Is Mac the guy for the future?

[NG Pats Fan]

Harris is averaging 4.6 YPC. Stevenson is averaging 5.0 YPC. Agahlor is catching 78% of his targets and Bourne is catching 77%. Jonnu Smith and Henry are post season caliber TEs. This team has plenty of talent.

The Pats have turned the ball over 8 times in 3 games and the QB is responsible for 6 turnovers.

LOL did you just compare Harris and Stevenson to a prime Curtis Martin? These young fans are funny

 

[State]

If Mac Jones isn’t our long-term solution at the most important QB position—and I think he clearly is—then people need to check out the college ranks.

Hurts and Stroud are the leading candidates, but my choice would be oft-injured but the talented Michael Penix out of Washington. And give BZ, the prolix passer already on the roster, another year or two. He could impress.

 

[Ian]

LOL did you just compare Harris and Stevenson to a prime Curtis Martin? These young fans are funny

Harris is stronger than Martin and pretty fast, although Martin was better laterally with good quickness. I don't recall if he caught the football out of the backfield all that well, which is what it seems like they're trying to get Harris to do a little more of, albeit Stevenson is eating into his snaps most likely because they don't expect Harris to be here after this season.

But Martin was a beast and it is a good comparison, although I look back at that era like you do with a lot more fondness for those players

 

[NG Pats Fan]

If Mac Jones isn’t our long-term solution at the most important QB position—and I think he clearly is—then people need to check out the college ranks.

Hurts and Stroud are the leading candidates, but my choice would be oft-injured but the talented Michael Penix out of Washington. And give the prolix passer already on the roster another year or two. He could impress.

Good choices

What about receiving weapons? Parker will be gone, Agholor has an albatross of a contract, Thornton is a fragile beanpole, meyers is a jag, bourne is good but WALDO Patricia won’t play him, and our two mediocre tight ends have tied up all our cap space

I’d love to bring in a young QB star but we need to surround him with weapons. Look what the eagles provided for Jalen Hurts recently..drafting Devonta Smith and trading for AJ Brown ..two awesome moves which are paying off

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Harris is stronger than Martin and pretty fast, although Martin was better laterally with good quickness. I don't recall if he caught the football out of the backfield all that well, which is what it seems like they're trying to get Harris to do a little more of, albeit Stevenson is eating into his snaps most likely because they don't expect Harris to be here after this season.

But Martin was a beast and it is a good comparison, although I look back at that era like you do with a lot more fondness for those players

Harris and Stephenson are fine, but they are not game changers. Martin could take over a game, and break one at any point and take a long one to the house. Martin had some monster playoff games single handily dismantling pittsburgh in 96, and he was tearing up the packers in the super bowl but bill wouldn’t feed him the ball enough

Of course Martin went on to have a hall of fame career with several 1,000 yard seasons

As for catches he caught 70 balls for the jets in 2000

 

[Ian]

Good choices

What about receiving weapons? Parker will be gone, Agholor has an albatross of a contract, Thornton is a fragile beanpole, meyers is a jag, bourne is good but WALDO Patricia won’t play him, and our two mediocre tight ends have tied up all our cap space

I’d love to bring in a young QB star but we need to surround him with weapons. Look what the eagles provided for Jalen Hurts recently..drafting Devonta Smith and trading for AJ Brown ..two awesome moves which are paying off

You're giving up on Jones a little early. I'd look at where he is by the end of this season before I'd make a long-term assessment.

Thornton won't be a fragile beanpole forever, Meyers is better than just a jag if he's not asked to be the top guy, Agholor is starting to become someone I get nervous about when it comes to ball security, and I feel like the tight ends are both decent players who just aren't getting enough opportunities.

Settle down. It all revolves around the QB and where this offense goes. This past week was at least two steps forward when it comes to what they did but three back when it comes to the turnovers. I think one part of this story that might come into play might be the clarity Jones has by being forced to watch. I don't know what the statistics are for guys who miss time with injuries and how much better they see things after being sidelined, but that would be interesting to know. However, I do think he needs a little more time before we stick the fork in him.

People tend to underestimate just how tough it is to find "the guy" and there are teams that have gone years in that situation. They're rare as it is, and I do feel like Jones is someone who - at least based on what we saw last year - can be smart enough with the football and make a few plays here and there to help them win football games.

It's not as easy as "let's go bring in a young QB star" - again, they don't always exist. Look at each year's crop of QB1s and how many ultimately work out. It's not very many, and you have to have a pretty lousy season as it is to get up in the top 5 to get one.

