Blog retract

So on Wednesday I had heard someone say the Patriots signed D-hop to a 3 year contract. And also saw an article that confirmed it. It appears I got duped and the contract that was mentioned, was actually the Parker extension. I had to retract my D-hop article. My apologies to the readers.

Mac Jones Is Being Disrespected Still By Patriots Fans

When the Patriots drafted Mac Jones, a lot of fans were upset that they did trade up for Justin Fields. In fact it seems most Patriots fans would have the Patriots scouting running backs to see if they can throw the ball 50 yards, regardless of accuracy and be drafting or signing a running back to play quarterback over keeping Mac Jones.

It makes sense why some of the fanbase wants the team to re-sign Cam. The fanbase has shown it wants a running back that throws hail marys or bombs everytime when asked to pass. Hell, knowing Patriots Nation, there were probably fans that wanted the team to draft DJ Turner from Michigan to play quarterback. Let's look at what the Patriots had in 2022.

In 2022 defensive coach Matt Patricia became the Patriots defacto offensive coordinator. And special teams coach Joe Judge became the quarterbacks coach. Both are former head coaches but offensive wasn't their specialty. 

Patricia was pretty much the best of the bottom quarter of offensive coordinators having the team 26th in both total yards and offensive scoring. For a rookie offensive coordinator on any level, that's not bad. It's also not great because he was more predictable than Josh McDaniels.

The combination of Judge and Patricia led to the Patriots quarterbacks getting sacked an average of 7 times a game. That was 19th in the league. The Patriots quarterbacks finished 6th in completion percentage and 18th in QBR. 

For two guys that didn't have the experience for their position on the staff in 2022, they actually did better than given credit. Even if it was below standard for the Patriots. And I don't think anyone honest will argue that.

Mac Jones missed 3 games, which were 3 of the teams easier games, so Mac's stats would've gotten inflated. Mac also got pulled in one. Mac averaged 214 yards per game and 1 touchdown pass a game. While Mac didn't finish so well, he was on pace for over 3,600 yards and over 17 touchdowns. He was also on pace for 13 Interceptions.

Bailey Zappe threw for 781 yards, 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Hoyer also threw 6 passes before getting hurt for 37 yards. The Patriots would've gotten better stats from Mac but no less than what the Patriots put up. 

That would've put Mac at over 3800 yards with 19 touchdowns and 14 Interceptions. Mac three for 3,800 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions his pro bowl rookie year. If Mac had played the entire season, he would've finished a top 10 quarterback in yards and a top 15 quarterback in touchdowns.

Now Mac Jones did have one of the lower tier protection rates, being ranked 23rd for protection. Player profiler said Mac Jones was the 16th best quarterback in true completion percentage and and the 11th best at catchable pass rate. Mac was also ranked the 11th best at completing the pass under pressure.

That's all good but they also said Mac was the 18th best quarterback in clean pocket completion percentage and the 22nd best in clean pocket passer accuracy. And while Mac was ranked 11th best on completion percentage against man coverage, against zone coverage, which modern starters normally excel, Mac was ranked 24th.

If I were to say how to beat Mac Jones, I would say it would be to use zone blitz packages. So are there things that Mac needs to improve on, yes. But I don't see Mac being anymore or any less than he was in 2021, entering his third season.

And as for Bill Belichick, he needs to accept that his quarterback doesn't have the experience of Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Bledsoe, Tom Brady, or Cam Newton, his former starters and take his share of the blame for Mac Jones's lack of progression.

I think McDaniels is an average offensive coordinator because he isn't aggressive enough. And the inexperienced Matty P. was a below average coordinator. What Mac Jones has shown us in two seasons, with these two coordinators is, that he is a top 16 quarterback that can crack the top 10 in categories.

So here's my question: Do people want the Patriots to get rid of Mac Jones and suck until they can get an elite, top 10 quarterback, or are people okay with the Patriots sticking with a quarterback that has shown that he is average to above average?

And before one answers consider this, you put tools around an average quarterback, you make them above average, you do the same to an above average quarterback and you make them good. The Patriots don't have a Gronk or Hernandez, they don't have a Moss, and the jury is still out on JuJu, if they have a Welker or Edelman. And don't mention Bourne, I think he's an overrated number 3 or a bottom end number 2 at best.

I think right now for the Patriots, the evolution is do they extend and pay Mac like a bottom end top 10 quarterback or do they treat him like a bottom end top 20 quarterback. The difference is whether Mac is fighting for or guaranteed a roster spot after 2027.

Bailey Zappe Is Getting More Play Time So Far This Offseason

In 2021 the Patriots gave Mac Jones more snaps than starter Cam Newton. Cam missed a preseason game and Mac won the job. People are saying there's no similarities between this OTA session and the one from 2021. They're wrong.

After the second media day of OTAs, Mac Jones had thrown 24 passes. Zappe threw 27 passes. Mac went 31 of 37 during the three OTAs. Zappe went 33 of 44 passes. Zappe also threw two interceptions. 

Zappe is getting more attempts. He's taking more snaps in front of the media. Stats don't tell everything but like I said after day two of media OTAs, there's nothing saying there isn't a competition going on.

Again, I like Mac but we gotta wait until the preseason before we can really say there's no competition. We just haven't seen enough to say there's not one going on. It's like when some of the media didn't want to cover Newton vs Stidham, or the things showing Brady was prepping to leave the Pats. If the media doesn't want us to talk about something, they'll try to squash it.

You know it's funny, the media tells us fans that we haven't seen enough of Mac to say whether he is or isn't the guy but some of them think they've seen enough after the first OTA to call whether or not a quarterback competition is happening. Many are the same people who screamed for Cam to get a long term contract after playing two weeks with the Pats. And we all saw how Newton was by years end as a passer.

If Stidham vs Newton And Newton vs Jones Taught Us Anything, It's You Can't Call The Competition Yet.

In 2021 people called the quarterback competition for Mac Jones because Cam was getting time with the starters. Even though Cam was getting time with the starters, Mac was getting more snaps and we saw how that went.

After the first day the media was allowed at OTAs, Majority seemed to call the competition for Mac Jones. I struggled to find anyone who had passing stats for day two but I did, thank you Mark Daniels.

While I don't have the number of plays each ran, Zappe has thrown the ball more. Mac has been almost perfect but this is a no contact period and even in would be sack situations, the quarterbacks are still allowed to throw the ball. 

What I will say after watching the 2020 and 2021 competition is don't call it until the preseason unless Zappe without injury starts to get a significant drop in snaps. Zappe could still win it in the preseason, like Mac did in '21 or Mac could win it by default due to something happening with Zappe, like Cam did in '20.

I am a big Mac Jones fan and want him to be the long term starter. And again, I get current stats make Mac look like the starter but Bill Belichick has made it part of Patriots Nation to know that stats don't tell the full story. We need more Information before we can call Mac the starter and not a single member of the Patriots media has given that to us.

Again, shout out to Mark Daniels over at Masslive. Make sure if you're reading this to check out his coverage of the Patriots.