Mac Jones has a man coverage problem.

[TheRainMaker]

Don't shoot the messenger - not my words. Some interesting stats and breakdown though. This is why Bill rolled the dice on Parker and traded up for Thornton.

 

[Kontradiction]

Most teams that have an issue with speed at the X and Y positions, as this team did last year, have problems against man. That’s a reason why it’s so important that Thornton comes on early. If he does, that’s a lot of speed on the perimeter between him and Agholor. It’ll shake the opposing D out of Cover-1 and into Cover-2, where the seam should be available to feast upon for Henry, Bourne, and Jonnu (assuming he removes his head from his ass this season). Parker is a nice addition, but his history says he’s likely to get injured at some point.

 

[Pape]

watched that yesterday...

the only issue i had with it was the way it was broken down... in zone, they always showed Mac in a clean pocket... in man, the pocket was always breaking down... it has to be a little more nuanced than that...

but, considering that it was Macs first season, without the benefit of having best case scenario offensive weapons (ala alabama recruiting classes), the game never really looked too big for him... sure there were rough spots, but every qb has those... He will grow and learn, and just as he learned to deal with zone defenders, he can learn how to manipulate and throw successfully into man coverage...

Got high hopes for Mac... not wanting him prior to the draft, he earned my respect on the field last year...

 

[Rob0729]

Lots of hyperbole in this commentary.

A few comments:

• Making definite statements about Jones after one season is stupid. To claim Jones could never grow to excel against man or be a QB you can carry the team on their backs after one season is just ridiculous. He could be right, but you cannot make that determination off a small sample size.
• The play calling was conservative at times and the Pats had no receiver that scared defenses, it made it easy for good man teams to defend the plays.
• The Patriots offense even under Brady was designed to destroy zone defenses and even Brady would struggle at times against man defenses. It is the nature of the offense where it is a timing offense where the QB throws to spots and receiver has to be there and able to catch it when the ball gets there. It is far easier to do in zone than man because there are soft spots in any zone defense. In man defenses, the receiver can be knocked off his route even if he does get separation.
• I think if they go to the Shanahan offense as rumored to do so, it will make Jones a lot better against man especially since in college he excelled at play action and RPO which surprised me that McDaniels rarely called. Jones will have an extra second or so, at least in theory, to release the ball and receivers aren't forced to run precise routes and be at a certain spot at an exact time.

 

[Boomer B]

Like others have said, speed on the outside will keep the safety’s back, which in turn will free up the inside and shorter/mid routes.

 

[holyredeemer]

A rookie having difficulty with man coverage against nfl competition. Ya don’t say? I’m shocked!

 

[XLIX]

Mac Jones does not have a man coverage problem. He has a my pass catchers suck ballz and can't get open problem.

 

[TheRazorsEdge]

Or the play calling was meh and the talent around him was dissapointing.

Oh and he was a rookie.

 

[Ollie]

The rating vs man wasn't that much worse and obviously says as much if not more about our WR at the time than i think it says about Mac.

 

[Mack Herron]

Pretty far down my list of concerns.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

• The Patriots offense even under Brady was designed to destroy zone defenses and even Brady would struggle at times against man defenses. It is the nature of the offense where it is a timing offense where the QB throws to spots and receiver has to be there and able to catch it when the ball gets there. It is far easier to do in zone than man because there are soft spots in any zone defense. In man defenses, the receiver can be knocked off his route even if he does get separation.

Man coverage also exposes the downside of a set of good receivers vs. a single amazing talent. Without a weapon that demands double coverage and each individual receiver that does not have a clear speed, size or quickness advantage, the DB's can cover everyone 1-1 with no one left open. Hopefully this years crop of receivers will have players that can beat man coverage 1-1.

 

[Triumph]

99% of Patsfans.Com

 

[slash83]

The WR’s had a man coverage prob, not the QB.

