Belichick Discusses Patriots Current Quarterback Situation, Potential QB Prospects In Draft
BOSTON (CBS) -- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick touched on Tom Brady briefly during his Monday afternoon conference call, but his focus right now is on New England's current quarterback situation. The coach said he has a pretty good idea of what Jarrett Stidham could bring to the table in 2020 -- but there is still going to be a competition for New England's starting job.
Stidham, whom Belichick used a fourth-round pick on in last year's draft, has thrown just four passes in NFL action. One of those passes was picked off and returned for a touchdown in some garbage time duty for the rookie QB against the New York Jets. It's not fair to judge the 23-year-old on those four passes, especially since he was impressive during the preseason last year, but that's all the NFL film we've got on the kid.
At the moment, Stidham and veteran Brian Hoyer make up New England's QB room, and both would love to be the team's starter when Week 1 rolls around in September. Belichick confirmed Monday that the competition at the position is open for both quarterbacks, a competition that he and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will be locked into whenever football returns to action.
"We spent quite a bit of time with both Brian and Stid. I think we have a pretty good grip -- Josh and myself -- we have a pretty good feel for both of those players," said Belichick. "We'll see how everything plays out, but again, to start with, I think the main thing is to give everyone a chance to compete, to get people comfortable with the position and the skills that they're playing, the communication that's involved. We'll evaluate the players as we get an opportunity to evaluate them.
"Right now, the spring is about teaching the best that we can. At whatever point we get a chance to get on the field and participate and play, that's what we'll do," Belichick continued. "Not sure exactly how that's going to go. Once we figure it out, then we'll go from there."
Belichick acknowledged that for the last 20 years, the Patriots did everything with Tom Brady in mind. That will now shift to the best interest of Stidham's or Hoyer's -- or potentially another quarterback the Patriots take in next week's NFL Draft.
"I don't see that [approach] changing. Whoever the quarterback is we're going to try to make things work smoothly and efficiently for that player," said Belichick. "Get the most for his skills and strengths."
As for potentially taking a quarterback next week, Belichick would only say that there are a lot of "interesting" prospects at the position.
"Similar to most years, there is quite a range of players and some of the systems that they played in in college," he said. "Each guy has his own set of skills, own circumstances and some players who have played well over a sustained period of time, some who had an exceptional year in the past year or two, some 2019 or 2018, and for whatever the reasons were, the two years didn't match up.
"But that's the way it always is. There's always a variety of things you have to put together and look at," he continued. "But a lot of interesting players and guys with some really good arms, who can really throw the ball, who are really athletic."
New England owns 12 picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, and will likely add another quarterback at some point over the three-day event.
