Is Mac the guy for the future?

[ensoul]

if I had to make a decision right this second I would say no he isn't.

The reality is though it's too early to tell but it's definitely been mixed bag so far and I think this year has more bad than good.

Now that he is injured that's obviously going to hurt his progress. When he returns you have to wonder, if he keeps playing the same way, throwing interceptions and generally making bad decisions, how long it will be before belichick benches him.

 

[Family]

Until they give Mac a 3rd down go-to receiver (apologies to Meyers, but not enough) or a 3rd down back, it's almost not a fair question.

But off of last year Mac is deserving of a year 3 before this is a discussion.

 

[yukon cornelius]

We are three games into his second season. Way too early to have this discussion.

He will never be Brady or anything close. But could he be a guy who leads the Pats to a Super Bowl or two? Who knows?

Yes, he has taken a step or five back this season thus far, but that doesn't mean that he when he gets a better grasp of the system he cannot turn it around and becomes far better than he was last year. I think most of his problems are mental mistakes and mechanical issues most likely because he isn't being coached right. If I was Belichick, I would hire Adam Gase or someone to be a special assistant and work with Mac on his issues. It is doubtful he would add an OC at this case, but a special consultant could help Mac with a lot of his issues that are correctable.

the step back is fairly consistent, too......if not a true regression, many developing QBs have that time where they at least seem to plateau......playbooks tend to be trimmed early on in careers, and film is also limited......as a QB develops, more and more is thrown at them from both their own team and from others.....i'm not real concerned with what i've seen so far, and am pleased with the development of some of the throws i've seen him make this year vs last year.......all part of the process

way too early to make any sort of call.......i think the positives at this point are very evident, as are the areas he needs to continue to improve......and right now, i think they will (improve)

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I don't agree that you need insane physical tools to win a SB. What you need is to take your team down the field again and again, score TD's when you get there, and don't turn it over. Yesterday he looked pretty dynamic to me, the offense went off for 450 yards.

You don't need to run a 4.3 or be 6'5 230 but you absolutely need to be elite or have elite tools/skill set to be a great QB.

Like Brady didn't have the best arm or athleticism but he had elite accuracy, touch, placement, timing, anticipation. You look around at any true great QB and they'll have some elite traits about them.

He was good yesterday but you can't discount the INTs, 3 TO worthy plays and some bad pocket awareness. He was good though and showed a lot toughness. I definitely think yesterday was a step in the right direction in some cases but this team is too inconsistent on the whole rn.

 

[Zuma]

 

[Boomer B]

And here lies the real problem. Mac can be good but you need great to be a consistent SB contender. We're facing Allen, Mahomes. Herbert, Jackson etc in the AFC alone. We absolutely have to give him an elite weapon to play with. That's not even a debate imo.

That's where I'm at. I like Mac and was happy we drafted him, but can he outplay the best of the AFC for 3 straight weeks in the playoffs? I don't see it. I see a guy who loves to play, works his ass off, but unfortunately his ceiling is David Carr or Kirk Cousins. Hope he proves me wrong.

 

[Thelonious]

We don't know, because the team is so badly coached, and Belichicks incompetence when it come to drafting skill playing is so blatant, that we can't possibly know. Maybe if Bill gets his GOAT head out of his butt and fires a couple of old friends, and a son or two, we could find out. Mac is unlikely, I think, to become the sort of QB who will guarantee playoff relevevance every year, year after year, but he might be the sort who will make an SB win possible here and there. As of now, though, the idea that Mac is "the problem" is nonsense.

 

[Triumph]

I recall the days of the Drew Bledsoe debate.

Drew needs _______________________________ and he will be great. It was never Bledsoe's fault for coming up short. Then Brady took over and began winning big games with the exact same people that were not good enough for Bledsoe. Today, this NE team has plenty of talent on it to make the post season with the right QB.

The Pats wont be going anywhere this year because of 1 player and not because of the other 52 players

 

[203Pat]

Typical response from someone whose DOA brainfart has been invalidated and has nothing more to say.

Anyone who calls Mac a pro bowler I don't feel they warrant a response.

 

[Triumph]

Anyone who calls Mac a pro bowler I don't feel they warrant a response.

He could make the pro bowl this year.

 

[203Pat]

Don't think you were gonna get all the answers in year 2, I expected a drop off this year and through 3 its what we've gotten.

Probably too early, but I still think he's got a kirk cousins ceiling, FWIW.

