After 12 games with Mac: which QBs would you take right now over him?

[Froob]

Hm..

Deflatey
Mahomes
Rodgers
Wilson (gotta hope this is a weird stretch of play)
Burrow
Lamar
Kyler
Herbert
Allen
Dak

I'd say Stafford and Carr are better today...but I'd rather ride with Mac.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Reverse the QB's. What is the record of Jacksonville and New England?

I think NE is much worse since we'd still be starting Cam.

 

[Froob]

I think NE is much worse since we'd still be starting Cam.

Over Lawrence? I don't know about that..

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Rookie contracts are hard to beat. While I can think of 5 - 10 current QBs who may provide a slight upgrade for this year, I don't think that for future years I'd swap him for anyone given salary cap restrictions. He's been really good, and aside from a few bad plays here and there, kept the team competitive in almost every game this season. That's fantastic for a rookie. He's only going to improve.

 

[Sicilian]

I'm happy with Mac. Not because I think there's no QB better (far from it) but I'm not into the whole, "Yeah, it's good, but..." mentality. It's working, and you can never tell what thing you change that ends up having a bad ripple effect. Sometimes I think this board is too obsessed with judging everything on a scale of perfection that can never be reached.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Trevor Lawrence’s completion percentage over expected is 33rd out of 34 qualifying QBs. It’s a stretch to say he’d be executing the pats offense at a similar level to Mac IMO.

Herbert isn’t better than Mac either. Burrow is a toss up. He is squarely in the conversation as a top 10 QB in the NFL.

Brady
Rodgers
Mahomes
Allen
Dak
Murray
Wilson TBD
Herbert?
Burrow?
Cousins?
Lamar?
Stafford?

 

[50-yard-line]

If it was JUST for this year and next, the answer for me is easy" Brady wins a SB this year with this team.

Going forward, I'm very pleased with Mac - Burrows, Lawrence, Herbert would all do very well here, sure, and I'd be thrilled to have them - probably a couple more, too, like Fields, but we'll have to see. I'm not sure any of the younger QBs command the line of scrimmage as well as Mac. Intellectually, he's as good as any young QB I've watched.

 

[Nehalem]

Hm..

Deflatey
Rodgers
Wilson (gotta hope this is a weird stretch of play)
Burrow
Lamar
Kyler
Herbert
Allen
Dak

I'd say Stafford and Carr are better today...but I'd rather ride with Mac.

Why would anyone want Stafford over Mac. Stafford has to be the most overrated QB of the last 20 years.

Patriots are actually averaging more points per game than the Rams.

 

[Steve102]

Going to put a placeholder here until I see how the rest of the season unfolds.

Yeah I am with you. The whole premise is really subtle bait, IMO. He's won 8 games and done what is asked, which is great. That doesn't make him great. Bill said postgame that 8 wins won't get them anywhere. That's accurate. They are trending in the right direction and things look really good.

12/26, 4:30 pm. That's when we will know where we are. See me then.

 

[Guts]

This is the Bradyite response to this question. Brady is going to retire sooner rather than later and the Bradyites would rather have him for another 1-2 years than Mac for 15 years. We know @sb1 would rather have Brady or Lawrence over Mac lol.

I didn't see the future thing I thought it was for this year.

 

[Kontradiction]

Yeah I am with you. The whole premise is really subtle bait, IMO. He's won 8 games and done what is asked, which is great. That doesn't make him great. Bill said postgame that 8 wins won't get them anywhere. That's accurate. They are trending in the right direction and things look really good.

12/26, 4:30 pm. That's when we will know where we are. See me then.

I’m thinking of waiting until the playoffs are over. The arrow is definitely pointed up, but the pressure of the NFL postseason is a completely different ball game. That’s where weaknesses are exposed.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I didn't see the future thing I thought it was for this year.

the OP wasn’t specific. If it’s for this year only, you would have to go with Brady. If it’s future, it’s Mac.

 

[Steve102]

I’m thinking of waiting until the playoffs are over. The arrow is definitely pointed up, but the pressure of the NFL postseason is a completely different ball game. That’s where weaknesses are exposed.

That's accurate. After the second Bills game, we will know if he's good enough to win the division. The next test is the post season. I have some legit concerns about his ability to up his game. He's been a great fit and it's made it fun to watch his development. Can't wait to see how he does in the playoffs, assuming they get there.

 

[oceansizer]

At this point of the season Mac looks like a stud and excellent fit for the Pats. I do not want to consider who I pick instead of Mac because time shows which QB from this draft class is the best. However I know one thing. The best decision so far was to let Cam go and give Mac opportunity to shine. Certainly with Cam right now we would think about our future picks and draft lottery, with Mac in the field we are hungry for success.

