New England Patriots: Jimmy Garoppolo projects well in QB Hope Index

ESPN recently released their QB Hope Index for the past few NFL draft classes. How did New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo rank?

One of the greatest luxuries that the New England Patriots have had in recent years is being strong at the quarterback position. With an all-time great in Tom Brady under center, the Patriots have been able to establish a dynasty in the modern-day NFL.

However, some teams are not as lucky when it comes to finding a franchise quarterback. You don’t have to look even outside the division to see the struggles that the AFC East has had trying to find franchise quarterbacks.

Even though the Patriots still have Brady playing at an extremely high level, they have one of the bright young quarterbacks in the league in Jimmy Garoppolo.

ESPN recently released their QB Hope Index for quarterbacks going back to those drafted since 2014. Garoppolo was selected in the second round that year, and we did get to see him play some meaningful football last season.

In that class, Garoppolo is currently ranked with the third highest percentage to be a franchise quarterback behind Derek Carr and Blake Bortles. Seeing them both ranked higher over Garoppolo is understandable, as they are both current starters in the NFL. While Carr was given a 93 percent chance to be a franchise quarterback, Bortles was way behind that at 57 percent. Even though Garoppolo has played just a game and a half in the regular season last year, he has a 43 percent chance to be a franchise quarterback.

This is a pretty solid number for Garoppolo in a very small sample size. Considering the fact that the Patriots elected not to trade him this offseason shows that they believe in him as well.

Even though Brady is still playing at an extremely high level, the Patriots are a franchise that always has a plan for future. While Brady has stated that he would like to play for quite some time still, having an insurance policy in Garoppolo is important.

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As a free agent at the end of the season, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for Garoppolo. A lot will likely depend on Brady, but the Patriots appear like they might have another franchise quarterback waiting on their bench.