It’s one thing to be the rightful heir to a throne, but it’s another thing entirely to be worthy of the throne.
Well, in Jarrett Stidham, the New England Patriots just might have both.
Stidham, whom the Patriots drafted 133rd pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, has impressed throughout training camp and the preseason. The Auburn product has looked poised, in command of the offense and, perhaps most importantly, deadly accurate.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, the Patriots are awfully high on the 23-year-old quarterback.
From this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback column:
“The Patriots think they have something in rookie QB Jarrett Stidham, and if you’ve been following, you shouldn’t be surprised. This is a classic New England pick—a talented, smart player who’s undervalued because of his college circumstances—and isn’t unlike the team’s swing at Danny Etling last year. In June 2018, QBs coach Jordan Palmer told me, “Jarrett Stidham is a kid that I’ve worked with for a long time, really, really high on him. He can make every throw, and looks the part, been through adversity early in his life, handled it well and he’s playing big-time ball.
“Others reiterated how resilient Stidham was, and how he’d been exposed to big business (his now-wife is the daughter of the Houston Rockets CEO), and how he threw the prettiest ball in the draft. He just had a down year in 2018 in an offense ill-fit for his talents. But that didn’t change some scouts from maintaining the belief that on raw ability, Stidham could’ve been a top-half-of-the-first-round pick. And because some of that’s showing up now, the Patriots could have a really interesting call to make on Brian Hoyer, who’s been a great resource to Tom Brady and even the New England defense over the last couple years.”
Obviously, none of this means that Stidham is bound for relevance, let alone greatness. However, the surprising development of Stidham should give Patriots fans hope that all may not be lost once Tom Brady finally decides to retire.
Or, you know, maybe Stidham will look like trash Thursday night against the New York Giants and go on to be a total nobody.
