By Charlie Campbell
Weaknesses:
Stidham was then once again a highly sought after recruit, and he landed in Auburn. He had some struggles early in the 2017 season, but he steadily improved and led the Tigers to some huge wins over Georgia and Alabama to get Auburn into the SEC Championship. Stidham completed 67 percent of his passes that saeson for 3,158 yards with 18 touchdowns and six interceptions through the air. He chipped in four rushing touchdowns as well. Stidham’s strong finish to the season put him firmly on the radar for the NFL.
However, his 2018 season was disappointing. Team sources thought Stidham had first-round potential with the way that he finished the 2017 season, but during the fall, he ended up dropping to mid-round grades with his play’s regression. Stidham completed 61 percent of his passes in 2018 for 2,794 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Stidham is a touch passer who can loft it downfield with quality location. He throws a very catchable ball and is adept at putting air underneath his passes with impressive trajectory. Stidham does not showcase a powerful cannon for an arm, but his arm could be adequate. He showed improved accuracy and field vision late in the 2017 season, but that was not consistent enough in 2018. He has some accuracy to him that would make him a good fit in a West Coast offense, throwing a lot of quick precision passes in the short to intermediate part of the field.
There are a lot of points of improvement for Stidham entering the NFL. He has inconsistent decision-making and can get rattled by the pass rush. Those problems lead to him having issues with field vision and not working through his progressions fast enough. Stidham must learn to come off his primary read, which is a massive point of improvement for him. Auburn’s offense did not prepare him well, and he also dealt with a lack of play-makers at receiver. Stidham has a side-arm delivery style that could lead to batted balls in the NFL. Basically, he has to work on all aspects of being a pocket passer for the professional game.
In the 2019 NFL Draft, Stidham is a mid-round prospect. This analyst thinks that Stidham is just a backup-quality quarterback for the NFL. In speaking with some team sources, they thought that Stidham could end up going in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Player Comparison: Brian Hoyer. I could see Stidham having a career similar to Hoyer. Hoyer is a backup-quality player who was a starter for a couple of seasons and proved that he is better as a backup. Hoyer (6-2, 216) and Stidham are similarly sized and similar as passers. Stidham is a better athlete, but overall, I think being a backup like Hoyer is the ceiling for Stidham in the NFL.
NFL Matches: New York Giants, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Denver, Cincinnati, Miami, Washington, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles Chargers, New England
Obviously, free agency will have a big impact on the quarterback market because some teams will acquire veterans and won’t consider taking a signal-caller with a first-round pick. The first quarterback-needy team selecting in Round 1 is the New York Giants. They have an aging and declining Eli Manning, but passed on a potential franchise quarterback last year. If they do that again in the first round, they could consider Stidham later on.
The Jaguars could move on from the inept Blake Bortles and get a new franchise quarterback this offseason. They could sign a veteran in free agency and draft a quarterback like Stidham in the mid-rounds to serve as a backup.
Staying in the state of Florida, Tampa Bay could take Stidham as a backup to Jameis Winston. If Winston isn’t re-signed, Stidham could be an in-house replacement option for the Buccaneers.
Denver needs a quarterback of the future due to Case Keenum just being a stop-gap veteran. If the Broncos address a different need in Round 1, they could look at Stidham later on.
Cincinnati could decide to move on or bring in competition for Andy Dalton with its new head coach. Ditto for Miami with Ryan Tannehill. Thus, Stidham could be in play for the Bengals or the Dolphins in the mid-rounds of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Redskins could consider taking a quarterback in the first round because Alex Smith may miss the 2019 season due to his leg injury. Even if he comes back, he is aging and limited, so Washington could easily select a quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft. Stidham could be a fit in the mid-rounds.
The Steelers, Chargers and Patriots are all teams that could consider a quarterback as their aging signal-callers have a limited number of years left.
RELATED LINKS:
2019 NFL Mock Draft: Charlie’s | Walt’s
2019 NFL Draft Prospect Rankings
2019 NFL Draft Scouting Reports
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