QB Coach Jordan Palmer on Jarrett Stidham: 'I Think He is a Star'

"He's going to be a leader of New England for a long time, whenever that starts," Palmer said.

One of the underlying factors of how aggressively the New England Patriots will try to keep Tom Brady and what their options are if he leaves is how they feel about Jarrett Stidham. 

As a former fourth-round pick and backup to Brady last season, there has been no shortage of praise for the Auburn product and his development in his rookie season. But how effective will Stidham be once he is thrusted into a starting role in the NFL? That question remains to be seen. But that didn't stop Stidham's longtime throwing coach and former NFL QB Jordan Palmer from projecting how Stidham will perform if/when he becomes the starting quarterback for the Patriots. 

“To be clear, I think (Jarrett Stidham) is a star, and he is going to be a big-time franchise quarterback,” Palmer said, via Jeff Howe of The Athletic. “I have felt that way for a couple years now. I’m totally fine saying that. I don’t care that he went fourth round (of the 2019 draft). I think he is legitimate. He is going to be the leader of New England for a long time, whenever that starts. Go ahead and jump on that bandwagon.” 

Palmer went on to mention how Stidham joined players like Joe Burrow and Jordan Love for a board session one time, and impressed Palmer with his knowledge of NFL offense and defense despite only being in the league for under a year. He also talked about velocity data, and explained how Stidham had increased his velocity by 11% in a two month period, which was double, as Palmer explained, "what the other guys were".

Despite all the compliments directed towards Stidham based on what coaches and players have seen from him during workouts and practice sessions, there's only one way we can truly know what Stidham is capable of at the NFL level: throwing him into a meaningful game. It's only then that all these evaluations and projections can become a reality. But until that happens we can only speculate. 

If Brady does depart New England this offseason, there will definitely be a thorough conversation amongst Patriots brass as to whether they can move forward with Stidham as their starting quarterback. And if they do decide to do that, then we can all see with our own eyes if New England does in fact have a true successor to Tom Brady on their roster.