DRAFT Mac Jones

[RIP#40]

Yes, I thought you had an excellent analogy in Big Ben for the level of "hoped for success", as opposed to a GOAT like Brady or Near GOAT (NGOAT, I just made it up) like Brees. Let's hope he will be better than Kirk Cousins, but we'll have to see. Certainly I think he is someone that will take well to hard coaching by BB and Josh, and he definitely is super smart, both on and off the field. If he washes out for some reason (like not handling defensive pressure well, he didn't have much of that in college) between his on and off the field football intelligence and coaching he has received (Saban, Sarkisian, and now BB and Josh) if nothing else he will be an excellent coaching candidate in the future.

Big Ben is a definite HOF'er, so if Jones turns out to have a Big Ben type career, you should be thrilled.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

people are comparing him to andy dalton, which scares me

My pro comp for him is Matt ryan

 

[rochrist]

I don't really believe in writing off a player's "ceiling" because of physical traits. The QBs taken ahead of him, while physically gifted enough to be the next Mahomes, will probably not actually reach that level. On the flip side, it's entirely possible Jones' arm strength and mobility are good enough to be an NFL superstar if he plays a cerebral enough game.

No, I don't think he's going to be Brady. I think he could be a poor man's Brady, though.

You guys know he ran a faster 40 than a Mahomes, had a better vertical than Mahomes and only a slightly slower 3 cone, right?

 

[rochrist]

I like Jones but am pretty bummed that the Brady offense will continue. I was really hoping we would take a more dynamic QB so we could run a more dynamic offense to compete with the Bills and Chiefs but it appears this is our offense for as long as Bill is here.

Did you not just recently watch the old boring Brady style dismantle the Chiefs in the Super Bowl?

 

[SHOWTIME15]

My pro comp for him is Matt ryan

Matt Ryan is not a championship caliber QB though. He lost the super bowl because he played scared in the 4th quarter, hoping the defense would win it for him. Mac Jones already has a championship under his belt (4 TDs, 0 Ints in the BCS championship), which is better than even Brady had at this point.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Matt Ryan is not a championship caliber QB though. He lost the super bowl because he played scared in the 4th quarter, hoping the defense would win it for him. Mac Jones already has a championship under his belt (4 TDs, 0 Ints in the BCS championship), which is better than even Brady had at this time.

Ryan played amazing in 2016. He's had an amazing career. Look if Mac Jones becomes Ryan or Brees or a fraction of Brady this is an amazing pick...

 

[zydecochris]

I have a good friend who is a diehard Bama fan and says he’s much better than both Tua and McCarron. He hates the Patriots but said this is the perfect place for him to thrive. We have decent protection and great coaching but poor skill players (his words) which will play to his strengths of finding the right read when three targets aren’t open. He went on to say he would put money on him beating out Cam.

For my part, I would be shocked if he isn't better than McCarron.

I think it remains to be seen with Tua. Tua is a completely different type of player, very innovative and creative and natural. He is very smart and a hard worker but he isn't overly scripted, he is often brilliantly creative in the moment. His throws were a thing of beauty, and he had a natural escapability. The way he won the National Championship Game against Georgia when he was inserted at halftime was a perfect example of his brilliant (if sometimes dangerous) creative improvising, the "script" was to absolutely not lose yardage when they were in field goal range near the end of the game, and instead he ran around like crazy and went backwards for 20 yards (and probably nearly caused a heart attack with Saban and the other coaches) and then fired a strike to DeVonta Smith to win the game. Brilliant, but unconventional. I'm not sure who he most resembles, maybe a more injury prone college Deshaun Watson. So: with him his gift was the same as his curse, instead of giving up on a play he would try to make something out of nothing and sometimes it created art and sometimes it lead to injury and occasionally mistakes (although injury was more of a problem than mistakes). He didn't set the world on fire last year in Miami but one has to remember that in his last season at Alabama the hip injury he suffered was extremely serious and definitely threatened to end his football career (it is the same one that ended Bo Jackson's career). I can't believe that people are already writing him off at Miami when the fact he was even playing last year was a remarkable feat of medical science.

Mac Jones is a completely different player. Not nearly as natural as Tua, and he isn't the type to frequently try to make something out of nothing. Instead, Jones would do exactly what he was supposed to. Very, very studious, and a fanatical worker. The way he would work and work and work to improve himself in a studious way is very Tom Brady like (talking about his style, not his projection). He was actually more popular with his receivers because he was so dependable, they knew he would always make the right decision, and he threw a very catchable ball. Plus, he has a pocket feel and footwork that is also very Brady-ish. The reason that I see Mac Jones as such a fit for the Patriots is because he will do exactly what he is coached to do, and has the intelligence and quick decision making to make it happen.

 

[Bill Lee]

people are comparing him to andy dalton, which scares me

Andy Dalton doesn't have the quick decision making MJ already shows, nor the competitive fire.

Dalton is a statue compared to MJ, MJ has tennis player's feet, can move around in the pocket far better than Dalton.