 

[Guts]

This list makes sense.

To play devil's advocate, I'll add : if we are talking about "going forward", I might choose Mac over AR & Brady, due to their respective ages. I'd also add that Allen & Herbert are good players, but that it's my opinion that they are the most overrated players since Andrew Luck (a playoff INT machine who was heralded as the chosen one, when his greatest feat was to get slaughtered in the AFCCG). Lastly, Burrow has yet to truly distance himself from Mac. Though the next few years will be telling, I'd caution against buying stock on the Cincy QB.

I get it but we yet to see Mac in the playoffs as well. He could fold or maybe separate hinself from the rest of the young QBs with clutch play. We shall see but I'd rather have Herbert, Allen, and Burrow in this Patriots team as of this very moment. If Mac delivers in the playoffs then that's a whole different story at that point maybe the only QB you'd take over him would be Mahomes and that's it

 

[Marko]

From this past draft, Trevor Lawrence for sure. He is still a superior QB playing in a bad situation. Lawrence on the Pats would be the OROY leader right now like Jones.

As of right now, I would still take at least a half dozen veteran QBs. That could change over time when we start to see what Jones' true ceiling is.

Not so sure on this. Superior physical skills do not always translate to success in the Patriot system. Mac has the processing skills and the obsessive desire to learn constantly that is required to thrive in NE. People are really underestimating the importance of this and how Mac has thrived in it. To me this is the real comparison to TB.

 

[mike_usagisan]

Over Lawrence? I don't know about that..

Bill had never started a rookie QB before this and many here believed he wasn't going to start one this year. Mac was the most pro ready of the QBs and fit into our system much better. Combine that with the comfort factor of transitioning from a Saban-coached team, and I think you had the perfect formula for Bill to start a rookie QB. With Lawrence, you lose a lot of those factors and I don't know that Bill would have cut Cam.

 

[sb1]

Lawrence has nothing around him. No talent. No coaching. That is a huge difference between the two QBs right now. Lawrence is trying to carry a team that probably doesn’t have more than 3-4 starters on either side of the ball who would even have a legitimate chance to compete to start on the Patriots.

The Jags may ruin Lawrence. But if he was on a good team, he would be better than Jones at least long term. That is no swipe at Jones.

Could say the same about Fields too if you get him away from Matt Nagy. Put him on a good team with a good coach and who knows?

All we know about Mac for sure is the draft profile that he was the most polished and pro ready QB was correct. And he's a capable NFL starter at least in the short term and he has some kind of NFL career ahead of him in some form. I liked that he started to get chunk plays with the offense.

He hasn't beaten an elite team yet (the Titans were NOT elite with their injuries) and when he's had the opportunity to do that this season, BB and the coaches wouldn't let him try. He hasn't shown he can elevate his team or put them on his back and win a game like Brady has done again and again and again. We know he can play within a system and he's as good as the team around him. We don't know yet if he's going to be Alex Smith - and that's not necessarily a bad thing, Alex Smith trucked our team twice - or if he's going to be more than that. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does on Monday night and that will start to answer a few more questions for me.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

He hasn't beaten an elite team yet (the Titans were NOT elite with their injuries) and when he's had the opportunity to do that this season, BB and the coaches wouldn't let him try. He hasn't shown he can elevate his team or put them on his back and win a game like Brady has done again and again and again. We know he can play within a system and he's as good as the team around him. We don't know yet if he's going to be Alex Smith - and that's not necessarily a bad thing, Alex Smith trucked our team twice - or if he's going to be more than that. I'm looking forward to seeing how he does on Monday night and that will start to answer a few more questions for me.

No, but he has played well against elite teams including Tampa and Dallas. Those losses don't fall on him. And Brady didn't elevate anyone his first year as starter - rather his team elevated him. Let's not compare a rookie QB to a 20 year vet.

And you are on record as not wanting Mac to exceed what Brady did in 2001.

 

[sb1]

No, but he has played well against elite teams including Tampa and Dallas. Those losses don't fall on him. And Brady didn't elevate anyone his first year as starter - rather his team elevated him. Let's not compare a rookie QB to a 20 year vet.

"Played well" is a stretch. He was adequate against both teams, even if Tampa's secondary was crippled. Had a killer pick 6 against Dallas. No the losses don't entirely fall on him they fall mostly on the coaching staff who were too scared to let him try to beat those teams. Conceding the half and kicking that high risk low reward FG were ridiculous. Either way he hasn't beaten an elite team yet.

What Brady did in his first year is irrelevant. Mac will never belong in the same sentence as the GOAT. Mac has not demonstrated he can elevate his team yet. Neither could Alex Smith. A guy like Smith could be really good if his team is. Maybe Mac is just like that - we don't know yet, that's my point.