The New England Patriots probably won't be changing their starting quarterback anytime soon, but they will be making a change at the backup spot this year.
According to multiple reports, the team has decided to part ways with veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer, which means that rookie Jarrett Stidham will be backing up Tom Brady in New England this season.
Stidham won the job after an impressive preseason where he threw for 731 yards and four touchdowns. The rookie's passing total was the second-highest of any quarterback in the NFL during the preseason trailing only Tampa Bay's Ryan Griffin, who threw for 744 yards.
In the first performance of his career, Stidham showed right away that he had the potential to be the backup in New England when he threw for 179 yards and a touchdown during the Patriots' opening preseason game against the Lions.
It was hard not to be impressed with Stidham's arm during the preseason and that's because he showed it off multiple times. In the Patriots' second preseason game, Stidham threw a perfect back-shoulder pass to Damoun Patterson that went for a 17-yard touchdown in New England's 22-17 win.
In the Patriots' preseason finale against the Giants, Stidham made an equally impressive throw that went for a 35-yard touchdown to Demaryius Thomas in New England's 31-29 loss.
The former Auburn star was the seventh quarterback taken in the 2019 NFL Draft, behind Kyler Murray, Daniel Jones, Dwayne Haskins, Drew Lock, Will Grier, and Ryan Finley. The Patriots selected Stidham in the fourth round after watching him complete a senior season at Auburn where he led the Tigers to an 8-5 record.
With Stidham winning the backup job, the next logical question to ask is whether or not he'll be the heir apparent to Brady, and it's not crazy to think that might happen one day. Bill Belichick has done a good job over the past few years of identifying quarterbacks that fit his system. Back in 2014, the Patriots used a second-round pick on Jimmy Garoppolo, who likely would have become the Patriots starter one day if Brady hadn't decided that he wants to play forever. Belichick also drafted Jacoby Brissett, who will be starting for the Colts this year.
Even if Stidham never starts a game, he did enough during the preseason that Belichick trusts him to be the team's backup quarterback in 2019. The good news in all of this for Stidham is that it appears that Brady is already starting to embrace him.