Are the Mac Jones - Tom Brady comparisons fair?

Mac Jones has been compared to several players. Some of the names that have gone around are Kirk Cousins, Chad Pennington, Derek Carr, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees, and Joe Montana. There is another name that he has been compared to and that's Tom Brady. The problem is that people are looking at 2020 Tom Brady and not listening to the comparison being made.

Tom Brady has always been a cerebral quarterback but for anyone to think Mac Jones is at Tom Brady's level in 2021 is insane. If anyone listens to the comparison, they'll hear the comparison is to the Tom Brady from 2001 to 2004. The only thing that cannot be measured against is his clutchness. 

Of the quarterbacks listed above not including Tom Brady, Kirk Cousins has been listed as the basement. I think statistically that's too good. Derek Carr has been listed as him currently and again I think that's too high statistically based on 2020, especially yardage wise. I mean take a look.

Cousins 67% completions, 4200+ yards, 35 touchdowns and 13 ints.

Carr 67% completions, 4100+ yards, 27 touchdowns and 9 ints. 

The Patriots are going to be a run first team. Those stats are not impossible but aren't realistic. However, Brady's stats over his first few seasons are. Let's look at his career average over that span.

2001-2004 Tom Brady averaged 61.75% completions, 3480 yards, 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. One might say that these stats and Carr's aren't that different. Derek Carr threw for 256 yards a game. Brady over that four year span averaged 217 a game. One may not think there's much difference between 24 and 27 touchdowns but I disagree.

Over his three preseason games Mac Jones averaged 69.42% completions, 130 yards and .33 touchdowns. He did this primarily against back ups so it's inflated. Now I believe comparing Jones to 01-04 Brady is a good starting point. If Jones can come in completing 62% of his passes, that's a win for the Patriots.

From a play stand point, all the quarterbacks listed are intelligent. While Cousins is probably the most inconsistent of the lot, they all can or could manage games and take what the defense gives them. Brady in his early years was a good game manager.  If Mac Jones can play consistently at a game manager level at his worst, the Patriots should be fine. Over the Patriots three preseason games, Jones has shown the capability to do that.

So are the Brady comparisons legitimate? It depends on if the proper context is used. If one is referring to how Tom Brady looked in the early part of his career, than yes. If one is referring to a slow but cerebral pocket quarterback, than yes again. If one is referring to one of the most clutch quarterbacks of all time, the answer is no. 

Mac Jones is not a hall of fame quarterback at the moment but he is intelligent, aware, and accurate. His supporting cast is good but not elite, and the depth is weak. This may shock my fellow Patriots fans but success for Mac Jones this season in my opinion is managing the Patriots to eight wins. That's one more than last season. Anything above that is overachieving.