I agree. I think we will be lucky if we end up with Mac roughly equivalent to Cousins. At this point I think he is closer to an Andy Dalton. Just good enough to get you to the post season if his supporting cast is much higher than average.

 

[tasmlab]

The guy who went to the playoffs and the probowl as a rookie? The 85th best player in the NFL?

I guess if you were to ask me about 3 minutes in the 4th when it looked like he super-hustled on the 2 point conversion (overturned) to bring the Pats within 3 and on track to maybe win the game... I was seeing some good stuff, and the 150+ yards to Parker, and was excited. It was a fun, tense, competitive game up until around then.

Or, he makes bad decisions and often looks like he's in slow motion. Like a kid who doesn't know what he's doing. Some of those passes look so high and slow that you'd imagine half the guys on the field, from either team, would have time to run over and catch it.

I don't know. Some greats look pretty blah early on. I wasn't watching football then, but Peyton Manning broke the rookie interception record his first season. TB12 was still accused of being a system guy even after he had his third ring.

But then some guys are Mahomes, in his first year as a starter, can throw 70 yard laser beams with either hand. Blindfolded. While facing the wrong way. On a unicycle.

Too bad Mac got hurt. I hope he works out.

 

[lancerman]

Hard to tell. I think something a lot of people overlooked was that Mac was on a leash most of last year and was not given the ability to make big plays which had the benefit of preventing mistakes. Now that the leash is off he makes good chunk plays and occassionally does something good, but he's making more mistakes. That's called growing pains. I think a lot of people just expected a pure upward trajectory without acknowledging that it was likely more freedom was going to come with some negatives for awhile until he figured them out.

Also let's be real, our TE's still don't do a whole hell of a lot, our receivers are lower tier at best, and the line is liable to collapse every other play. Add in horrible offensive play calling from Stromboli and it's not an ideal situation.

Not ready to give up on him and want to see how he develops THAT SAID, if he misses time and we get a high draft pick and are in range of some stud, I'm not against looking towards that route if the opportunity is there. I'd probably still do the standard, decide in year 3 of the rookie contract.

 

[Dagg]

Mac cant carry a team like Brady did. He is an average NFL QB. Yes teams have won with worse but if your looking for a perennial playoff team/afc championship level he cant do it alone. Get a stud defense and OL/running game sure he could do it but on his own merits no...

 

[PatsFan2]

Hard to tell. I think something a lot of people overlooked was that Mac was on a leash most of last year and was not given the ability to make big plays which had the benefit of preventing mistakes. Now that the leash is off he makes good chunk plays and occassionally does something good, but he's making more mistakes. That's called growing pains. I think a lot of people just expected a pure upward trajectory without acknowledging that it was likely more freedom was going to come with some negatives for awhile until he figured them out.

Also let's be real, our TE's still don't do a whole hell of a lot, our receivers are lower tier at best, and the line is liable to collapse every other play. Add in horrible offensive play calling from Stromboli and it's not an ideal situation.

Not ready to give up on him and want to see how he develops THAT SAID, if he misses time and we get a high draft pick and are in range of some stud, I'm not against looking towards that route if the opportunity is there. I'd probably still do the standard, decide in year 3 of the rookie contract.

But they are being paid a heck of a lot.

 

[203Pat]

Kind of crazy it is dead even at 17 a piece right now.

 

[PatsFan2]

Kind of crazy it is dead even at 17 a piece right now.

203Pats are you talking about Henry's cap hit??

 

[Tunescribe]

Anyone who calls Mac a pro bowler I don't feel they warrant a response.

He WAS a Pro Bowler, you idiot. Just shows where your bias lies.

Mac Jones named to 2022 Pro Bowl

The Patriots rookie quarterback is headed to Las Vegas to participate in the NFL's All Star game.

www.patriots.com

 

[Nunchucks]

Mac isn't what is wrong with this team. His play has been inconsistent, but that might not be totally his fault either. The coaching had been subpar.

 

[Tunescribe]

Mac is going to be a helluva QB for us. I was more concerned after the Steelers win than yesterday's loss. I saw a plodding offense vs Pitt, but yesterday we were explosive. He scrambled and ran better than I've ever seen, he and Parker converted on 5 long passes, we saw his competitiveness, and it was a game we would've won but for Agholor's fumble. Even the EZ interception now appears to have been Parker's fault.

Nice to see someone talking sense in this ill-advised thread. Make no mistake, Mac made some bad decisions yesterday but he DID move the team completing 69 percent of his passes for 321 yards and rushing for another 31 yards.