New England Patriots’ Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo impress on day one
The New England Patriots surprised many when they used the 62nd-overall pick in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft to select former Eastern Illinois Panthers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. The Patriots were very interested in a quarterback, but the common thought was they would wait until later in the draft to pick one up, especially after they didn’t trade backup quarterback Ryan Mallett.
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Although the Patriots have seen Garoppolo in mini-camp, many Patriots fans got their first look at Garoppolo on Thursday when training camp. Oh and they also got their first look at future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady in 2014.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston, Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was impressed with both Brady and Garoppolo (and Ryan Matllett) on Thursday.
"McDaniels said rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a great mindset and approach to learning the game, and that the trio of Brady, Ryan Mallett and Garoppolo fit well together. “It’s exciting to have three guys in the same room that are at different stages of their development in their career, but they all approach learning the same way,” McDaniels said. “[They’re asking] ‘what can I do better? What did I do that I can fix tomorrow?’ And Jimmy is no different.”"
Brady completed 380 of 628 passes for 4,343 yards with 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last season.
Last season, Garoppolo completed 375 of 568 passes for 5,050 yards and with 53 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. Many believe Garoppolo could already be challenging Mallett, who has been with the Patriots since they drafted him with the 74th-overall pick in the third round of the 2011 draft, for the number two job behind Brady.