<![CDATA[The second day of the draft has come to an end, and the excitement for many NFL fans remains. Teams continued to make moves in order to best improve their organizations, and fought for the most talented athletes they could get their hands on. The Patriots had two picks total on Day two of the draft, one in the 3rd (62nd overall pick) and one in the fourth (93rd pick). New England traded the 93rd pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who took Brandon Linder, OL, Miami with this pick. The Jaguars in exchange sent New England picks number 105 (fifth overall in the fourth round) and 179 (third overall in the sixth round). New England did use the 62nd pick to select a quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from Eastern Illinois, so let’s break down Jimmy G, who the Patriots hope to be the successor to future Hall of Famer Tom Brady.
Garoppolo was born and raised in Arlington Heights, IL, which is only about three hours away from where he went to school, Eastern Illinois. Garoppolo has more accomplishments at Eastern Illinois than most of his fellow draft quarterbacks. Here’s a few per NFL.com
- He was named the Walter Payton Award winner, given to the top player in FCS, in 2013 after going 375-of-568 (66.0 percent) for 5,050 yards with 53 TDs and nine INTs in 14 contests.
- Threw for 450 yards and six touchdowns in the Panthers’ only regular-season loss, to Northern Illinois.
- Is one of only two quarterbacks to throw for more than 5,000 yards in a season (Taylor Heinicke, 2012) in FCS history.
- Was named the Offensive MVP of the East-West Shrine Game.
- Had eight career rushing touchdowns and a 23-22 record in 45 starts.
Garoppolo had some pretty crazy numbers, and has put together a nice career at Eastern Illinois. In fact, many compared him to former E. Illinois QB, now Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo.
However, there’s a reason this talented QB fell to the third round of the draft. Garoppolo is a little undersized, standing at 6’2”. Garoppolo was not heavily challenged by consistent pressure or complex looks in the Ohio Valley Conference, a conference that had little to no defensive strength.
Garoppolo will learn much under the hoodie, Josh McDaniels, and Tom Brady. New England knows Tom Brady isn’t forever, and are preparing for the eventual end of the Brady era. With Brady heading into his 15th NFL season, and questions surrounding Ryan Mallet as the next in line for the throne, this pick makes sense to a degree.
Follow me on twitter for more Pats draft talk : @gavroydavis]]>
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