NFL analyst: Jarrett Stidham more talented than Tua Tagovailoa

The AFC East now is full of young quarterbacks following the departure of Tom Brady from the New England Patriots after 20 years, and now the debate about who the best young QB is has begun.

While Sam Darnold and Josh Allen know what to expect of NFL competition, second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham will be taking over the reins of the New England offense while rookie Tua Tagovailoa likely will be running the Miami Dolphins offense.

In his list of the top 40 quarterbacks heading into 2020, NBC Sports' Chris Simms surprisingly ranked Stidham over Tagovailoa, who isn't even on the list. Simms explained his ranking in an interview with WEEI's Ordway, Merloni and Fauria:

“(Stidham is) more talented than Tua," Simms said, according to WEEI's Ryan Hannable. "(Tua) is a creation of Alabama. You don’t think Jarrett Stidham, or like Justin Herbert would have set the world on fire if they got to play with four first-round receivers and two first-round tackles?”

Simms then goes on to compare him to Patrick Mahomes coming out of college, and he certainly seems to believe Stidham has the potential to make a big jump in 2020.

"Again, I could be off on Stidham. He could be way greater than what I say, way off. I am not saying my list is in stone, but my list has been pretty good the last few years and I certainly like the potential of Jarrett Stidham, what I saw in college and he was very impressive in the preseason. The fact that New England likes him, makes me like him too.”

It's hard to compare Stidham and Tagovailoa at this point. While Stidham has played in a few preseason games for New England, he hasn't necessarily proved he can be Brady's successor. As for Tagovailoa, he has yet to make an NFL appearance yet, though he does have plenty of promise. 

Both quarterbacks had solid collegiate careers, but they'll need to prove themselves in 2020 and beyond if they want to remain as starters.