Patriots Rumors: New Coach Will Have ‘Heavy Hand’ In QB Search

Alex Van Pelt’s tenure with the New England Patriots is still in its infancy, as he was officially hired Thursday, but he’s already being saddled with plenty of responsibility.

Van Pelt will have a “heavy hand in picking” the Patriots’ next quarterback, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.

There’s a lot to unpack in that statement.

It isn’t necessarily a surprise that New England would lean on Van Pelt to help make their choice. Patriots college scouting director Camren Williams told the team’s website Friday that part of scouting is listening to coaches and applying their preferences to the evaluation process. Van Pelt will likely be giving more input than just listing off preferences, however.

The 53-year-old will be bringing a new offense to New England, and with that, he’ll have prerequisites that potential signal-callers will need to meet. It’s unknown what those are so soon into his time with the Patriots, but it can be expected they’ll have an impact on who New England targets in the 2024 NFL Draft — should that be the place it adds a QB.

Van Pelt hasn’t had much experience drafting and developing QBs, as Browns quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and former Packers quarterback Brett Hundley are the two highest-drafted quarterbacks under his watch. They were fifth-round picks.

The Patriots’ next starter doesn’t have to come from the draft, of course. Jacoby Brissett, who Van Pelt worked with in Cleveland in 2022, is an option to bridge New England into the future while using it uses high draft capital to address other needs.

It remains to be seen which direction the Patriots go, but we now know whose voice will be heard throughout the process.