Who will replace Tom Brady as quarterback of the New England Patriots in 2020?
No one really knows at the moment, but the leader in the clubhouse is Jarrett Stidham, a second-year player who the Patriots selected in the fourth round out of Auburn. He did not see much action at all last season, appearing in four games and going 2-for-7 passing with 14 yards and a pick-6.
But, all reports said he showed good development on the practice field and did a decent job filling in for Brady when he couldn't handle a full workload.
What does Bill Belichick think?
Here's a compilation of his quotes regarding Stidham over the last year or so.
Jan. 5, 2020 - End of season press conference when asked about Stidham's progress during the year
"I think all of our rookies made good, solid progress. They're a lot better than they were when they got here. I thought that they, generally speaking, took advantage of their opportunities. There were some ups and downs, like there always are with those players, but overall, I'd say as a group they would all fall into the same category. I wouldn't want to single anybody out, but I'd say they all fall into that same category – learned a lot on the field, learned a lot off the field, learned a lot about preparation and, in the opportunities that they had, were a lot better than they were when they started off doing, even in training camp and in the preseason games. So, I think there was a lot of growth and a long way to go as well."
Dec. 17, 2019 - Asked about how Brady missing time impacts practice for other quarterbacks
"I mean, those guys are always ready to go and it's an opportunity for them. You know, it's hard to practice three quarterbacks, and there have been a couple examples where Tom hasn't been able to do a lot this year. So, that's given Stid [Jarrett Stidham] an opportunity to go with the first group, and run our plays and run our offense, and that's been good for him. That's given Cody [Kessler] an opportunity to run more of the scout-team plays because Jarrett's not taking those. So, again, quarterbacks are always looking for more work. So, they've taken advantage of it and I think it's helped.
"I mean, you don't always want to do it that way. Sometimes it's best to do things that way, and then that's good for everybody. But, you know, we want everybody out there as healthy as they can be. So, that's ultimately the goal, but it's not always that way. Certainly that's a better scenario than having just two quarterbacks, so that then one guy has to take everything. Not that he can't take it, it's the National Football League, but mentally going from a defensive period to an offensive period, to a defensive period to an offensive period – not really the best – it's not as conducive to high-level execution in either one. But, sometimes that's what it is and so you have to adjust."
Oct. 23, 2019 - Midseason check-in on the rookie's progress
"Yeah, good. Jarrett is a smart kid. He picks things up very quickly. He has a good grasp of the offense given where he is in his career. He's handled everything we've thrown at him. In practice, he does a good job. He gets a lot of passes on our defense and when he has the opportunity to get the offensive snaps, he's prepared and does a good job of those. But you know, it's always different in the game. I think he's doing all he can do."
Oct. 4, 2019 - State of quarterback position after bringing in Cody Kessler
"Cody's done a nice job for us. He's really smart. He's come in here, he's learned. He's out there calling plays, signaling receivers, making adjustments like he's been here longer than the two weeks or whatever it is. He's picked things up very quickly and has a good rapport with all of the players and is willing to do whatever we've asked him to do. He works extremely hard.
"[Jarrett] Stidham's made a lot of progress, continues to and Tom [Brady] gives us, obviously, a lot of great leadership out there and energy on the field. It's not really a management thing. They're all contributing. I'm glad they're all on the team. I hope we only have to play one but you never know."
Sept. 25, 2019 - Confidence level in Stidham
"Jarrett's been with us all the way through, has practiced every day. He's gotten intermittently a lot of reps in the offense depending on the situation from week to week, the preseason, regular season. Again, depending on what we we're doing at that particular point in time whether it be preseason games or training camp practices or regular season practices. Yeah, he's come along well."
May 10, 2019 - First impressions of Stidham (from Josh McDaniels)
"I met Jarrett when he came here on his pre-draft visit and it's basically the same. He's a very consistent guy, smart, good personality. He asks good questions, has a mind for football. He's a sponge right now, trying to soak up everything he can. He has a good demeanor and I'm looking forward to getting out there on the field and having an opportunity to work with him actually playing the position today."
While it's always risky to base opinions of players on what Belichick says, it would appear the coach has some faith in Stidham. Is he ready to start Week 1? No one really knows, so it is likely the team will add a veteran on a minimum deal, but it does seem the team feels there's something there with the second-year QB.
