What It Means:

Stidham is the favorite to be the Patriots' starting quarterback this season and Edelman is expected to be his top target. Stidham only played 15 snaps as a rookie behind Tom Brady, but he was impressive last preseason. The fourth-round pick completed 61-of-91 passes (67.0 percent) for 731 yards (8.0 per attempt) with 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. That earned Stidham the sixth-highest overall passing grade (72.2) and second-best adjusted completion percentage (84.1) from Pro Football Focus among the 20 quarterbacks with at least 68 preseason dropbacks. Brian Hoyer is currently next in line on the depth chart if Stidham struggles.

Stidham is the QB29 in numberFire's preseason fantasy rankings. Our models project him for 3,841.2 yards, 23.8 touchdowns, and 15.5 interceptions with another 128.2 yards and 1.9 touchdowns on the ground.