospect rankings after the 2017 season. They forget where players who stayed in college were ranked going into the 2018 college season.

Peter Santo's article from may of 2018 had a tell on Stidham value. "That could change in 2019 however, as CBS Sports is projecting quarterback Jarrett Stidham to go sixth overall to the Miami Dolphins in their early mock draft. The draft order was determined by SportsLine’s win projections for the 2018 NFL season.

The projection does make Stidham the first quarterback to come off the board..."

We all know Auburn was a dumpster fire in 2018 and because such, Stidham went in the 4th round in 2019.

Tylet Sullivan pointed out how good a 2019 Stidham had. "The former fourth-round pick did impress behind the scenes at practice as everyone from Belichick to Josh McDaniels to veterans on the team noted his talent and improvement over the course of the year."

Being over shadowed by Stidham this offseason is the undrafted Player who won a backup job in New England in 2009. Don't over look Brian Hoyer. Hoyer was a key to the Patriots winning superbowl 53 with his scouting. He is one of the most intelligent quarterbacks in the NFL, which he uses to compensate for lack of ability. Hoyer's career has had it's share of hard knocks but he keeps trudging on. 

During the 2019 preseason, Hoyer had a higher completion percentage than Brady (81.8 to 66.7), a better yards per attempt  (9.2 to 6.3), and a better QBR (116.3 to 83.7). 

Understand that Hoyer played against a lot of Backups but Brady also struggled with those same pass catchers in the 2019 season. Hoyer has never been the front man with a New England offense. He's always been the man with the second team or the subpar starting unit elsewhere.

Hoyer's best season came in 2014 when he took a mediocre Browns' team with a below average passing catching group to to a 7-6 record before being shipped to Houston for pulling the Browns out of the basement. 

In 2014 Hoyer completed only 55.3% if his passes to a group worse than the 2019 Patriots pass catching unit. Hoyer game managed and threw 12 touchdowns with a rating of 76.5. What could Hoyer do with a smarter coach and a better OC, like Belichick and McDaniels? Could he complete 60.8% of his passes, throw 24 touchdowns and have a rating of 88 with the 2019 pass catchers? 

If you said it's possible, those were Brady's stats in 2019. Brady also admitted if he doesn't trust a guy, the guy ain't getting the ball. How many times over the years have we seen Brady have a guy wide open and not throw to them? People were always like Brady's vision is slipping but Brady added and then made it clear that it was more likely than not he didn't trust the guy to catch the ball. 

There was a play Patriots Nation talks about where Brady had Hogan deep but didn't throw to him. Was either a playoff game or in a superbowl, if memory serves me. Did Brady think 7-11 was always open because teams didn't think he could catch? Ask yourself, would Hoyer ever ignore open receivers?

The Patriots have two other long shot options at quarterback. The Patriots will have to hope they pencil in the correct bubble to the multiple choice answers to who fills the hole under center.

The Patriots could finish with a pre Brady record and finish .500 or as Tyler Sullivan states, "the Patriots could be skimming right along even as the greatest quarterback of all-time walked out the door."

Is Isaiah Zuber the Steal of the 2020 draft class?

The Patriots Signed slot receiver Isaiah Zuber as an undrafted free agent, to compete for a spot on a now loaded depth chart.

According to Justin Trombino of Musket Fire, Zuber had a solid career before transferring in his final year. "Zuber left Kansas State ranked eighth in school history with the most career receptions (127), tied for 10th place with the most career touchdowns (11), and his 1,321 career receiving yards ranks him 22nd all-time in school history."

In his final season Zuber had 14 catches for 211 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games. Not great. The Patriots had better production from Mahmoud Sanu in less games, against tougher competition. 

The Patriots receivers battled injuries but defenders were sticking to them like fly paper all season long. The Patriots need someone who can get seperation, maybe that is Zuber.

What gives Zuber a shot to make the team is the fact he is a return specialist capable of fielding Punts and Kicks. In his career, he has 33 kick returns, averaging 15.5 yards. He also averaged 16.4 yards with a touchdown on 11 punt returns.

Sportstalkline.com had Zuber as a 3rd round draft pick. While they said he needs to work on his route running and has a slow accelerator, they gave him some praise with his upside.

Zuber's a"Multi-faceted player who lines up on the left, right, at FB and as a QB. His route running is impeccable and therefore stretches the field well. He fights for every ball and is tough to bring down after the catch. A nice sidestep and the ability to find even the smallest gap are huge attributes to have. He puts himself in great positions to make catches and has a never say die attitude to everything he does. An excellent catch radius and a great fend make him almost unstoppable."

