New England Patriots draft Eastern Illinois QB Jimmy Garoppolo in Round 2

Garoppolo during his time as Eastern Illinois (AP Photo)

One step. Two steps. Three steps. Get the pass off.

Take the snap. Set your feet. Fire.

Those directions should have been written on the inside of the Eastern Illinois quarterbacks' facemasks last season. There were instances when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was allowed to take a five-step drop and go through his progressions, but more often he would take the snap and fire the ball to his first read as quickly as possible. If the stopwatch hit 1.5 seconds, and the ball was still in his hands, he likely wasn't doing his job as instructed.

Even in this simplistic offense, where the first read is the only read most of the time, you can see the potential that Garoppolo possesses, and why the New England Patriots decided to make him their second-round pick. He has flaws, and played against a level of competition that is essentially the football's version of Double A, but those moments come to light when Garoppolo is allowed to hold onto the ball, take a five-step drop, and make his own decisions.

One such moment came against Towson last year with 7 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter. He takes a snap from the shotgun and sets his feet. His first read is covered, so he pump fakes, turns and then looks up the middle to his second read. That receiver is also covered. Garoppolo shifts further left, and fires a pass to an open receiver for a first down. His footwork on the play stands out more than anything else, and this is also the first time during the game when he looks like an NFL quarterback.

His poise and footwork during the play look like something out of Tom Brady's repertoire. There's a reason for that. Garoppolo has modeled his game after the Patriots quarterback.

"His poise in the pocket is so impressive," Garoppolo said. "He really does a great job of taking control of the offense. He never really loses his cool. He's always cool, calm and collected in the pocket and that's what I try to do."

It will take quite a while before we know if Garoppolo can be an NFL quarterback, and if the skills he displayed in college translate to this level, but he already appears to be a better fit than Ryan Mallett was for the New England offense.

Mallett often appears uncomfortable leading the offense during his preseason cameos, struggling to deliver accurate passes on the short and intermediate passes that the Patriots predominately feature. Perhaps it should have been obvious before he was selected in the third round of the 2011 draft, but he would be best served operating in a more vertical offense.

Garoppolo isn't that kind of player. He has the touch to deliver deep passes, but he shines in the short-to-intermediate area of the field, which is where the bulk of his 5,050 passing yards came from last season. Quite often he would take a quick three-step drop or immediately set his feet and fire off a pass. It isn't uncommon to see Brady take a similar approach while leading the New England offense.

And unlike Mallett, Garoppolo has impressive accuracy in this area of the field, as evidenced by his 66 percent completion rate. He also knows how to look off his first read to manipulate the defense even though the first option was often his only option at Eastern Illinois. While things will be much more complex in the NFL, it's easy to see him hitting a slot receiver or tight end over the middle or firing off a quick screen to a receiver or running back in the New England offense.

And when he isn't getting the ball out of his hands as fast as possible (he averaged 2.03 seconds from snap to release during two timed games), Garoppolo shows good field vision and is poised in the pocket.

"He's got a lot of qualities that we admire in a quarterback," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "He's been a very productive player – little different level of competition, but hopefully he can make that adjustment. With the situation we have at quarterback, I think that we felt as an organization that we needed to address that to some degree in the future, so we'll see how all that works out but I think you're better off being early than late at that position."

Perhaps the Patriots are early at this spot – maybe even too early. Mallett is entering the final year of his contract, and is likely to leave one way or another before next season, which means that Garoppolo will soon become Brady's top backup. However, his future could hold much more.

After the pick was made, Belichick acknowledged that Brady will soon be 37 and is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. That could mean that, three or four years down the road, if he continues to develop, Garoppolo could end up being Brady's successor. During a conference call after he was picked, Garoppolo alluded to the fact that he would like to be New England's version of Aaron Rodgers.

The foundation and requisite skills are there for him to possibly become that type of player, but there is still a steep hill for him to climb. Even though he performed well at the Senior Bowl, no one knows how Garoppolo will react when facing elite competition. And though he has an extremely quick release, his throwing motion is a bit awkward and might need to be reworked to some degree.

He also needs to learn how to better drive the ball into tight areas of the field, and show that he has the mental capacity to digest a more complex offense after playing in a rather simple one in college.

The good news is that he will have time to fix all of those things and better hone his skills. Barring injury, Brady isn't going anywhere, and could potentially outlast Garoppolo. Realistically, the rookie might not have a chance to start until the final year of his rookie deal, when Brady will be 41.

So Garoppolo will have all the time he needs to get polished up and learn the offense before the team needs him to shine. And if he turns out to be the wrong player, the Patriots will know ahead of time and be able to find someone else to potentially replace Brady.

"Organizationally, in our organization, I don't think we could put together a team the way Indianapolis did it (in 2011)," Belichick said. "They lost (Peyton) Manning and go 1-15 or whatever it was (it was 2-14). I don't think that's what we're working for."

If Garoppolo meets his promise, and manages to adjust to better competition, the Patriots should never have to worry about suffering a similar fate.