As expected, the New England Patriots took a quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft. At first, they were assumed to be using the No. 32 pick to take in a signal-caller who will someday replace veteran quarterback Tom Brady. Earlier, the Patriots were connected to Duke’s Daniel Jones, Will Grier of West Virginia, and Drew Lock of Missouri. The New York Giants eventually took Jones with the No. 6 overall pick, Lock was selected No. 42 overall by the Denver Broncos and Grier was the fifth quarterback taken in the 2019 NFL Draft, going to the Carolina Panthers as the No.

100 overall pick.

The Patriots, for their part, used the No. 32 pick to add another target for Brady in wide receiver N’Keale Harry. After using the No. 45, No. 77, No. 87, No. 101, and No. 118 picks to address the team’s other needs, the Patriots finally selected a quarterback, taking in Jarrett Stidham of Auburn as the No. 133 overall pick.

In his sophomore year, Stidham threw for 3,158 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2017. The following year, Stidham saw a dip in his performance, completing just 60.7 percent of his passes for 2,794 yards and 18 touchdowns with five interceptions in 2018. Stidham boosted his draft stock a bit when he threw for 373 yards and five touchdown passes in their 63-14 win over Purdue in the Music City Bowl.

The drop in Stidham’s performance did not deter the Patriots from taking him in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

College coach believes Stidham will succeed

Auburn head football coach Gus Malzahn believes that the Patriots got the steal of the 2019 NFL Draft in Stidham. Malzahn is convinced that his former signal-caller got what it takes to succeed in the NFL for a long time.

Earlier, Malzahn proclaimed Stidham as a potential first-round pick following his outstanding 2017 season, but the drop in his performance the following year affected his draft stock.

Stidham will begin his NFL career fourth on the Patriots’ depth chart behind Brady, backup Brian Hoyer, and Danny Etling, whom New England picked in the seventh round last season.

If Stidham lives up to his billing, we will see the end of Etling’s stint with the Patriots. According to Doug Kyed of NESN, the Patriots could waive Etling by mid-June or before training camp opens in late July. Hoyer’s job is also on the line if Stidham impresses the Patriots coaching staff during training camp.

Patriots trade tight end to Seahawks

The Patriots desperately need a dependable tight end following the retirement of Rob Gronkowski. However, the Patriots traded one of the tight ends (Jacob Hollister) on their roster to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2020 seventh-round draft pick, according to NFL.com. With the trade, the Patriots now have Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Matt LaCosse, Ryan Izzo, Stephen Anderson, and rookie free-agent pickup Andrew Beck as tight ends.
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