I will say coaching could be a factor and you can look at Jacksonville as another example. Look at Meyer compared to Pederson and how he's got Lawrence playing. McDaniels was clearly good at coaching QBs and I do question the transition and how that's affecting Jones' growth. Again, it's only been three games and plenty can change, but I wouldn't quit on the kid until you at least get to the end of the season.

He's either going to prove you right or he'll figure it out and start looking like he did last year. Hopefully, it's the latter.

 

[Ian]

Harris and Stephenson are fine, but they are not game changers. Martin could take over a game, and break one at any point and take a long one to the house. Martin had some monster playoff games single handily dismantling pittsburgh in 96, and he was tearing up the packers in the super bowl but bill wouldn’t feed him the ball enough

Of course Martin went on to have a hall of fame career with several 1,000 yard seasons

As for catches he caught 70 balls for the jets in 2000

I still couldn't believe it when Parcells snatched him up and took him to New York, that sucked. I loved him as a player, although a lot of the guys back then certainly resonated a little with me a little more.

I do like Harris and I feel like he's underrated, and paired with Stevenson, it's an unreal duo. It does stink that they're together in a time where they really can't fully utilize them in an offense that is obviously in transition. I just hope when Harris goes he goes to the NFC and gets out of the Conference or at least out of the Division. He's a good player and I'm sure he'll remain productive wherever he goes.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

You're giving up on Jones a little early. I'd look at where he is by the end of this season before I'd make a long-term assessment.

Thornton won't be a fragile beanpole forever, Meyers is better than just a jag if he's not asked to be the top guy, Agholor is starting to become someone I get nervous about when it comes to ball security, and I feel like the tight ends are both decent players who just aren't getting enough opportunities.

Settle down. It all revolves around the QB and where this offense goes. This past week was at least two steps forward when it comes to what they did but three back when it comes to the turnovers. I think one part of this story that might come into play might be the clarity Jones has by being forced to watch. I don't know what the statistics are for guys who miss time with injuries and how much better they see things after being sidelined, but that would be interesting to know. However, I do think he needs a little more time before we stick the fork in him.

People tend to underestimate just how tough it is to find "the guy" and there are teams that have gone years in that situation. They're rare as it is, and I do feel like Jones is someone who - at least based on what we saw last year - can be smart enough with the football and make a few plays here and there to help them win football games.

It's not as easy as "let's go bring in a young QB star" - again, they don't always exist. Look at each year's crop of QB1s and how many ultimately work out. It's not very many, and you have to have a pretty lousy season as it is to get up in the top 5 to get one.

I will say coaching could be a factor and you can look at Jacksonville as another example. Look at Meyer compared to Pederson and how he's got Lawrence playing. McDaniels was clearly good at coaching QBs and I do question the transition and how that's affecting Jones' growth. Again, it's only been three games and plenty can change, but I wouldn't quit on the kid until you at least get to the end of the season.

He's either going to prove you right or he'll figure it out and start looking like he did last year. Hopefully, it's the latter.

Good Post. I don’t necessarily think Jones isn’t the guy, but I do know Jones isn’t good enough to win a division title over Josh Allen or even Miami without elite weapons helping him out.

Is it a talent issue or coaching issue? We’ll maybe both. Mac has no number 1. The tight ends if not being properly used, shame on the coaching staff for allocating $60 million to two tight ends who are uninvolved


Mac is out for a while, seems like he has not progressed since Mcdaniels departure. Something needs to change with this offense

 

[venecol]

Lots going on, but Mac did not suddenly become careless. Coaching, personnel, terminology changes all contribute.

Seems like he's throwing Mac under the bus. Has the blame game started already? Lombardi is a Belichick sycophant. Hmm.

Maybe there's some truth to the team and Mac being at odds over his treatment.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I still couldn't believe it when Parcells snatched him up and took him to New York, that sucked. I loved him as a player, although a lot of the guys back then certainly resonated a little with me a little more.

I do like Harris and I feel like he's underrated, and paired with Stevenson, it's an unreal duo. It does stink that they're together in a time where they really can't fully utilize them in an offense that is obviously in transition. I just hope when Harris goes he goes to the NFC and gets out of the Conference or at least out of the Division. He's a good player and I'm sure he'll remain productive wherever he goes.

Curtis leaving for New York broke my heart as well

 

[Ian]

Good Post. I don’t necessarily think Jones isn’t the guy, but I do know Jones isn’t good enough to win a division title over Josh Allen without elite weapons helping him out.

