Is Jarrett Stidham more Jimmy Garoppolo or Ryan Mallett?
The answer to that question may dictate whether the Patriots stay in house or look elsewhere if Tom Brady has in fact played his final game in New England.
Garoppolo was the Patriots’ quarterback in waiting until Brady kept thriving and they couldn’t wait anymore, trading him to the 49ers in 2017. Mallett was another Brady backup whose status fizzled when he finally got his shot with the Texans.
Stidham has been working behind the scenes since the Patriots drafted him out of Auburn in the fourth round of the 2019 draft. He even got some reps with the first-team offense during regular-season practices as Brady battled injuries, but most of his work came on scout team.
Even in the short flashes, the 23-year-old has impressed his teammates.
“You see throws out there that he makes where you’re just like, ‘wow,’ ” Patriots safety Duron Harmon told The Providence Journal recently. “You can tell he has the intangibles to be a good pro quarterback.”
“He’s made some great throws in practice where everybody takes notice,” added safety Terrence Brooks. “Like, ‘hey man, this dude is getting really good.’”
In garbage time during his rookie season, Stidham got into three games and one of the four passes he threw was an interception. But he fared better in the preseason, when he completed 67.8 percent of his passes for 731 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.
“I think for me, there’s multiple ways to grow,” Stidham told the newspaper. “Whether it’s mentally, learning the playbook and that sort of thing. That’s been a big thing for me, just trying to learn as much as possible throughout the entire year. I feel like where I am mentally now compared to OTAs, training camp, whatever, there’s a difference there in growth. I’m just trying to continue to do that as much as I can.”
If Brady does leave but the Patriots decide Stidham is not yet ready to step up, here are a few other options they may be left with:
— Teddy Bridgewater: The former (preseason) Jet will be a free agent and showed he can still play while filling in for Drew Brees for five games this season. The 27-year-old completed 67.9 percent of his passes for 1,384 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions as the Saints went 5-0 with him under center. But the Saints may also be looking for a new starting quarterback with Brees’ future up in the air.
— Philip Rivers: The Patriots wouldn’t be getting much younger at quarterback — Rivers is 38, four years younger than Brady — but the free-agent-to-be is a proven commodity, even if he has fallen off in recent years. This season, he completed 66 percent of his passes for 4,615 yards, 23 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.
— Marcus Mariota: Could Bill Belichick and the Patriots try to revive the former Heisman Trophy winner’s career? Mariota lost his starting job this season to Ryan Tannehill, who led the Titans to the playoffs and a wild-card win over the Patriots. The pending free agent is still only 26, but could never break out with the Titans. Before being benched this season, he completed 59.4 percent of his passes for 1,203 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions.
— Cam Newton: A wild-card option but an intriguing one nonetheless if Newton can get healthy again. The Panthers could be open to trading him after Kyle Allen took over for the injured Newton two games into the season. Newton eventually had foot surgery, but if he recovers well and the Panthers’ new coaching staff decides to look elsewhere for their quarterback, what about the dual-threat Newton in New England?