Sports Final: Who Is The Patriots' Next Jimmy Garoppolo?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots thought they had their quarterback of the future in Jimmy Garoppolo, but their quarterback of the present is showing no signs of slowing down. With that future Tom Brady-less future still likely a few years away, the Patriots traded Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers last week for a 2018 second-round pick.
The Patriots brought back Brian Hoyer to back up Brady in the interim, but the big question is who are they going to target as a potential successor to Brady? The 2018 NFL draft will offer some intriguing options, but they may not be the answer to New England's million dollar question.
ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss and former Patriots tight end Christian Fauria joined WBZ-TV's Steve Burton on Sunday night's Sports Final to discuss what's next for the Patriots at quarterback, and they both think we'll be waiting a while to find out that answer.
"The future quarterback of the New England Patriots, I think he's a junior in high school right now," said Fauria. "He's thinking about what he's going to do for homecoming or who he is going to take to the prom."
The Patriots will likely address their need for a young quarterback in the draft, but many of those options aren't living up to the big hype they carried into the 2017 season. USC's Sam Darnold remains the cream of the crop and was going to be the likely top pick, but there are rumors that he may stay in school. That would be one less quarterback on of the board for teams looking for the future of their franchise.
Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield is an intriguing name, especially after he threw five touchdowns and nearly 600 yards on Saturday, but Reiss questions if he'd be a fit personality-wise in New England. Ryan Finley of NC State and Nathan Stanley of Iowa are other hot names, but Fauria adds that of all the college QBs hyped up before the season, UCLA's Josh Rosen is the only one who has "stayed at the same level."
"It's a crapshoot anyways," Fauria said of drafting a quarterback.
Watch the full quarterback discussion in the video above, and tune in to Sports Final every Sunday night on WBZ-TV at 11:35pm!
