Another Taboo Elephant! [Mac Jones playing well in SF]

[sb1]

Bruh come on. You saw his last two games. It's the Macorkle Experience. One or two good games, and then comes the reversion. It's the same pattern.

Not that unusual for a backup QB. That's why they aren't starting in this league, they're not consistent enough.

 

[Thelonious]

He looked pretty good, I thought, though if you look at the stats, it doesn't look great. I think he'll have a pretty good career as a backup, and if he's content with that, I'm happy for him. I wish him well. A declining, angry HC here treated him like crap, and it's nice to see him get a 2nd/3rd chance after that ********.

 

[Rob0729]

Five games into his starting career with the 49ers, he is still exactly what I thought he was forever. The guy can be a good starter in the right situation with a great coach and players around him. He will never be a guy who can elevate an offense. Belichick did everything possible to ruin him (a lot of it not on purpose, some of it was), but Jones also showed he wasn't mentally strong enough to handle the adversity.

He is in the perfect spot in San Fran. He will likely lose his starting job when Purdy returns, but don't be shocked if he gets the starting job back in the future.

 

[VrabelJr]

This is the absolute best that Mac can play and it still isn't great. We don't have to wonder about his ceiling or what could have been. He was a 3rd/4th round talent that went in the first because someone high up in the Patriots were horny to replace Brady.

 

[sb1]

Five games into his starting career with the 49ers, he is still exactly what I thought he was forever. The guy can be a good starter in the right situation with a great coach and players around him. He will never be a guy who can elevate an offense. Belichick did everything possible to ruin him (a lot of it not on purpose, some of it was), but Jones also showed he wasn't mentally strong enough to handle the adversity.

True, also if the Jets did to one of their QB's what BB did to Jones - or if you prefer, what he did to his offense with Jones, we'd all laugh at them.

 

[PaulThePat]

My main takeaway from reading this thread is just how freaking awful that QB draft class was i.e. Lance, Wilson and Fields....yikes. Funnily enough 2 of them have played for the Jete. Maybe NYJ should give Lance a go.

 

[farn]

Is he “doing well” or is he “not screwing it up while Salah’s D leads them to victories” ?

 

[sb1]

My main takeaway from reading this thread is just how freaking awful that QB draft class was i.e. Lance, Wilson and Fields....yikes. Funnily enough 2 of them have played for the Jete. Maybe NYJ should give Lance a go.

What a difference between that QB class and 2024. All of the top QB's in the 2024 class look at least like half decent starters and nobody had the gEnERaShUnAL label.

 

[PaulThePat]

A 2024 QB redraft would be an interesting one. Personally I'd expect the Bears to take Maye over Daniels with Williams falling to us.

 

[Wozzy]

Looks like you're ducking the question about the 2021 draft being a disaster.

Clearly the Pats were QB-needy in 2021, and Mac showed that when put into a QB friendly system he can win games.

Guess what, he's showing that in 2025 as well, so the 'figuring out' thing is actually not a thing.

It's not clear to me what the team could do in 2021 that would have put them in a better position to win, and in fact they did win.

Justin Herbert was picked 6th overall in 2020, so he wasn't an option.

Drake Maye did not have it worse last season. As bad as AVP was/is, the MP/JJ pairing trotted out by Bill was far worse. AVP at least had OC experience, MP and JJ were rank amateurs when it came to coaching offense. AVP is currently a member of the Rams staff as a senior offensive assistant. Both MP and JJ have been demoted to CFB.

I didn't see your question about the 2021 QB class being a disaster. Trevor Lawrence was supposed to be a "generational talent" and wasn't. Trey Lance had a treasure chest traded for his rights, and he has been a bust. Every other QB has been a backup at best. Where am I wrong?

Any decent backup can win games on a good team. Mac was taken in the first round, he wasn't hired to be a backup.

What is Mac showing in 2025?

He had 2 interceptions and a fumble the game before last. Yesterday Mac threw for 152 yards, no TD’s and another interception. Half his passing yardage yesterday came from CMC screens and dump offs. Mac is a backup.

