By Colin Donovan and Jon Gross

Come the beginning of the 2015 NFL season,  three-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady will be sitting on the bench barring a drastic change of thought by Commissioner Roger Goodell. For the first time since Week 2 of the 2008 season, the Patriots will be sending out a starting quarterback not named Tom Brady. Young prospect Jimmy Garoppolo, the former second-round pick out of Eastern Illinois University, will get his shot to prove himself in the NFL.

Garoppolo lacks experience at the NFL level, only 27 passing attempts, but he has shown promising signs in his six appearances last season. Of those 27 attempts, Garoppolo completed 19 for a completion percentage of 70.4%. To put this in perspective, if he had qualified, he would have the highest completion percentage in the entire league. Furthermore, his impressive passer rating of 101.2 would be the fourth-highest mark, right above Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Although his sample size is small, Garoppolo is showing promise to develop into a top-tier quarterback at the NFL level. If he can carry his success of last year into the first four games of this season, him and the Patriots will have a legitimate shot in each game.

Taken with the Patriots’ second draft pick one year ago, many around the league questioned the decision to take a relatively unknown quarterback prospect so early on in the draft, especially considering Brady has at least a few years left. However, Belichick seemed to be up to his old tricks with this selection. Now that Brady is absent to start the season and Garoppolo showed good poise and potential in his opportunities last season, it looks as though the selection will pay off for the Pats.

Only time will tell, but Garoppolo’s on-field showings and high praise from teammates suggest that the Patriots’ new starting quarterback is poised to have four breakout games.