passer in the Patriots’ system but will he develop the way we hope him to?"WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementNFL DraftPatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots 2019 NFL Draft CoverageWhat fourth-round quarterback Jarrett Stidham can bring to the PatriotsNew http://www.patriotslockerroom.com/authentic-josh-gordon-jersey ,25commentsAuburn’s quarterback has the tools to be a decent passer in the Patriots’ system but will he develop the way we hope him to?EDTShareTweetShareShareWhat fourth-round quarterback Jarrett Stidham can bring to the PatriotsMarvin Gentry-USA TODAY SportsJarrett Stidham was selected by the Patriots in the fourth-round of the NFL draft on Saturday, and there’s been a lot of buzz regarding him being the potential ‘successor’ to Tom Brady. Stidham is now the fourth quarterback taken by the Patriots in the last six drafts and is the second-highest drafted at 133, only behind Jacoby Brissett, who went 91 in 2016. I’m not a future-teller so I can’t confirm that he’ll take over the reign once #12 hangs them up. However, when looking at more of Stidham’s background, the pick seems more and more intriguing.Stidham started his college year at Baylor before transferring to Auburn through McLennan Community College. All in all, he started in 30 games in three years (2015, 2017 and 2018) at Baylor and Auburn, and finished his career with a 20-10 record. When looking at his stats in college Antonio Garcia Jersey , he had a 48-to-13 touchdown-to-interception ratio, so he hasn’t been known to turn the ball over, something we know Bill Belichick values in all of his players. The one thing that stands out is Stidham’s completion percentage: he completed 64.3% of his 848 college attempts. His career-low 60.7% completion percentage this past season was due to an interesting Auburn offense that was more of a run-first unit and had him get out of the pocket faster than needed, more so due to poor pass protection. Furthermore, his receivers dropped plenty of catchable balls.Stidham excelled as a game manager and when it came to completing passes on short routes across the field (in this regard, he seems to fit the Patriots offense just fine). However, he also struggled a bit with his downfield passing as he sometimes overthrew receivers down the field and had trouble fitting the ball into tight windows.While it’s been said that ‘you can't teach accuracy’ Stidham definitely has the potential to improve, mainly because of his mechanics and the way the ball comes out of his hands: one thing that really stood out to me when watching his tape was his release. When speaking about the Patriots’ fourth-rounder, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said that he threw the ‘best ball’ in the draft. He indeed has got smooth mechanics and the ball comes out very pretty off his hand.Stidham is definitely a project and who knows what his ceiling is Womens Julian Edelman Jersey , but when you have Tom Brady continuing to play at the level he is, there is room to take a shot in the dark at someone like Stidham. The Patriots’ offense and system seem to fit his style of play pretty well and with a few years of learning and development, it will be interesting to see how he pans out. When the New England Patriots hosted the Kansas City Chiefs in week six of the regular season, their defense surrendered 40 points and 446 yards. While the final numbers are anything but impressive, the unit actually played a sound game in the first half: it was able to challenge second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes with diverse blitz packages and exotic looks and forced two interceptions.Mahomes, of course, went off in the second half and nearly brought Kansas City back to win the game before a last-second field goal decided it in New England’s favor. But the plan for the Patriots was established against the likely league MVP: take advantage of his inexperience. Kent Swanson, who covers the Chiefs as a film analyst for our sister site Arrowhead Pride, agrees that New England might find success that way.“His biggest weakness this year has been his inexperience http://www.patriotslockerroom.com/authentic-sony-michel-jersey , and you saw that with these two teams’ first match up,” said Kent when he spoke with Pats Pulpit earlier this week about the two teams’ upcoming matchup. “The Patriots threw some looks at him he hadn’t seen before and it took him a half to get settled into that game. Our guess is New England will have some unscouted looks to try and catch him.”New England certainly needs to play its best and most creative football in order to keep the 24-year old in check. After all, Mahomes has had a very good first full season as the Chiefs’ starter. “Mahomes has been so productive because of his success when the play breaks down,” Kent said about him. “If he doesn’t see the play perfectly or if the protection breaks down, Mahomes has been able to make a play outside of structure.”But while the quarterback and the passing game attached to him take center stage when talking about the Chiefs’ league-leading offense, the team’s running game can also not be overlooked. Even though Kansas City parted ways with Kareem Hunt in late November, the team’s ground game did not skip a beat. One of the reasons for that, is of course the productivity of the Chiefs’ passing game and it freeing up things on the ground.“The majority of the Chiefs’ run plays have a passing concept attached to it,” he said when talking about Kansas City’s rushing attack. “They are a run-pass option heavy team Joe Thuney Jersey , so the defense often dictates the frequency at which they hand the ball off. That being said, they found success on the grand last week against the Colts. Damien Williams has been great since he has been given the majority of snaps.”Williams, the Chiefs’ new lead back, is not the only skill position player to keep an eye on today. Kansas City has All-Pro talent at wide receiver and tight end as well in Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, respectively, as well as other big play weapons with wide receivers Sammy Watkins and Chris Conley. This pick-your-poison attack poses a threat to every defense in the NFL, so what should the Patriots do?“We at Arrowhead Pride discussed this on our podcast The AP Laboratory this week,” said Kent about the matchups for New England’s defense against Kansas City’s plethora of weapons. “Our guess is that Stephon Gilmore will line up on Sammy Watkins and the Patriots will mix up doubling Kelce and Hill. If the Chiefs want to continue to have success, Watkins will need to have a good game against Gilmore.”New England used the same basic plan in week six Womens Cyrus Jones Jersey , but a lot has changed since then: Jonathan Jones is no longer one of the Patriots’ top three at cornerback and instead had to make way for impressive undrafted rookie J.C. Jackson. Together with Gilmore and Jason McCourty, Jackson forms the core of New England’s cornerback group and he might very well be the Patriots’ defensive wild card today.Will Jackson be given Watkins so that Gilmore can take Hill? Or will the Patriots use the rookie on the third receiver, with speedy Jason McCourty taking on the Chiefs’ most dangerous wideout? The questions will get answered at 6:40 pm ET today.