Bill Belichick's Remarks Might Tell Us When He Wants to Draft QB This Year

While it might have just been a general analysis, Bill Belichick may have hinted at where he wants to select a quarterback in the 2020 Draft.

Now that one report has solidified that the New England Patriots intend to draft a quarterback in this year's draft, there is one word that can be used to ask one of the remaining questions: When?

Asking "Who?" seems like a waste of time since Bill Belichick - based on his remarks from Monday's conference call - seems to be open-minded as he tries to find his next starting quarterback whose skill set he plans to "take advantage" of no matter what that QBs range of abilities is. The Patriots have grown a reputation for building around their player's strengths, which means if a QB is talented enough, New England will revamp their offensive scheme around that player's skill set, whether it's a pocket passer or a dual-threat player or anything in-between. 

So while we can't determine which quarterback New England will select in the draft next week based on the player's skill set, what we might be able to figure out is when the Patriots will aim to select one. 

When asked about his evaluation for this year's quarterback class, here is what Belichick said during Monday's conference call:

"There are always a variety of things you have to try to put together and look at, but certainly there's a lot of interesting players and guys who have really good arms, can really throw the ball and some very athletic players, some players that have won a lot of games and have shown their competitiveness and instinctiveness. So, interesting group and probably one that has decent depth to it."

The part of that quote to take note of is the final sentence. Belichick said that this year's QB class has "decent depth to it". While it very well could be a general observation by Belichick based on all the homework him and his staff have done since January, the Patriots head coach could be hinting at where he may be looking to draft a quarterback this year.

If Belichick believes this year's quarterback class has decent depth to it, then he may be able to draft a potential starter in the third or fourth rounds. That seems like an ideal spot for the six-time Super Bowl champions to select one, since they have one 1st round pick, no 2nd round pick, three 3rd round picks and one 4th round pick. 

If New England wanted to draft a QB with their highest pick in the 3rd round - which is the 87th overall pick - they may be looking at a player like Georgia's Jake Fromm or Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts, though there's a chance either of those players are gone by then. If they wanted to select one with the 98th or 100th overall selections, or even with their 4th round pick at 125th overall, they may be looking at a quarterback like Washington State's Anthony Gordon, FIU's James Morgan, Iowa's Nate Stanley, or Oregon State's Jake Luton. 

The more enticing selections for those outside Belichick's war room would likely be Fromm or Hurts, as it looks like the talent at the position takes a dip once those players are off the board. Even though Fromm and Hurts have very different skill sets, as mentioned before, Belichick seems more worried about the talent level rather than the skill set as his team begins the post-Tom Brady era. 

While we don't know if either Fromm or Hurts are on Belichick's radar at all, the selection of one of them would make plenty of sense. But then again, Belichick has the capability of turning a late round draft pick into a star, as we saw with Tom Brady, so what do we know.