It seems everyone is crowning Jarrett Stidham as the next quarterback for the New England Patriots. (I, too, am guilty of this assumption.) And on Tuesday, NFL Network’s Mike Giardi affirmed what seems to be common knowledge: the Patriots want Stidham to win the job.
Stidham will be in competition with Brian Hoyer and undrafted rookies J’Mar Smith and Brian Lewerke after the departure of Tom Brady for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency. But with a shortened offseason, the Patriots may be more interested in someone with experience, not just in terms of games played but also in time spent in New England’s offense.
“I think Brian Hoyer will be the starter Week 1 and I say that because the quarterback position is one of the most important for reps under center, seeing defensive looks, looking at coverage, understanding the offense,” former Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovich said Friday on ESPN’s “Get Up.” “…Look, they’re not practicing right now. There’s no minicamp, there’s no offseason, there’s no training camp. We don’t know when that’s going to happen.
“So if you have a veteran quarterback who has been in the system, understands what to expect what an NFL season is like, you’re gonna want to go with a guy who has the veteran leadership (and) also what it takes to be in that building. Look, when you’re a second-year player, you really don’t realize what a season’s like as a starter. You don’t understand what it’s going to take, and not having an offseason does not help. So, Brian Hoyer will be the starter Week 1.”
New England will make Stidham’s path to the starting quarterback job difficult. They’re going to put every obstacle in his way. And if the coronavirus pandemic creates too many obstacles, the Patriots may turn to Hoyer to open the season, if only because they’ll consider him a more reliable option, at least at first.