I didn't ask why they didn't draft Herbert, I asked why Herbert and Drake Maye weren't "ruined" by their abominable situations? Joe Burrow gets slaughtered every season but comes out and plays like a stud with his surgically repaired joints.

Mac sucked in good situations in 2021 and is reverting to that now, he was un-startable in a bad situation... even if Jonathan insisted Bill keep rolling him out there. Mac is a backup at best. Literally why he is a backup now. The 49ers will run back to Purdy when healthy, Mac is hanging on by his fingernails as his coaches do everything to prevent him from turning it over.

 

[sb1]

Funny that people say Mac Jones sucks and always sucked and he could never succeed because of A B and C... and yet Bill knew all those attributes existed and decided to draft him anyway. Did he just ignore it all? What does that say about Bill and evaluating QB talent? I'm afraid not much of it is positive. Nuff said.

 

[farn]

Funny that people say Mac Jones sucks and always sucked and he could never succeed because of A B and C... and yet Bill knew all those attributes existed and decided to draft him anyway. Did he just ignore it all? What does that say about Bill and evaluating QB talent? I'm afraid not much of it is positive. Nuff said.

Wasn’t there talk that the Jones pick was Kraft and that it was non negociable, further putting a wedge between the HC & management ? Maybe I’m wrong.

 

[Bill Lee]

Is he “doing well” or is he “not screwing it up while Salah’s D leads them to victories” ?

I just watched the ~20 minutes of highlights on NFL channel on u2b.

Mac had an INT in the first half that IMO was at least 50% on his receiver. The receiver had his hands on it, but the ball popped up into the arms of the defender. OTOH Mac had a fumble that was largely due to him having poor pocket awareness when a pass rusher knocked it out of his hands. He just got lucky that his own guy fell on it. He also threw a long pass that IMO showed his poor arm strength and could have been a pick, but instead was just knocked away. He definitely did make a bunch of plays you'd expect a competent NFL starter to make. Overall I'd say it was a competent performance against an above-average defense.

To answer your question more directly, I'd say "competent" is a hair above "not screwing it up". What kind of hair that is can be debated. Perhaps a RCH?

Saleh's defense played quite well given that their best player Fred Warner had just gotten IR'd last week. Penix IMO didn't show much. Bijan Robinson had some decent plays but he's no CMC. Overall SF's offense out-performed ATL and there were no defensive scores or returns for scores so that was your ball game.

So, yeah, competent.

 

[sb1]

Wasn’t there talk that the Jones pick was Kraft and that it was non negociable, further putting a wedge between the HC & management ? Maybe I’m wrong.

Just a rumor. There's no actual evidence that the Krafts forced Bill to pick Jones...in fact beat writers like Perry have debunked that rumor. It's likely just a fabrication from Bill loyalists trying to deflect blame from Bill for Jones not panning out in NE. There was a hilarious rumor that Bill would have also wanted Davis Mills - a guy who was always an NFL longshot project without a shred of evidence that he would ever develop into an NFL starting caliber QB. That would have worked out well. Yikes.

And at the time the Jones pick was fine, it's not like they had to trade up for him. It's a weird hill to die on.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

That Mac still has defenders after everything we've seen from him is beyond belief. Even last night the guy was loose with the ball and was a turnover waiting to happen.

He doesn't have it.

I had no idea we had a real, actual NFL OC in our midst! Wow!

 

[A Defiant Goose]

Funny that people say Mac Jones sucks and always sucked and he could never succeed because of A B and C... and yet Bill knew all those attributes existed and decided to draft him anyway. Did he just ignore it all? What does that say about Bill and evaluating QB talent? I'm afraid not much of it is positive. Nuff said.

Wasn’t there talk that the Jones pick was Kraft and that it was non negociable, further putting a wedge between the HC & management ? Maybe I’m wrong.

Potential hot take, I don't blame anyone for taking him. We needed a QB. Mac was a first round grade and 4 other QBs were taken. IMO, he was the logical choice. Just sometimes you hit and sometimes you don't.

