The Pats make Auburn's Jarrett Stidham a fourth-round pick in the draft. The team's selections on the draft's last day include Arkansas center-guard Hjalte Froholdt, who hails from Svendborg, Denmark.
FOXBORO – Jarrett Stidham says his pre-draft trip to New England “was a great visit.”
Looks like he’ll be sticking around for a while.
“I went on a top-30 visit to New England, it was actually my last visit April 11 or somewhere around then,” Stidham, the Auburn quarterback the Patriots selected in the fourth round (133rd overall) of Saturday’s NFL draft, said. “Went up there for a day, was able to sit down obviously with Coach (head coach Bill) Belichick, Coach (offensive coordinator-quarterbacks coach Josh) McDaniels and other people throughout the organization.
“It was a really great visit. I enjoyed getting up there and getting to know them, allowing them to get to know me a little bit, what I’m all about. It was a great visit and … I couldn’t be more fired up to be a Patriot.”
Five more players became Patriots over the final four rounds as the team’s 2019 draft haul concluded at 10 new additions over the three-day marathon.
During the day on Saturday, the Patriots pulled off three trades, acquiring the 162nd and 167th picks from the Los Angeles Rams for 134 and 243, the 159th choice from Minnesota for 162 and 239 and the 163rd selection from Philadelphia for 167 and 246. When all was said and done, the Patriots had been involved in seven trades during the draft, all of them occurring on Friday and Saturday.
The Patriots’ Draft Class of 2019:
• First round (32nd overall) – Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry
• Second round (45th overall) – Vanderbilt cornerback Joejuan Williams
• Third round (77th overall) – Michigan defensive end Chase Winovich
• Third round (87th overall) – Alabama running back Damien Harris
• Third round (101st overall) – West Virginia offensive tackle Yodny Cajuste
• Fourth round (118th overall) – Arkansas guard-center Hjalte Froholdt
• Fourth round (133rd overall) – Auburn quarterback Jarrett Stidham
• Fifth round (159th overall) – Maryland defensive Byron Cowart
• Fifth round (163rd overall) – Stanford punter Jake Bailey
• Seventh round (252nd overall) – Mississippi cornerback Ken Webster
Stidham, who began his college career at Baylor, completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 5,952 yards and 36 touchdowns with 11 interceptions over two years at Auburn.
"Pretty productive player," Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio said. "The system is probably a little bit different (at Auburn) relative to what he's going to play in offensively here, but a really smart kid. We had a number of interactions with him along the way. Smart player, takes care of the football, pretty good arm strength, fairly athletic. Not a running quarterback, but he has decent movement skills so I'm sure that he'll be competitive with the rest of the players that we have at the position."
According to Lindy’s Pro Football Draft Report, the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder was “once considered to be a potential franchise quarterback, (but) saw his draft stock plummet last season due to some shaky performances in big-time spots.”
There may be no bigger spot to be in than to be considered the heir apparent to arguably the greatest quarterback who’s ever played the game, which, fairly or unfairly, will be the expectations from some now that he and 2018 seventh-round pick Danny Etling are the young guns behind the 41-year-old Tom Brady and his 33-year-old backup, Brian Hoyer.
Rather than any potential pressure, though, Stidham said he’s focused on the opportunity that’s in front of him.
“I don’t think I feel any pressure,” he said. “It’s just an awesome opportunity to learn from a guy like Tom. He’s played so much, he’s seen everything, he’s won a lot, there’s just so many different intangibles I want to soak up from him. I’m sure everybody wants to be as good as Tom Brady one day, but I’ve got to take it one day at a time and that’s what I’m going to do and I’m going to work as absolutely hard as I can to make sure that I can do whatever it is to help this organization out.
“I’m extremely excited. This is, I think, a great fit for me and my skill set, and I’m looking forward to diving deeper into this system. To learn from Coach Belichick, Coach McDaniels, Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, just learning from all these people I couldn’t think of a better situation.”
A second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection as a senior in 2018, Froholdt has an interesting background: Froholdt as he hails from Svendborg, Denmark.
“I started playing football back in Denmark when I was 12,” said Froholdt. “It started blowing up when I came to the States as an exchange student when I was a sophomore in high school.”
Froholdt, who was recruited to Arkansas by Brett Bielema, the former Razorbacks head coach who is now as assistant on Bill Belichick’s staff in New England, said the NFL wasn’t on his radar when he left home for the U.S.
“I always had an interest in football but mainly it was because I wanted the American experience,” he said. “I wanted to get better at football and take it back to Denmark and maybe play a little bit better back in Denmark and learn something.
“It was never really an intention. I came over and wanted to get a super-sized meal and drive some big cars and it turned out as something really different.”
At the very least, the 6-foot-5, 306-pound Froholdt should provide competition for the backup role held by Ted Karras and an insurance policy with both starting left guard Joe Thuney and Karras entering contract years in 2019.
"Interesting player," said Caserio. "Started his career as a defensive lineman and then he transitioned to the offensive line and he ended up playing basically three years and starting, never missed a game. Played against a number of good players, a number of good people. Smart and has got good size, pretty good playing strength, has played kind of multiple positions inside there. So good football player against good people, kind of fits the mold that some of the players that we've talked about here a little bit over the last few days."
Speaking of competition, in Bailey, veteran punter Ryan Allen (who is back on a one-year deal) will have some in training camp. Bailey averaged 44.1 yards per punt in 2018 and 43.8 over his career at Stanford.
Straying from past practice under Belichick, Bailey is a right-footed punter.