QB Index: Ranking the 59 starting quarterbacks of the 2020 NFL season

NFL.com editors evaluated every quarterback who started a game (including the playoffs) during the 2020 NFL season to create a complete ranking from 1 to 59. Did winning Super Bowl LV give Tom Brady enough juice to knock MVP Aaron Rodgers from the top spo

www.nfl.com

I don't have a problem seeing MJ end up in the 8-12 category or better, Dalton is 25.

 

[zydecochris]

...Mac Jones is a completely different player. Not nearly as natural as Tua, and he isn't the type to frequently try to make something out of nothing. Instead, Jones would do exactly what he was supposed to. Very, very studious, and a fanatical worker. The way he would work and work and work to improve himself in a studious way is very Tom Brady like (talking about his style, not his projection). He was actually more popular with his receivers because he was so dependable, they knew he would always make the right decision, and he threw a very catchable ball. Plus, he has a pocket feel and footwork that is also very Brady-ish. The reason that I see Mac Jones as such a fit for the Patriots is because he will do exactly what he is coached to do, and has the intelligence and quick decision making to make it happen.

I guess I should qualify this as "in a game situation" he always does exactly what he is coached to do. Before he became the starter when he would run the Scout Team against the defense, he would drive Saban absolutely crazy with his hyper-competitiveness in practice, he would treat practice like a game to be won. He would do things like try to draw the defense offsides during practice (which to Saban, just meant a missed snap) or when faced with a losing situation in practice he would improvise some type of weird double reverse or so forth to score (again, driving Saban crazy by "wasting" a practice snap). When he was supposed to throw a ball to a receiver that was clearly covered (giving the DB practice at intercepting balls) he would throw it into the stands instead. If treating practice snaps like the Super Bowl doesn't sound like Brady I don't know what is.

However, again, I'm comparing his the tendencies and style to Brady, not the talent, ability, or the potential heights he will achieve.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

 

[1960Pats]

He went on to say he would put money on him beating out Cam.

Good luck finding a bookie that would take that bet.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I get what you are saying, by "Roethlisberger career" you are talking about the level of success, not the style. But Mac's style is 100% opposite to Big Ben (who had lots of raw talent, was able to creatively make plays out of nothing at his peak, was not a student of the game, low character), IMHO it is more like a poor man's Tom Brady with a bit of Drew Brees, not the level of success of Brady or Brees (very unlikely), but the style. I've watched all of Mac's games, and his strengths are:

• Absolutely remarkable pocket presence and footwork (like Brady) due to an extensive tennis background (like Brees).

His footwork isn't close to remarkable. It's good but under pressure, trying to manipulate/create a new platform it's clunky and slow. If he's clean he's more than fine but when ask to create (not run, scramble), create a new pocket/platform it's slow. Not as bad as comparing him to Brady & Brees though

• Fantastic at reading college defenses and making the "right" decision, like a coach on the field. Very, very smart.
• Has had absolutely top notch coaching from Saban and Sarkisian, and very familiar with and comfortable with hard coaching.
• Hyper-competitive with a big temper that he really learned to control as a starter to become very, very poised.

Not the biggest deal but let's chill with the competitive stuff. He knew he wasn't ready early on, transferred behind Hurts & Tua knowing he had plenty of time to get straight. Like the DUI it's not a deal breaker at all or even that big a deal now but let's call it what it is.

• Super accurate when given time, especially with the long ball (throwing accurate long balls is really one of his strengths).
• Best in the biggest games (definitely one similarity to Brady and Brees in college).
• Fantastic leader and his team mates adored him.

His uncertain areas or limitations are:

• Absolutely not a running or scrambling QB, he will take the sack or throw the ball away instead.
• Although he almost always makes the "right" coach's decision and rarely made mistakes or turnovers, he isn't someone that creatively makes something out of nothing like many top modern quarterbacks (e.g., Murray, Jackson, Watson, Mayfield, and of course Mahomes),
• He has always played with a superior offensive line and absolutely amazing receivers, how will he do if that is not the case?

• Not an amazing athlete apart from his hand-eye coordination and footwork. Can he improve his athleticism like Brady did?

You did it again

• Apart from holding off a 5 star top rated QB recruit that everyone thought would take his job, he hasn't experienced much adversity. How would he handle adversity?
• Although reading college defenses was a strength, can he take the next step to be a QB savant? I won't say "like Brady" because there will never be a QB with the football intelligence of Brady again IMHO.
• Can he learn to whip out the ball when protection is breaking down like Brady, Brees, or Manning? To be determined.

So, who knows if he has what it takes (50% of all first round QBs wash out), but he really is a perfect fit for the Patriots IMHO, I'm excited.

Genuinely happy people are excited. They should be. He is a great fit here. I don't root for or against anyone but once they're a Pat I'm on board. Landing spot matters almost as much as anything and he hit a home run here.

