As the 31st selection of the fourth round and the 133rd pick overall, former Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham didn’t get drafted nearly as high as he expected.
He wasn’t complaining about the destination.
Stidham, who quarterbacked Gus Malzahn’s Tigers to 18 wins the past two seasons and to a Southeastern Conference Western Division title in 2017, will learn under the most accomplished quarterback in NFL history after getting selected Saturday afternoon by the New England Patriots. The 22-year-old Stidham could also someday succeed 41-year-old Tom Brady, who led the New England Patriots to a sixth Super Bowl title in February.
“Tom Brady is obviously a great player and, from what I’ve heard, a great teammate,” Stidham said Saturday during a conference call. “I’m just looking forward to spending some time with him. You can’t play for 20 years and not have just so much knowledge of the game, so being able to sit there and soak up everything he’s gone through and pick his brain here and there about different things will be great.”
Stidham was among the record 64 players drafted from the SEC, which broke its mark of 63 set in 2013. Alabama led all schools within the league and nationally, racking up 10 selections, while Georgia (seven), Texas A&M (seven), Auburn (six), Ole Miss (six), Florida (five), Kentucky (five), Mississippi State (five), Arkansas (three), LSU (three), South Carolina (three), Missouri (two) and Vanderbilt (two) rounded out the SEC’s output.
Tennessee did not produce a single selection in the first draft ever held in Nashville, marking the third time the Volunteers have come up empty in the last five years.
New England has taken 10 quarterbacks since choosing Brady as the 199th overall selection in the 2000 draft, which includes LSU’s Danny Etling, who was a seventh-round pick last year. Jimmy Garoppolo, a second-round selection in 2014, parlayed some success in limited opportunities with the Patriots into a massive contract with the San Francisco 49ers, while Matt Cassel (2005), Ryan Mallett (2011) and Jacoby Brissett (2016) started briefly elsewhere after backing up Brady.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Stidham completed 470 of 739 passes (63.6%) for 5,952 yards with 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in his two seasons at Auburn after transferring from Baylor University.
“Jarrett Stidham throws the best ball of anybody this draft,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “If you put them all in shorts and T-shirts, you would pick Jarrett Stidham. He’s a great athlete, but he just wasn’t a great fit in that Auburn offense. They threw a lot of those tunnel screens, and when they did try to go down the field, he was under constant pressure, because their offensive line was outmanned in the SEC.
“He obviously needs to sit, and he’ll get plenty of opportunity to do that, but this will be a payoff long term.”
Alabama entered Saturday having provided five selections and managed to double that when outside linebacker Christian Miller went to Carolina in the fourth round, safety Deionte Thompson went to Arizona as the first pick of the fifth, guard Ross Pierschbacher went to Washington in the fifth, inside linebacker Mack Wilson went to Cleveland in the fifth and defensive end Isaiah Buggs went to Pittsburgh in the sixth.
Cornerback Savion Smith, who bypassed his senior season with the Crimson Tide, was among the 144 underclassmen who declared for the draft and among the 49 who weren’t picked. Also on that unfortunate list were Georgia running back Elijah Holyfield, who signed a free-agent deal with Carolina, Tennessee linebacker Quart’e Sapp and former Tennessee receiver Preston Williams, who transferred from Knoxville to Colorado State.
Georgia players selected Saturday were Riley Ridley (fourth round to Chicago), outside linebacker D’Andre Walker (fifth round to the Tennessee Titans), center Lamont Gaillard (sixth round to Arizona), tight end Isaac Nauta (seventh round to Detroit) and receiver Terry Godwin (seventh round to Carolina).
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.