If the Patriots got a third round pick in the "Eight round" if you will, there is no reason why the undrafted receiver shouldn't beat out Gunner and possibly leap from Meyers on the depth chart. 

One things is for certain, the Patriots need to improve in both the return game and receiving game. Zuber appears to have the potential but will his abilities translate to the NFL, we'll have to wait and see.

Stidham dancing in the streets as New England Patriots sign undrafted Auburn wideout Will Hastings to a rookie contract.

Calling out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat? Summer's almost here and the time was right for The New England Patriots to sign Auburn receiver, Will Hastings as an undrafted free agent. 

Hastings is a prototypical Patriots slot receiver at 5'10" 174 LBS. In 28 games he caught 56 balls for 845 yards and 6 touchdowns. Not an impressive stat line for a college career. While he didn't impress with his stats, he did have an impressive pro day according to Justin Trombino.

"In addition to having great footwork and skills, Hastings has the necessary speed — he ran a 4.49 40-yard-dash — to get behind the defense for a deep route. He also averaged 15.1 yards per reception for his career despite being a smaller receiver, and is reminiscent of the Houston Texans’ Will Fuller in this regard."

On top of his forty time, he had a 6.55 three cone, a 33" vertical, and a 4.03 shuttle time. Which is going to help on drag, flat, and quick slant passes from the slot.

The Patriots loaded up at the receiver position this offseason. So there is going to be a camp battle. Outside of Edelman and maybe Harry, I don't think anyone else is safe. Hastings will need to play like he's preparing for the superbowl if he wants to make the roster.

While Hastings has the skills the Patriots look for in their slot receivers, although he played two games at special teams; he does not have return experience. While he's waiting to report for camp, whether at Auburn or if he finds Jake Bailey; He needs to try to add that to his repertoire, to equal the playing field with the other undrafted free agents.

Lance Zierlein noted a previous ACL injury in 2018 but he had a few positive to describe Hastings. Mind you that injury is part of why Stidham's draft stick fell.

Zierlein wrote Hastings "Split low with low center of gravity, Makes rhythmic changes of direction on the move. Has burst to separate coming out of speed cuts, Short-area quickness and footwork are his strong suits. Alters route speed at appropriate times, Gets the ball upfield quickly after the catch. Adequate straight-line speed for a slot target, Recruited by four small schools as onside kick specialist." 

Now like every other UDFA, I am sure he has his flaws but as Justin Trombino pointed out, he has one thing going for him the others just weren't fortunate enough to have. 

"Stidham and Hastings were college teammates at Auburn and created great chemistry with each other in the process. They each had the best seasons of their college careers in 2017."

If the chemistry is still there, and If I were a grambling man, I would bet the Patriots are banking on it; He has a huge advantage over almost everyone other than Meyers, Harry and Edelman. I expect him to be practicing with the first team rather quickly.

After Hastings was signed Auburn coach  Malzahn said "the interest from Pats coach and general manager Bill Belichick and his staff had been tangible since at least Auburn's 2019 season..."

The Patriots weren't the only team who had Interest. Matty P and Joe Judge were also interested in the Auburn Slot receiver.

"Gus Malzahn went out of his way to introduce Will Hastings to Lions coach Matt Patricia and Giants coach Joe Judge at Auburn’s Pro Day" according to Tom Green. 

Two of Belichick's former disciples. I'm surprised not to read that Brian Flores wasn't there. Knowing that former Patriots coaches were there to scout a guy Belichick had interest in and signed, is telling of how good of a Prospect Hastings has to be.

People are calling Hastings' fellow UDFA and teammate Zuber the steal of the year but Hastings connection with Stidham might just be an even more valuable accusation for the New England Patriots. 

The Patriots new receivers have big shoes to fill after the camp both Maurice Harris and Dontrelle Inman put on last year, only to get beat out by Meyers and Gunner O. The preseason is just a few short weeks away. Are you ready for some football?

The Cardinals would've selected Stidham, if Murray wasn't their guy.

While I haven't heard anything from Tom Brady, everyone else and their mother, seemingly has some sort of praise for Jarrett Stidham. Kyler Murray's Head Coach, Kliff Kingsbury is the latest to come out in favor of the Patriots former 4th round selection.

Kingsbury recently told Ordway, Merloni & Fauria "I have actually known Jarrett Stidham a long time. I recruited Jarrett Stidham to Texas Tech, He was committed to me for about a year, and so I have always had a high regard of him as a player and as a person. I know they are very high on him up there in New England. I am excited to watch him play. I cheer for Texas kids and I think he has the ability."

