Key Players [Mac Jones/others] Isn't/Aren't Ready to Play

[RodThePat]

Yeah…Look at Purdy. Is he better than Mac Jones? Absolutely not. But his team makes him look that way.

Well, there are observable things he is better than Mac Jones at. I'll list some off:

- the arm isn't great, but it's marginally better than Mac's, especially because he both throws from a solid base more often and is better at generating velocity off platform when he doesn't have a base.

Edit: just as a simple visual example of this, I don't know if Mac Jones is physically capable of making this throw. First because he wouldn't stick his plant foot on the ground forcefully after dovetailing from pressure the way Purdy does here (he ALWAYS throws fading away in these spots), second because even if he did, he doesn't have the torque to generate that velocity towards the sidelines after a sudden stop with no crow hopping.

- he has much quicker second reactions, if the primary receiver isn't open he resets faster and gets the ball on time to 2nd/3rd options more often;

- he's incomparably more agile, navigates the pocket much better and has more creativity out of structure when escaping the pocket to throw on the run.

I think talking about talent for QBs solely in terms of running fast and throwing it far is very misguided. Purdy having a great supporting cast is what makes him put up MVP numbers while not being an MVP level player, but he's a good young QB, he has demonstrated very good aptitude for the position at this point. Mac's surrounding cast makes him put up bottom 5 QB in the league numbers even while not being a bottom 5 QB but he's just okay at best. I see more projectable traits in Purdy than in Mac at this point. Mac is better at pre snap diagnosing, Purdy is better at pretty much everything once the ball is snapped.

Put it this way: Mac would look really good and not lose many games on the 49ers, I don't think he'd be putting up historic efficiency and EPA/Play numbers on that offense.