The New England Patriots will have some competition this season for their second-string quarterback. They drafted Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Stidham has a 6-foot-3, 215 pound frame that gives him prototypical NFL size, and he was a two-year starter at Auburn. Although he won’t be starting anytime soon in the league, he is an interesting player for New England.
Here’s three things that Patriots fans should know about Stidham.
1. He played youth football with Patriots’ RB Damien Harris
The Patriots drafted Damien Harris from Alabama in this years’ draft and he happened to play youth football with Stidham in Richmond, KY. Harris is known as a leader and high-character player, so the cohesiveness that he and Stidham have will just bring more comfortability to the locker room.
2. He has similar measurable’s to Jimmy Garoppolo
There is no guarantee that Stidham will bloom into the player that Garoppolo did, but he is sure similar in his measurable’s. Side by side, they are nearly the same exact size and had shockingly similar numbers in their combine drills.
The big difference is that the Patriots pulled the trigger on Garoppolo in the second round and weren’t so high on Stidham. He has a lot to prove and a long way to go before he is considered the next starting quarterback of the Patriots, but he shares traits of a player that could’ve took that role.
3. He holds Auburn’s record for pass attempts without an INT
In 2018, he threw 162 pass attempts without throwing an interception. This beat out Ben Leard’s record of throwing 156 consecutive pass attempts without an interception. Stidham completed 60.7 percent of his passes in 2018 — while throwing for 2,794 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Stidham had a better year in 2017 in terms of yards thrown, and is hoping to build off of that in the NFL. He finished his two years at Auburn with 5,952 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
If there’s one thing that Bill Belichick disapproves of on the football field — it’s turnovers, and Stidham has done a solid job of preventing them.
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