Bill Belichick said in his press conference with the media on Friday that Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer will compete for the starting quarterback job in camp.

Of course we haven’t had a “quarterback competition” around these parts since 1993 when rookie Drew Bledsoe competed against Scott Zolak for the starting job in Bill Parcells first year. Of course if he want a true quarterback competition, you probably have to go back to Hugh Millen, Tommy Hodson. It’s been a while.

Nonetheless, this will be a legitimate quarterback competition to replace the great Tom Brady. Without pre-season games, it will be hard to see the three quarterbacks in game action but Bill Belichick and his staff can simulate game situations in team during camp. In fact, there will probably more of an emphasis on group and team in this camp so the offensive coaches could evaluate the quarterbacks.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will script practice early to ensure that all three quarterbacks get as close to equal reps as possible. As the quarterbacks begin to separate themselves with their play, McDaniels will script accordingly.

As camp progresses, the leader in the competition will begin to get starter reps with the ones. Normally the starter will be named heading into week one but with Bill Belichick, you never know. He might wait until the opening offensive position of week one before we find out who the starter is.

One of the challenges McDaniels faces is scripting the offense for the three quarterbacks because they are so different stylistically. The other issue will bringing Cam Newton up to speed while giving him a fair shake.

How this all plays out will be fascinating. Quarterback competitions are not always easy to manage for coaches, especially when the skill sets of the quarterbacks are so different. If there is one staff that can manage this competition, it is this one.