After trading Jimmy Garoppolo in season to the San Francisco 49ers, the New England Patriots may already have their sights on Garoppolo 2.0.
When the trade was announced before the NFL trade deadline many were stunned. New England gave Jimmy Garoppolo away for a second round pick? How did they not get multiple first round picks for him? Did the 49ers pull of the great trade robbery the sequel?
After it was reported that the trade was made because of a divide between Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady would eventually lead the organization to move on from their former second round pick. With Tom Brady approaching the age of 41, the Patriots will now look to address the next heir to Tom Brady throne. Luckily for New England, this is one of the richest drafts for quarterbacks in recent memory.
Going into this draft New England will have the 31st, 41st or 42nd, and 63 picks in the draft, 41 and 42 will be determined by a coin flip. This may not be enough ammo to move up early in the draft, but New England may already have their eyes on their next quarterback project.
Kyle Lauletta: Courtesy of Richmond Times-Dispatch
For New England, like they did with Jimmy Garoppolo, could go the FCS route for a quarterback. Their next project could by Richmond quarterback Kyle Lauletta who scouts have compared to Garoppolo. Looking at the tape of these two quarterbacks, it’s scary to set how similar their skill sets and measurables.
Garoppolo Lauletta
| Height | 6’2 ¼” | 6’2 ½” |
| Weight | 226 | 217 |
| Arm length | 31.00 | 30.75 |
| Hand size | 9.25 inches | 9.62 inches |
| 40 time | 4.97 seconds | 4.85 (estimated) |
| Accuracy | 62.8% career | 63.5% career |
Don’t forget the buzz for both of these quarterbacks really started after strong Senior Bowl performances. This year, it was Lauletta who was the talk of the quarterbacks with some of the best practices, and shining in the game going 12-for-18 for 198 yards and three touchdowns.
A strong Senior Bowl has pushed Lauletta up draft boards across the league.
The luxury for the Patriots is that Tom Brady has made it clear that he wants to play until he is 45. This might not happen, but you can bet that for at least the next two to three seasons, Brady and the organization believe that number 12 is going to be their starter. Having that window will allow the Patriots, Belichick, and McDaniels time to develop Lauletta much like they did with Garoppolo.
With a good roster and Bill Belichick preferring to sign veterans since the CBA reduced practice times, I could see that Patriots using their first round pick to draft the Richmond quarterback. This will be a quarterback heavy draft and if the Patriots try to wait until the second round, it may be too late.
Given the similarities and the fact that the Patriots now don’t have a succession plan after Brady anymore, drafting a young quarterback to develop, even if it is in the first round, just makes to sense. Seeing how similar Lauletta is to their previous quarterback of the future, it won’t be a surprise if New England calls the Richmond quarterback’s name in the upcoming draft.
many different avenues the organization can explore. The first, and most likely is to keep him as their quarterback because of the lack of enticing options in the upcoming draft and more importantly the franchise has brought in Chip Kelly. Kelly’s option offense and use of a mobile quarterback seem like too much of a perfect fit in his system and I personally feel that one of the reasons Kelly wanted to be in San Francisco was to insert Kapernick into his offense.
Let’s start with the Titans. I understand that they’ve worn
looks like the mustard one might find in the back of the cabinet that’s five years past it’s expiration date. What’s even worse? The fact that the Jaguars didn’t go with a all gold helmet but keep their terrible two-tone helmet that’s already a disaster.
There are so many teams with iconic throwbacks and it would be great to see them again. A couple of favorites could be the Elway Broncos, the Eagles kelly greens, and of course the Bucs creamsicles. The hashtag throwback thursday has already become a staple in pop culture, so why can’t the NFL utilize this? There are plenty of great opportunities to honor the past uniforms rather then just running out this monotone disasters that are the Color Rush threads. I understand that Color Rush is here to stay for this season, but can we please let these terrible uniforms go after the season and give the people what they really want? Throwback Thursday Night Football.
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