Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner called New England Patriots quarterback Jarrett Stidham the “big unknown” for the team ahead of the 2020 season.

Warner said the film depicts Stidham as a guy who had his moments in college, but was also prone to making mistakes (via Mike Reiss of ESPN):

“There's a big unknown there. That's the bottom line. I watched Jarrett in college and saw a quarterback who was kind of up and down, all over the place from a consistency standpoint. You, of course, saw the talent. So what I'm looking for, and really what I'm always looking for at that position, is consistency,” he said.

However, Warner also made sure to point out Brady was hardly a model of consistent excellence early in his career (via Reiss):

“What that looks like can be different [depending on the situation]. Think back to when Tom was younger, and Tom was consistent, but he wasn't consistently great, so to speak. He wasn't putting up 300 yards and three touchdowns a week. But he was consistently solid in making the right decisions and not putting the team in harm's way, allowing the people around him to play well, and him managing games.

“I don't put an expectation on a young quarterback, but what I want to see is consistency to allow his team to have a chance to be successful. You know they are going to have other pieces in place. From there, the other things will start to transpire and you figure out what he is as a quarterback.”

Even the way Stidham's collegiate career played out makes him a hard guy to pin down.

Stidham spent his freshman year at Baylor before transferring to Auburn, where he started for two years under head coach Gus Malzahn.

The Patriots made Stidham their fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, though he had just four pass attempts playing behind Brady last season.

Stidham is competing with veteran Brian Hoyer for the starting job. Warner believes much of Stidham's potential progression will be determined by who the Pats put around him.