After spending a season learning under the greatest quarterback of all time, Jarrett Stidham soon could be thrust into the spotlight.
It all but surely will be either Stidham or Brian Hoyer under center for the Patriots when they open the 2020 NFL season. The job reportedly is Stidham’s to lose, though New England’s coaching staff plans to throw the kitchen sink at the 2019 fourth-rounder this summer to ensure he’s fit for the role.
Most NFL analysts and coaches likely will tell you Stidham has the raw talent necessary to be a starting quarterback. But as Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner explained to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Stidham won’t be able to make do on talent alone.
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“There’s a big unknown there. That’s the bottom line. I watched Jarrett in college and saw a quarterback who was kind of up and down, all over the place from a consistency standpoint,” Warner told Reiss. “You, of course, saw the talent. So what I’m looking for, and really what I’m always looking for at that position, is consistency.”
Warner continued: “What that looks like can be different (depending on the situation) Think back to when Tom was younger, and Tom was consistent, but he wasn’t consistently great, so to speak. He wasn’t putting up 300 yards and three touchdowns a week. But he was consistently solid in making the right decisions and not putting the team in harm’s way, allowing the people around him to play well, and him managing games.
“I don’t put an expectation on a young quarterback, but what I want to see is consistency to allow his team to have a chance to be successful. You know they are going to have other pieces in place. From there, the other things will start to transpire and you figure out what he is as a quarterback.”
It’s unrealistic to expect Stidham to set the world on fire in the upcoming season. But if the 23-year-old manifests attention to detail and focuses on the little things, he likely will stay in his coaches’ good graces.