 

[Triumph]

Don't shoot the messenger - not my words. Some interesting stats and breakdown though. This is why Bill rolled the dice on Parker and traded up for Thornton.

Man coverage equates to the QB passing into tight windows where you must throw balls on a rope and that requires arm strength.

All the other 31 teams have figured this out by now and of they havent they will. Brady struggled in year 2 because Marty Schottenhiemer figured out that Brady was less effective passing if you forced him off his spot.

 

[Rob0729]

99% of Patsfans.Com

In all seriousness, I don't know this guy and it is only one person's opinion. Why would anyone who doesn't know who this guy is who is talking about QB after his rookie season with definitives like he will never be able to perform well against man defense and will never be a QB that can carry the team take his word as gospel? If we are going to do that, we can definitely say Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and Justin Fields are definitely going to be busts and never will be anything better than mediocre QBs?

The guy had some insightful analysis, but it was mostly a shallow overview without looking at all the reasons why Jones' numbers suffered in man coverage and a lot of hyperbole like Jones will never be good against man and the Patriots are falling apart. The latter really diminished the good analysis he did do because it was just over the top over reaction to what we saw by a rookie QB.

 

[Rob0729]

Man coverage equates to the QB passing into tight windows where you must throw balls on a rope and that requires arm strength.

All the other 31 teams have figured this out by now and of they havent they will. Brady struggled in year 2 because Marty Schottenhiemer figured out that Brady was less effective passing if you forced him off his spot.

Tighter cover also requires the WR to fight harder to get open and fight for balls.

And again the arm strength fallacy. Jones can throw balls into tight windows. He showed it last year. But even Brady cannot throw to receivers who are blanketed.

Jones still has a lot to work on like every other second year QB before his second season. But even this video the analyst said the claims of lack of arm strength Jones has didn't really show in his production and it wasn't the reason he said he struggled with man coverages.

 

[XLIX]

Man coverage equates to the QB passing into tight windows where you must throw balls on a rope and that requires arm strength.

It is only "tight windows" when your suckass pass catches gain zero separation.

The way some in this thread are talking, man coverage is the unbeatable defense, far superior to zone in every conceivable way.... and yet, according to an article I found on PFF, only 1 team in the NFL uses man coverage more often than zone.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

99% of Patsfans.Com

no, that ‘s what 99% of us do to you…

 

[Rob0729]

It is only "tight windows" when your suckass pass catches gain zero separation.

The way some in this thread are talking, man coverage is the unbeatable defense, far superior to zone in every conceivable way.... and yet, according to an article I found on PFF, only 1 team in the NFL uses man coverage more often than zone.

Yeah, with the trend to move to these fast aggressive defenses, there is less and less use of man. When you are send a lot of defenders at the QB, it is difficult to do man unless you truly have a great secondary with a true lockdown #1 CB. You send five or six people at the QB and you don't get to him and you suck at man coverage and the QB will pick you apart even an average QB. Hence why most teams are using more zone coverage to avoid a single receiver breaking free.

 

[Wozzy]

The problem with saying “here are Mac Jone’s stats against zone versus man…”

Generally teams that run more man coverage do so because they can… they’re more athletic and better defenses. They also blitz more, often what you see against cover one. So newsflash, Mac’s rookie stats are worse against better defenses.

Also Mac Jones rookie stats are who he is, he’s not going to improve. Much like most good QB’s from year one to year two, and even though most of those QB’s sat for a season or more to develop behind a vet. Mac meanwhile, who was a rookie starter, he isn’t going to improve at all and his weapons won’t build improved chemistry with him in year two.

His weapons aren’t good enough, even though they imported a gaggle of new weapons this off-season and many are complete unknowns but hyper talented rookies. The weapons from 2021 also won’t benefit from another year of maturity from Mac Jones and added chemistry that another full offseason with no covid restrictions will bring.

And the OLine will be worse because Shaq Mason is gone…

Just dumb. Every season is a new season, every year you start over… that’s not just people talking.