Patriots Draft Potential Tom Brady Successor in Auburn's Jarrett Stidham
The New England Patriots selected Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham with the 133rd overall pick of the 2019 NFL draft on Saturday.
The selection marks the second year in a row that New England has drafted an SEC quarterback to sit behind Tom Brady after taking LSU quarterback Danny Etling in Round 7 of the 2018 draft.
With Brady, a six-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Super Bowl MVP, still under center for at least a few more years, Stidham will have plenty of time to learn from the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer. Many analysts see similarities between the two similarly sized, pass-first signal callers.
Stidham joins the defending Super Bowl champions after spending two years as the Tigers starter. Stidham is the sixth Auburn quarterback to be drafted and the first to do so since former Heisman winner and national champion Cam Newton went No. 1 overall to the Carolina Panthers in 2011. He's the second Auburn player to be picked in this year's draft after cornerback Jamel Dean was drafted in the third round by the Buccaneers.
The 6'3", 215-pound quarterback began his college career at Baylor before transferring to Auburn. Stidham earned SEC newcomer of the year honors during his sophomore campaign. He threw for 5,952 yards on 63.6% completion for 36 touchdowns to 11 interceptions during his two years under center for the Tigers. The Stephenville, Texas native finished his career with five 300-yard passing games at Auburn.
The Tigers went 18–9 under Stidham, who leaves Auburn ranked third in program history in career completion percentage, fourth in career completions (470) and sixth in career passing yards and touchdowns.
Stidham will join Arizona State wide receiver N'Keal Harry, Vanderbilt cornerback Joejuan Williams and more in New England as part of this year's draft class.