That's of course not to absolve BB of the disaster that followed the two years after his rookie season. But the selection in and of itself regardless of whose decision it was is the least of my concerns

 

[Bill Lee]

I didn't see your question about the 2021 QB class being a disaster.

Thread 'Another Taboo Elephant! [Mac Jones playing well in SF]'

Oct 13, 2025

Mac Jones seems to have matured and found a home in San Francisco

• SammyBlueCat
• Replies: 255
• Forum: PatsFans.com - Patriots Fan Forum

Refuted your comments on the Patriots draft of 2021 being a disaster, got no feedback on that.

Trevor Lawrence was supposed to be a "generational talent" and wasn't. Trey Lance had a treasure chest traded for his rights, and he has been a bust. Every other QB has been a backup at best. Where am I wrong?

Don't know why you're bringing Lawrence into this.

Any decent backup can win games on a good team. Mac was taken in the first round, he wasn't hired to be a backup.

"First round" is vague. Let's call it what it was, 15th overall pick. Given the really good QBs typically (but not always) go top-5 that should be a clue that Mac is in the good-but-not-great category. We were QB-needy. We gave it a try. Turns out with a competent OC and OL and some weapons, that gets you 10-7 and a one and done playoff season. Move on to the next season with incompetent coaching and all bets are off.

Turns out some times you get outliers like TB12 or Purdy that buck the draft pick trend, but that's what they are, outliers.

What is Mac showing in 2025?

He had 2 interceptions and a fumble the game before last. Yesterday Mac threw for 152 yards, no TD’s and another interception. Half his passing yardage yesterday came from CMC screens and dump offs. Mac is a backup.

I think you over-value some of the starters in the league. NFL.COM has Mac at 14. Even if you slide him down to 16, that means he's better than half the starters in the league. Slide him down another eight places and still he's better than a quarter of the starters in the league.

NFL QB rankings, Week 7: Josh Allen ousted from top 3; Jaxson Dart makes biggest jump

I'm thankful we've moved on from Mac and that we've found a franchise QB, but that doesn't mean I think some other team won't give Mac a go as a starter.

I didn't ask why they didn't draft Herbert, I asked why Herbert and Drake Maye weren't "ruined" by their abominable situations? Joe Burrow gets slaughtered every season but comes out and plays like a stud with his surgically repaired joints.

Simple: Mac isn't a Herbert (picked 6th) or a Maye (picked 3rd) or a Burrow (1st overall). No one's saying he can do what they do. They can make up for bad OC and bad OL. Mac can't.

Mac sucked in good situations in 2021 and is reverting to that now, he was un-startable in a bad situation...

Sucked to a 10-7 record as a starter in 2021. Sucked to 4-1 as a starter this year.

I get it, he isn't TB12, but he just played well enough to put 20 up against a tough ATL defense.

Derek Carr was his draft comp, and Derek had an 11 year NFL career as a starter.

Under the right circumstances, IMO, Mac could do that.

even if Jonathan insisted Bill keep rolling him out there. Mac is a backup at best. Literally why he is a backup now. The 49ers will run back to Purdy when healthy,

Purdy being better than Mac is no surprise.

Mac is hanging on by his fingernails as his coaches do everything to prevent him from turning it over.

Just like many of the other starting QBs in the league.... Gee No Smith comes to mind immediately.

 

[sb1]

Potential hot take, I don't blame anyone for taking him. We needed a QB. Mac was a first round grade and 4 other QBs were taken. IMO, he was the logical choice. Just sometimes you hit and sometimes you don't.

That's of course not to absolve BB of the disaster that followed the two years after his rookie season. But the selection in and of itself regardless of whose decision it was is the least of my concerns

Exactly. Also another Cam year would have been a choice...

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

Exactly. Also another Cam year would have been a choice...

The fact that moron was our QB for a year is something I try to block out like a traumatic event from my childhood.

 

[sb1]

The fact that moron was our QB for a year is something I try to block out like a traumatic event from my childhood.

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