FOXBORO – Ask anyone in Foxboro, Boston, Lexington or Concord and there is no quarterback controversy in New England. At least not yet.
New England Patriots head coach and head of football operations, Bill Belichick, clearly stated that veteran Cam Newton remains his starter — despite the Patriots drafting Alabama’s highly touted QB Mac Jones in the first round on Thursday night, not to mention that Tom Brady’s heir apparent of a year ago, Jarrett Stidham, is still on New England’s QB depth chart.
The QB talk came as Day 2 of the annual NFL Draft marched on and several other teams drafted to find their future QBs.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Florida quarterback Kyle Trask, the Minnesota Vikings grabbed Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond and the Houston Texans selected Stanford quarterback Davis Mills on Friday night.
Teams made their second- and third-round picks, and they will return to action Saturday to conclude the draft with Rounds 4-7. Trask was taken with the last pick of the second round at No. 64 overall. The former Gators signal-caller will back up Tom Brady after throwing for 4,283 yards, 43 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2020.
The Vikings grabbed Mond soon after with the second pick of the third round, No. 66 overall. Mond is coming off a stellar senior season in which he passed for 2,282 yards, 19 touchdowns and three interceptions in 10 games with the Aggies.
Mills heads to Houston after serving as a Stanford team captain in 2020. He made only 11 starts in college but impressed scouts with his mobility and prowess at reading the field.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Georgia cornerback Tyson Campbell on Friday to begin a busy night of drafting. Campbell, 21, started 24 games in three seasons with Georgia.
Campbell was a five-star recruit out of high school in Florida and ranked as the second-best cornerback in his class behind only Patrick Surtain II, who was chosen in the first round by the Denver Broncos (No. 9 overall) on Thursday night.
The New York Jets followed by taking Ole Miss wide receiver Elijah Moore with the second pick of the second round at No. 34 overall. The Broncos took North Carolina running back Javonte Williams at No. 35, the Miami Dolphins selected Oregon safety Jevon Holland at No. 36, and the Eagles picked Alabama center Landon Dickerson at No. 37.
The New England Patriots maintained their strong pipeline with Alabama when they selected Crimson Tide defensive tackle Christian Barmore with the sixth pick of the second round. Barmore will reunite with college teammate Mac Jones, whom New England drafted at No. 15 overall in the first round.
Florida State cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. had to wait until the middle of the second round until the Los Angeles Chargers selected him at No. 47 overall. Samuel led the Seminoles with three interceptions and served as a team captain in 2020 before opting out after eight games.
Notre Dame pass rusher Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah slid to No. 52, where the Cleveland Browns selected him. Many draft analysts had projected the former Fighting Irish star to be a first-round pick after a season in which he was a first-team All-American, captured Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors and won the Butkus Award given to the nation’s top lineup.