Stidham could've lit up the mountain west out in Hawaii, He could've started at Texas Tech but in the end he decided on Baylor and then chose to play for Auburn after taking a year off. 

Kingsbury continued "It is going to be hard to replace the greatest of all-time, but Josh (McDaniels) and those guys up there do a phenomenal job of developing QBs and if they feel confident in him, I feel confident in what they have going on. I am excited to watch him play. Tremendous skill set, great young man, I am really fired up for him to get his opportunity.”

Now there is another more sinister thought behind Kingsbury coming out and praising Stidham. He knows Jarrett's flaws. So if Stidham's got something wrong with his game, it benefits the Cardinals to play him instead of Hoyer on November 29th of this year.

Stidham for one doesn't have Hoyer's experience. That's the first weakness but what else have we over looked in the 4th round backup quarterback? When an opponent praises you, you have to over analyze everything. I am sure Stidham is going over everything to make sure he's ready for the upcoming season.

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

Did Lightning Strike Twice

Did the Patriots strike lightning twice with the 133rd pick of the 2019 NFL draft? Stidham went in the fourth round but if he had not returned for the 2018 college season, would he of been a first round quarterback? Stidham also got the advantage of not only learning from Tom Brady but getting to practice with the first string offense. But going back to 2018, what did the analysts have to say?

“I think Stidham, when he was at Baylor and then Auburn, it showed that he could — at one point, I thought he could be a first- or second-round pick, so he’s got talent,” Kiper said. “I don’t think he gets out of the third round. It wouldn’t shock me if he went mid-to-late second, so he’s going to be up there.”

https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/auburn-football/jarrett-stidham-mel-kiper-nfl-draft-2019/

CBS Sports had Stidham being the sixth overall pick of 2018. Sixth, that's huge.  https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2018/05/stidham-projected-as-early-draft-pick-in-early-mock-draft

"In 2017, Stidham looked like a lock to be a first-round quarterback."

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2823983-jarrett-stidham-nfl-draft-2019-scouting-report-for-new-england-patriots-pick

"As we’ve reached Draft Day, it’s time to take a look at maybe the best possibility for Auburn to get a first-round pick. Now, he’s not projected there, but somebody could decide they need a quarterback, and the guy with all the arm talent in the world may just fall into someone’s lap." Brian Spurlock https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2019/4/25/18515799/jarrett-stidham-draft-profile

“He went from being in that first-round discussion — and all that stuff is so early — but he had that potential. And he still has that potential,” Russell Brown, a national scout for cover1.net

https://heavy.com/sports/2019/01/jarrett-stidham-nfl-draft-projection-stock-update-auburn/

"I stamped Stidham as a potential first-round pick entering the season, but the strong-armed passer suffered through an error-prone 2018 campaign." Tony Pauline

https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/pauline-noah-fant-makes-his-case-to-be-the-first-tight-end-drafted

In 2017 Stidham completed 66.5% of his 370 passes. He threw for 3158 yards averaging 8.8 yards per completion. He threw for 18 touchdowns and 6 Interceptions with a 151 rating. Stidham looked like a star. 

So what happened in 2018 that made Jarrett Stidham appear to regress? The Answer is Auburn decided to run an offense set more for the likes of Lamar Jackson or Kyle Murray. While Stidham has some mobility, he is not Doug Flutie. Stidham did what was asked of him and got the advantage of learning a new style offense.

In 2018 he completed 60.7 of his 369 passes. He threw for 2794 yards but only 7.6 per reception. Throwing for another 18 Touchdowns with 5 interceptions and a rating of 137.7, a slight decline from 2017. Stidham had 72 runs for 1 yard, which is bad because he had averaged 1.5 yards per carry and 4 touchdowns the previous year.

When asked about Stidham's 2018 regression, a scout for a NFC team said this: "That was a really dysfunctional offense this year. The offensive line was bad, the receivers couldn't get open and the coaching was a big problem, I thought. He didn't play well, but he didn't get much help either." https://www.nfl.com/prospects/jarrett-stidham?id=32195354-4912-9837-7193-9c8d8376b821

As members of Patriots Nation, we know the benefits Stidham had of sitting behind and studying Tom Brady. We know the benefits he had of practicing with the first string. We also know he developed chemistry with Meyers. What we don't know is did he develop chemistry with the first string. We don't know if his 2018 college season was his fault, and we don't know if a first round quarterback was selected with the 133rd pick of the 2019 NFL draft. Tom Brady is gone, are we sure we want to write off Stidham as the heir to the throne?