Is it a talent issue or coaching issue? We’ll maybe both. Mac has no number 1. The tight ends if not being properly used, shame on the coaching staff for allocating $60 million to two tight ends who are uninvolved


Mac is out for a while, seems like he has not progressed since Mcdaniels departure. Something needs to change with this offense

He made a bunch of throws on Sunday, including the two straight-line throws late, that showed us something we hadn't seen before this week and hadn't seen since last season. I'm with you on the talent vs coaching question - that's something I think a lot of people are wondering. Again, we need a bigger sample size to make that determination and obviously we also need the offense to evolve more as they scrap the bad plays and hopefully keep the ones they've had success with.

Also agree with you on the tight ends. They brought both those guys over who they had clearly planning to use them. How Henry is sitting where he is boggles my mind because it's not like he didn't show them something last season. It's definitely been a weird start to the season, and it stinks that we basically have to hit pause until we see how things really play out.

 

[Ian]

Seems like he's throwing Mac under the bus. Has the blame game started already? Lombardi is a Belichick sycophant. Hmm.

Maybe there's some truth to the team and Mac being at odds over his treatment.

There is precedent there. Look at Brady (his infection) and Gronk (also had an infection and issues with his arm surgery). Tom Condon, I believe, is his agent, so I'm not sure what his experience with the team has been there in that regard. Although, on a separate note, ironically, I think Condon also represents Calais Campbell - which is a little funny.

 

[mikey m]

Good choices

What about receiving weapons? Parker will be gone, Agholor has an albatross of a contract, Thornton is a fragile beanpole, meyers is a jag, bourne is good but WALDO Patricia won’t play him, and our two mediocre tight ends have tied up all our cap space

I’d love to bring in a young QB star but we need to surround him with weapons. Look what the eagles provided for Jalen Hurts recently..drafting Devonta Smith and trading for AJ Brown ..two awesome moves which are paying off

6'2 183
6'0 170
Both guys with pretty minimal college injury history.

 

[Bruins29]

6'2 183
6'0 170
Both guys with pretty minimal college injury history.

Doesn’t you hear? Nicky knows everything. Except how to think and get laid

Mayers is a jag? Really ? 1700 yards in his first 3 seasons in the NFL ? Took Edelman twice as long to do that

Meyers JAG lol

Nicky G is a pu as y. That we do know

 

[varjao]

Too early to tell. I think he has the tools, I've seen him making all the throws one need to do to be a good/great QB, you don't need a cannon arm to win in the NFL, and that's something he still has a lot of room to evolve.

Remains to be seen if he has the smarts to be a winner, he's shown some glimpses but at the same time these brain farts are very Garoppolian. If he's able to overclock his brain processor and read defenses faster and then react faster, improve his pocket awareness, I think we can look at Matt Ryan as a good reference for his ceiling.

 

[JMC00]

I have my doubts if this is gonna continue

This was the 1st INT.

 

[TomPatriot]

There is precedent there. Look at Brady (his infection) and Gronk (also had an infection and issues with his arm surgery). Tom Condon, I believe, is his agent, so I'm not sure what his experience with the team has been there in that regard. Although, on a separate note, ironically, I think Condon also represents Calais Campbell - which is a little funny.

If I were a player, I’d want to get an opinion from my own specialist. If I were his lawyer or agent, I’d want my client to get an opinion from his own specialist. Condon is protecting his client, which is exactly what he’s supposed to do, regardless of any past team history.

 

[TomPatriot]

I have my doubts if this is gonna continue

This was the 1st INT.

Is this Mac or the coaching? He sees this easily last year. This year he forces the ball into coverage more. Why?

 

[TomPatriot]

Curtis leaving for New York broke my heart as well

They wound up with Robert Edwards instead.

 

[borg]

He made a bunch of throws on Sunday, including the two straight-line throws late, that showed us something we hadn't seen before this week and hadn't seen since last season.

Let's not discount that the Ravens are the worst pass defense in the NFL and the distance between #31 and #32 is vast.
And when NE got behind, Mac wilted...... chucking desperation 50/50's that the worst pass defense in the NFL had little issue gobbling up.
Regarding last year, Mac fizzled down the stretch with double the INTs vs TDs.

No doubt the guy has lots of externals that certainly don't make his job easy...ie....OL, coaching, etc....but what can't be ignored is his decision making...ie....refusal to throw ball away, locking on to binkies, not checking down, etc.