Before Mack Jones and after Jimmy Garoppolo, there was another young quarterback who was marked as a possible successor to Tom Brady with the New England Patriots and was a Richmond Spiders product, Kyle Louletta.
Things don't always go according to plan as Brady left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the 2020 season, and the Patriots signed Cam Newton to replace him before Mack Jones was drafted in 2021 . Louletta had a short and less-than-celebrating NFL run, but he was drafted in the first round on February 22 by the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL.
Kyle Louletta looked like a good fit for the Patriots in 2018
Back in 2018, Louletta had all the skills and traits that signal callers to the Patriots are known for. Coming out of Richmond, one analyst called him "a possible successor to Tom Brady."
Loletta was drafted by the New York Giants in 2018 in the fourth round. His career in the NFL included 5 incomplete passes that season, and he hasn't played in the league since. However, Loletta is getting a second chance to make an impact as a professional quarterback.
He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League (USFL) with a seventh overall selection. The Richmond alum, who is 26 years old, enjoyed an exceptional career at Richmond where he threw 10,465 yards, 73 TDs and 35 interceptions.
Pat Pulpit's Ivan Lazar made an excellent case for the Patriots to draft Lauletta.
"The Patriots were in the middle of a playoff run when the Kyle Louletta promotional train started in New England last January," wrote Lazar. "Louletta's sharp processing skills, accuracy, and experience for the game make him a viable option to become Tom Brady's eventual successor. And his weaknesses as quarterback are Brady and former Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo (ie, arm strength). Both are about the same as Scouts.
Phil A. Perry of the Patriots Talk podcast emphasized a possible Patriots connection with Lawlett.
Loletta's NFL career was rocky on and off the field
Alas, Louletta was snatched by the Giants with the 108th pick overall. The 2018 NFL Draft wasn't great for the Patriots. New England overtook Sonny Mitchell in the first round, and he was their most productive player to date. The Patriots traded him to the Los Angeles Rams for draft picks this season, and he helped his new team win the Super Bowl. It was Mitchell's second ring in his four-year NFL career. The Patriots also took on Isaiah Wynn aggressively in the first round of that year.
He hasn't been great, but he has started 33 games. The Patriots' biggest lapse was with the third-round pick, cornerback Duke Dawson.
He never played for New England and was traded to the Denver Broncos in 2020. He missed all previous seasons and was released by the Broncos in January. The Patriots took on Mitchell, Wynn, and Dawson before Lolet was selected by the Giants.
Louletta's tenure with the Giants was also tainted by an arrest in 2018. Lawlett was charged with evading police, obstructing the administration of law and resisting arrest, reckless driving, disobeying an officer's instructions, improper turning in a marked traffic lane, and failure to stay in a traffic lane. marked lane. This was his second reckless driving charge in 2 years.
Would Louletta's career have been different if he had landed with the Patriots? difficult to say. The Patriots took on Jarrett Stidham in the fourth round the following year, and he fought hard to find his way onto the field. Stidham seems like a player who could have played his last match with the Patriots. It's not crazy to think that Loletta could have a similar tenure, given that he failed to make a mark with the Giants or any of the other practice squads he landed with the Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
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