Ex-Patriots Coordinator Charlie Weiss said this about Jones. "What are the two most important components of a star quarterback?. They have the ‘it’ factor. And they’re accurate. That’s who he was."
Jones did have a good supporting cast but everyone knows it doesn't matter how good the cast is if the quarterback isn't competent. Patriots fans know very well that bad quarterback play in the NFL can drop a group of weapons from the 17-24 bracket, into the 25-32 bracket. It actually takes some skill to hike the ball and get it to open pass catchers. Especially on screens, timing routes, and to both sides of the field.
Charlie Weiss also spoke on that. "You talk about being around good players. Yeah, he was around good players. But playing on a team with a bunch of stars, who is the leader of the offense? He also had to make all those throws. I think the kid is an excellent quarterback. He has less holes than just about anybody."
Arnav Sharma of Sports Illustrated recently wrote about Mac Jones, in his article he said the following.
"Mac Jones is the prototypical cerebral pocket-passing quarterback. His arm and mobility are average but he makes up for his deficiencies with his quick processing ability, great decision-making, and his elite anticipation."
Sharma noted that Jones is criticized for his deep ball but said Jones throws it "with touch". Sharma continued his criticism of Jones by saying.
"Jones' biggest hurdle may very well be his lack of physical tools. He does not demonstrate much mobility or athleticism, and his arm is above average at best, leading to more difficulty making throws off platform. While Jones' lack of athleticism does not pose velocity issues, this is mainly because of how stable Jones' base is when he drives his throws; this means that he requires a relatively clean pocket to keep absolute precision."
Former Atlanta Falcons and Hawaii Warriors head coach June Jones says dismisses the concern of Mac's deep ball saying, “Mac’s deep-ball accuracy is probably the best that I have graded in my years of coaching quarterbacks. He’s almost at 55 percent at over 20 yards, which is unbelievable.
(Jones) is a receiver watcher. I could tell watching him on television when they had the right camera angle. And I really think that is huge for him. It’s how he naturally throws the deep ball.”
Lack of physical tools is something used too much when scouting quarterbacks. Two of my favorite quarterbacks who successful careers, Tom Brady and Chad Pennington both weren't thought of as having great physical tools, and yet both were decent quarterbacks in the AFC East.
Charlie Weiss talked about Jones's lack of physical tools saying, "When you talk about Trevor Lawrence, what makes him so special is that he can do everything Mac Jones can and he’s athletic. [Justin] Fields, really good player. Zach Wilson, really good player. The kid from North Dakota State [Trey Lance], really good player. . . . But this guy, [Jones], he’s the one making all the plays. All he does is win and throw completions."
June Jones said this is why he puts Jones over Lawrence, "But what I’ve noticed is, when you see him drop back and throw, let’s say, a 9-route down the field, on those completions that he had over 20 yards, a lot of times his receivers make great plays on those balls. And they weren’t right on the money, they weren’t right in stride. The receivers sometimes had to work for the deep ball with him than what (you’d expect from) a great quarterback.
Some people are going to have a problem with me saying that because he’s (Mac Jones) only done it one year, yadda yadda ya. But I saw enough in one year where you say, if that’s his only year, wow, that guy is going to be something else."
The current supporting cast on the Patriots roster is built more for a Mac Jones than a Cam Newton. Sure They may add weapons when free agency hits but the Patriots are a team to keep options open and after later year, showed they still want a pocket passer. I am not saying a mobile quarterback could not succeed with the current cast but from strictly a passing stand point, Cam Newton was far from Tyrod Taylor in terms of passing ability. In fact, at times Newton looked closer to Tebow than Taylor, when it came to accuracy in 2020.
Sharma describes the Patriots as an offense built for mental ability over athletic ability and I could not agree more. The Patriots also use some analytics when it comes to their offense. Rex Burkhead and Mike Gillislee had the fewest negative yard plays among players when signed.
The Patriots also look at three cone drill more than any other physical ability on offense. The offense the Patriots use employs the timing aspect found in the west coast offense, and one cut running schemes.
Players who cannot read a defense or that don't have good anticipation, will not succeed in New England. Jones will be expected to do a lot mentally.
Mac Jones is accurate. In 2019 he completed 68.8 percent of his passes. In 2020 he completed 77.4 percent. He finished college with a 74.3 completion percentage. With the same group Tua Tagovailao who was a prized first round prospect only finished with a 69.3 percent. That's the difference between throwing to a bubble and throwing to the pass catcher when talking about quarterback's accuracy.
Think of the quarterback and offensive line as the zero on a phone dial. Unlike some quarterbacks who cannot hit all 11 boxes, Jones can. Thus, allowing the Patriots to have routes all over the field. Passing drills is his thing, unlike some quarterbacks the Patriots have had in recent memory.
Another thing to consider is that Belichick likes players from Rutgers, Chip Kelly, and Nick Saban. Jones is a Saban quarterback and being friends with Saban, it's safe to say Belichick knows all about the prospect.
One thing we have question is whether Mac Jones cannot scramble or if he wasn't asked to. A quarterback's main job is to move the football with their arm, and for some quarterbacks running is an after thought. Regardless of how well they're running ability is. With the nfl moving more towards a running offense, Mac Jones could be a player from days past.
Now Jones maybe a reach at 15 but Belichick has never had a problem with reaching. Sony Michel and almost every second round pick the Patriots have taken over the last decade have pretty much been reached. There are teams after the Patriots who need a quarterback. This is one time where it would make sense to reach.
Jones finished his career with 556 attempts, completing 74.30% for 6126 yards with 56 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He also had less than a yard average on the ground with 2 touchdowns via his legs.
Nobody knows what the Patriots have in mind at quarterback as it is the most important position in all of professional sports. Maybe they resign Cam Newton. Maybe they trade for one of the franchise quarterbacks. Maybe they go to the draft on day one (Jones) or three (Crum), and maybe they just go with their redshirted backup quarterback from the past two seasons. With so much uncertainty, anything is possible.
Charlie Weiss thinks it would be a mistake for teams to pass on Jones saying, "I don’t want to be one of those people telling them how they are dumbasses if they don’t do that." And I'm pretty sure June Jones would agree. All I know is both guys know more about football than me.
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