New England Patriots: Jarrett Stidham trumps Tom Brady in one area

Former New England Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia took some time to praise young quarterback Jarrett Stidham.

An underrated departure for the New England Patriots this offseason was the retirement of offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia.

While he has spent much of his coaching career coaching up offensive line play to protect the growth and stardom of Tom Brady, the longtime assistant certainly knows what it takes to be a successful quarterback in the league.

So, what does he think about second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham taking over as the New England Patriots prime guy in 2020?

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Appearing on Sirus XM’s NFL Radio, Dante Scarnecchia gave candid, yet optimistic insight on what the Patriots will have in the Auburn product at this stage in his career.

"“This is a different guy in a couple of ways,” Scarnecchia said, as transcribed by NESN. “No. 1, he doesn’t have the wealth of experience that Tom (Brady) has. There’s no doubt about that, and you have to concede that No. 1 yes, there’s going to be some times where he’s going to hold the ball longer than you want it to be held, but that’s all about growing up in this league, and you know that as well as I do. Those young guys, they take some time.”"

That is why strong offensive line play and a running game will be essential for a young quarterback like Jarrett Stidham as he takes over the helm. Just like Tom Brady, who was also in his second season in the NFL when he took over for Drew Bledsoe, Stidham’s early success evolve around how many few mistakes he makes during the game.

Those two areas of need do have some question marks. Besides Scarnecchia’s retirement, the offensive line will depend on both the health of center David Andrews and the contract status of right guard Joe Thuney. At the running back position, there is some concern over the health of Sony Michel who underwent another offseason procedure that can see him start training camp on the PUP list.

Dante Scarnecchia praises Jarrett Stidham’s scrambling ability

Still, Jarrett Stidham will have a couple of veteran receivers in Julian Edelman and Mohamed Sanu who should provide quick outlets. He also has the ability to scramble with the football unlike Brady. Along with his raw talent, Scarnecchia sees that ability playing a role in the early part of his success.

"“But I will say this for Jarrett, too,” Scarnecchia continued. “He’s a bright kid, and he’s a guy that, when he doesn’t know, he’ll take off (downfield). He showed that in the preseason last year that he’s got some skills. He knows when to get out of there and where the escape points may be, and when he gets out there, he also knows when he’d better get down, because he knows better than to try to run through guys, as well. You’re not running through many guys in this league.”"

In being impressed with those scrambling skills (which is one skill where he trumps Tom Bray), Dante Scarnecchia noted there will be growing pains, but the “great mend” of Jarrett Stidham should eventually prevail.

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Unless the New England Patriots give in and bring in another veteran quarterback like a Cam Newton, it is Stidham’s role to lose with Brian Hoyer as his biggest challenger at this point.

Can he make enough good decisions to make the offense competitive in games?

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and head coach Bill Belichick will definitely put him in position to do so like they did with Matt Cassel in 2008 and Jimmy Garoppolo when he started the first two games of the season back in 2016.

Of course, this all depends on whether there is even football played in 2020.

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