Even though the NFL season is in full swing with three weeks left until the draft, a lot is happening around the New England Patriots and the rest of the league. Let’s use this forum here to go through some of the stories that have appeared recently: time for us Sunday Patriots Notes.
1. Tom House has some nice things to say about Jarrett Stidham. When veteran coach Tom House appeared on NBC Sports Patriots talk podcast earlier this week, his remarks about the Patriots’ starting quarterback Cam Newton made the most headlines. House, whose clients include Tom Brady, among others, expressed confidence that Newton “will throw football better this year” after a challenging 2020 season.
However, he also spoke positively about another Patriots full-back: third-year Jarrett Stidham.
“Its mechanics are pretty solid, and I’m sure the decision makers at the organization recognize that,” House said of the former fourth-round draft pick. ‘He also seems to have the mental capacity to deal with it. I think it’s going to be physical. What he needs now is just under pressure. Just to see if he can compete. But when it comes to mechanics, he’s just as good as out there. ‘
Stidham have supported Brady and Newton the last two seasons and could be a candidate to compete for the Patriots’ starting lineup in 2021. Based on his first two years in the NFL, the odds were not in his favor – he played a mop-up. role played in eight games and completed 24 of 48 passes for 270 yards, as well as two touchdowns and four interceptions – but House’s remarks are nonetheless encouraging.
2. Josh Uche seems to be progressing well after a rookie season with an injury. Injuries forced Josh Uche to miss seven games in the second round, but he looks like he’s on a good run to return. A recent video shared by his personal trainer, Pedro Marti, shows the 22-year-old going through a passion drill and looking like he’s moving pretty well and without any visible restraints:
Uche, who was selected 60th overall last year, could be a serious candidate for the famous second-year leap. After all, the man from Michigan sometimes played strong football last season as a situational passion, although he could not establish a proper rhythm.
With Matthew Judon and Kyle Van Noy brought in during the off-season, and with Chase Winovich as well, Uche will use projects to serve as the fourth member of the off-road rotation.
3. Top-tier draft prospects Justin Fields and Trey Lance hold the second Pro Days. Patriots owner Robert Kraft admitted his team needed to find a long-term solution in the quarterback position, meaning New England is very much in the market for a passenger. Two potential candidates selected by the team have now decided to hold a second set of Pro Days.
Ohio quarterback Justin Fields will hold his second session on Wednesday, April 14th. Trey Lance, North Dakota, will throw again on Monday, April 19th. The Patriots who were present at both sessions would come as no surprise, as they did the same when Mac Jones, a first-round pick in Alabama, participated in a second Pro Day.
The Patriots investigated both Lance and Fields during their first practice sessions. New England sent national explorer Matt Groh to the state of Dakota, and investigative consultant Eliot Wolf to the state of Ohio. This time, head coach Bill Belichick and / or offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels were able to undertake the trips – they have already done so to visit Jones in Alabama.
4. A note on the success of the draft quarterbacks after the first reading. There are always some overarching storylines in a draft, and it seems like it’s this year: “Are the quarterbacks better than first read?” One widespread misconception is that Justin Fields would not be, but David Wyatt-Hupton of Gang Green Nation shared a table produced by the Draft Network, which shows that this is very much not the case.
19.1 percent of Field’s throws went beyond the first reading, with 69.1 percent of passes. Although reading progressions are sometimes difficult to evaluate without knowing the play and what predecessors need to be asked in their progress, the numbers are still impressive.
At the other end of the spectrum, Mac Jones, meanwhile. According to the Draft Network graph, only 9.7 percent of its subjects read at a second, third, or subsequent reading; only 31.6 percent of the passes were eventually completed.
The complete table looks like this:
Good stuff through the Draft Network. Below is a table of the QB’s percentage of pass attempts after their first reading and completion problem. That 7 goes past his first reading is absolutely BS as we said. He not only threw more than anyone past his first reading, but also accurately. pic.twitter.com/3bfD3RA2s3
– David Wyatt-Hupton (@DWyattHupton) 11 April 2021
5. A potential Falcons Patriots set up day trading from Atlanta’s perspective. While much has been done about the fact that New England might continue their aggressive off-season by moving up in the first round of the draft to pick a quarterback, the other side of this speculation is often ignored: it takes two to tango, and just because the Patriots want to pull up, does not mean they can do it in a reasonable way.
One team that is considered a potential partner in this first round dance is the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta is reportedly investigating the possibility of moving out of the fourth overall lock via a quarterback-needy team like New England. From a recent analysis by David J. Walker of The Falcoholic, it appears that such a move may not be as realistic a scenario as it seems at first glance:
This one feels like a real possibility, but it does not matter with history. Belichick has just spent a free agent and he probably does not like the taste of his first losing season in decades. If he saw Brady win, it must have been salt on the wound. Would he be willing to take part in several future selections in the first round? Possible. He may be thinking less about the long term and more about finishing his career strongly and proving that it was not just Brady who made the Patriots, and if the aggressive spending matches his aggressiveness in the draft, the next quarter could ‘s landing be the move.
That said, if I’m the Hawks, I’m a little more hesitant here. That future 1st could be in the back half of the first round if New England bounces back. It’s still valuable, but perhaps not as valuable as choosing a team with a worse long-term record and immediate future. I could see it happening, but it would still shock me.
Other teams named as a trading partner for the Hawks are the Denver Broncos (No. 9), the Minnesota Vikings (No. 14), the Washington Football Team (No. 19), the Chicago Bears (No. 20) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (No. 24). All of those teams are looking for quarterbacks, so they might consider moving on the board to get their man.
6. Randy Moss’ son is available again. Speaking of the Washington Football Team, Thaddeus Moss released the flyhalf on Friday. Moss, the son of former Patriots receiver Randy Moss, arrived in Washington last year as a rookie free agent and spent the entire 2020 season on the team’s injured reserve list.
The Patriots, of course, have shown interest in the 22-year-old before. Moss confirmed during a media session last spring that three teams called him when the draft was over and it became possible that he would not be selected: Washington, New England and the Cincinnati Bengals. He finally decided to go with the club that called him first, and signed a three-year deal with the football team.
Now the Patriots may be able to bring him in again. That said, such a move should be considered unlikely. Not only did they strengthen their in-depth depth map by signing Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry as free agents, but they also already have 78 players under contract. With just 12 spots left on the off-season series, New England may prefer to trim the roster rather than sign long-range players like Moss.
7. Short-time Patriots player Phillip Adams kills six and then shoots himself. Authorities in South Carolina announced this week that former NFL defensive back Phillip Adams killed six people before shooting himself. Adams has played in 78 games throughout his career, including six as a member of the 2011 Patriots.
His brain is reportedly now being examined for signs of CTE, a degenerative disease linked to head trauma that has caused violent mood swings and other cognitive disorders.
8. Dont’a Hightower supports the leukemia and lymphoma association. To end it on a positive note, New England linebacker Dont’a Hightower called for a $ 100,000 fundraiser to support cancer patience:
If each of my followers donated $ 5, we would raise $ 2.3 million dollars. Let’s raise at least $ 100,000 so we can honor two special Patriots fans with a $ 50,000 mission portfolio for cancer research in their name.
Hightower also announced that it will select donors to win tickets, autographs, surprise FaceTime chats and more. If you can support this cause, follow this link to donate.
Bonus note: Vox Media is looking for participants in a series of online recordings. Not only can you help us by participating, you will also be paid: panelists receive a minimum of $ 1 per completed survey; some recordings pay more if they last longer than five minutes. If you are interested, you can sign up here!