Jarrett Stidham's 2020 Fantasy Outlook Has Fans Split on How to Feel About QB

Patriots fans seem torn on how they should feel about Jarrett Stidham given his fantasy outlook for the 2020 season.

We're all trying to predict how the New England Patriots will fare in the 2020 season without Tom Brady. We don't really have much else to do anyway. But to figure this out, it's wise to hone in on the team's current quarterback situation, as the next starting quarterback's performance will weigh heavily on how the team performs in the upcoming season. 

The quarterback that is projected to be the starter for New England in 2020 is 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham. With veteran Brian Hoyer, and UDFA's J'Mar Smith and Brian Lewerke also on the depth chart, it's clear that the Patriots intentionally didn't add anyone to the roster that would compete with Stidham for the starting job, so Stidham - unless he crumbles during the preseason and Hoyer is named the starter Week 1 - is the successor to Brady for the time being. 

One way to gauge how Stidham will perform as the starter is fantasy projections, which ESPN just rolled out earlier this week. 

Here is Stidham's projected stat line for the 2020 season, per ESPN Fantasy:

Completion %	Passing Yards	Passing TDs	Interceptions	Rush Attempts	Rushing Yards	Rushing TDs
Jarrett Stidham	64%	3,560	19	12	46	193	2

To understand how Patriots nation feels about this type of performance from Stidham this upcoming season, I ran a poll on Twitter asking the question, "Would you be happy if Stidham performed this way?"

Here were the results from the poll:

Yes: 39.8%

No: 24.6 %

Meh: 35.6%

Overall, the fan base seems split on how to feel about the second-year QB if he were to produce in that fashion. It's understandable, as that stat line is about as average as you can get for a starting NFL quarterback. 

To put Stidham's stat line into perspective, here are some starting quarterbacks that had similar passing stat lines last season:

Completion %	Passing Yards	Passing TDs	Interceptions
Sam Darnold	61.9	3,024	19	13
Mitchell Trubisky	63.2	3,138	17	10
Kyler Murray	64.4	3,722	20	12

I will leave it up to you determine whether you're okay with Stidham being lumped into that kind of company. But what's really important about Stidham's projected stat line is that we provide context. 

If the Patriots were to win the division and make the playoffs, then that mediocre stat line would likely be viewed as progress for a former Day 3 pick that hadn't played meaningful snaps in the NFL until this year and had to face a tough schedule in 2020. However, if New England fell short of a division title and possibly even a playoff berth, the finger would likely be pointed at Stidham for falling short of those things.  

While this is just one more way to try and guess how Stidham will perform as the Patriots' starting quarterback, it still doesn't seem to give Patriots nation as a whole a definitive stance on how to feel about the Auburn product.