Bill Belichick says Patriots not drafting a quarterback ‘wasn’t by design’
The New England Patriots had all intentions of drafting a quarterback this year, but it just didn’t seem to pan out for them in the end.
The New England Patriots had multiple and ample opportunities to draft a highly-rated quarterback at any point during the NFL Draft this past weekend.
Instead, the Patriots held their ground and seemingly built around the current quarterback options they have in Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer.
The Patriots essentially passed on Jordan Love, Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason, Nathan Stanley, and every other quarterback that was eligible to be drafted this year — which furthermore proves their decision in riding out the season with Stidham and Hoyer.
But that wasn’t necessarily the plan that Bill Belichick, Nick Caserio, and the rest of their executive team had in mind heading into the draft.
After the first night of the draft, Caserio, the Patriots’ Director of Player Personnel, addressed the media and expressed how the team was interested in adding a third quarterback at some point during the draft. Caserio also went on to explain that he was unsure of how or when it would happen, but that the team did have every intention of drafting a quarterback this year.
It just seems odd that the Patriots didn’t follow along with their plans on drafting a quarterback, but that’s how the draft works — you can’t expect or predict anything.
With that being said, this draft featured highly-rated quarterbacks being picked by teams who already have a starting QB: Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers), Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles), Jake Fromm (Buffalo Bills), Nathan Stanley (Minnesota Vikings), and Jacob Eason (Indianapolis Colts) among them.
Other than the Colts and Packers, it’s fair to say that nobody saw any of these teams drafting another quarterback so soon.
Here’s what Belichick had to say about New England not taking a quarterback, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss:
"“If we feel like we find the right situation, we’ll certainly draft them. We’ve drafted them in multiple years, multiple points in the draft, didn’t work out the last three days. That wasn’t by design. We just tried to do the best we could with what we had this weekend.”"
We know that the New England Patriots will always do what is best for the team. It just seemed like every time the Patriots were on the clock, another opportunity other than a quarterback presented itself that ultimately was a bigger benefit to the team.
The Patriots elected to select three defensive players in a row, followed by two tight ends, and then five other selections that add much needed depth throughout the entire team.
If you put a lot of thought into it, the Patriots are a team of consistency and routine … thus making Stidham or Hoyer the best option for the team at this point moving forward — especially when you consider that they both have experience in this offense and they both have been the backup to Tom Brady, who was the master technician of this offense.
Next. Patriots prepare for future by taking Kyle Dugger. dark
After drafting him in the fourth round last year — and after having had the chance to watch and evaluate him for a year — it’s fair to say that the New England Patriots see something positive in Jarrett Stidham … and it’s worth finding out what it is. Stidham appears to be in line to be the starting quarterback this season for the Patriots.