 

[Betterthanmost]

Normally i pay attention in the months leading up to the draft to get an idea of who the players are. This year i didn't, so i really didn't know much about Jones. While reading up on him i found that opinions about him were split 50/50. Some rated him as a fourth rnd prospect. But i finally ran across a scouting report going over stregnth's and weakness's After reading them i was a little surprised this sight had him rated as an average QB. But nowadays teams are looking Mahomes quality's. So his weaknesses are he doesn't run and he has an average arm, so didn't brady when he was drafted.
After reading jones positives and neg the pick is ok with me.

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Strengths:​

• Intelligent
• Accurate passer
• 
  
• Throws a very catchable ball
• \

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This is all we were looking for, if he is more than that, it is just gravy.

 

[jal]

Arm talent matters. Brady’s is criminally underrated. I haven’t seen Mac Jones consistently put up the kinds of throws that Tom did game in game out over the last 20 years.

Now to be fair, Tom didn’t show that either in college and he worked really hard in the NFL to improve to the point where he had a Plus arm by 2003/2004. Some of it was actual arm strength improvement, some of it was perfecting his mechanics and learning how to maintain his form even under pressure. But arm talent is also about accuracy and layering the ball when need or driving it to a pinpoint location. I don’t see any tape that suggests Mac is going to be in the same stratosphere as Tom in this area.

Mac’s decision making seems very good (in the limited games I watched from start to finish) as is his pocket presence. The latter is where he most reminds me of Tom. His mechanics, however, tend to break down and that’s where his biggest gains will be initially - lots of obvious issues that hopefully some NFL coaching and off-season work can correct.

I don’t know if he’ll ever be as accurate or as clutch as TB12. My thinking is he reminds me more of Matt Ryan, with perhaps slightly less accuracy but more pocket presence. That’s not a bad ceiling.

 

[50-yard-line]

Arm talent matters. Brady’s is criminally underrated. I haven’t seen Mac Jones consistently put up the kinds of throws that Tom did game in game out over the last 20 years.

Now to be fair, Tom didn’t show that either in college and he worked really hard in the NFL to improve to the point where he had a Plus arm by 2003/2004. Some of it was actual arm strength improvement, some of it was perfecting his mechanics and learning how to maintain his form even under pressure. But arm talent is also about accuracy and layering the ball when need or driving it to a pinpoint location. I don’t see any tape that suggests Mac is going to be in the same stratosphere as Tom in this area.

Mac’s decision making seems very good (in the limited games I watched from start to finish) as is his pocket presence. The latter is where he most reminds me of Tom. His mechanics, however, tend to break down and that’s where his biggest gains will be initially - lots of obvious issues that hopefully some NFL coaching and off-season work can correct.

I don’t know if he’ll ever be as accurate or as clutch as TB12. My thinking is he reminds me more of Matt Ryan, with perhaps slightly less accuracy but more pocket presence. That’s not a bad ceiling.

There should be a sports' Godwin's Law for Brady.

His arm strength GOT BETTER in his 30's.
His footwork GOT BETTER in his 40's.

Comparing anyone to him is impossible. GOAT.

If the guy won 2 more Superbowls, would anyone really be surprised. And sure, he's got a great team around him, but his play last year was superb.

GOAT.

 

[Uptown]

 

[MrTibbs]

Does he have the potential to be a franchise player, a star capable of winning a championship Or championships or will he turnout to be a bust ?. I wanted Justin Fields but that’s over now. Mac Jones is our Quarterback.

Tape doesn't lie, dude can play. Tua didn't play anyway remotely close to how Jones did.

 

[zydecochris]

Arm talent matters. Brady’s is criminally underrated. I haven’t seen Mac Jones consistently put up the kinds of throws that Tom did game in game out over the last 20 years.

Now to be fair, Tom didn’t show that either in college and he worked really hard in the NFL to improve to the point where he had a Plus arm by 2003/2004. Some of it was actual arm strength improvement, some of it was perfecting his mechanics and learning how to maintain his form even under pressure. But arm talent is also about accuracy and layering the ball when need or driving it to a pinpoint location. I don’t see any tape that suggests Mac is going to be in the same stratosphere as Tom in this area.

Mac’s decision making seems very good (in the limited games I watched from start to finish) as is his pocket presence. The latter is where he most reminds me of Tom. His mechanics, however, tend to break down and that’s where his biggest gains will be initially - lots of obvious issues that hopefully some NFL coaching and off-season work can correct.

I don’t know if he’ll ever be as accurate or as clutch as TB12. My thinking is he reminds me more of Matt Ryan, with perhaps slightly less accuracy but more pocket presence. That’s not a bad ceiling.

I think the Mac Jone's style, competitiveness, intelligence, work ethic, and footwork/pocket presence reminds one of "Brady lite". Mostly, it is his style of play and approach that reminds one of Brady.

That said, even if his style is like Brady, nobody with any sense (certainly not me) is comparing his ability or potential to the GOAT.

You are right that is arm talent is nowhere near that of Tom Brady's. Moreover, although Mac Jone's athleticism is under-rated (given that he isn't considered much of an athlete) but Tom Brady is and was an absolutely phenomenal athlete but is not considered so because he can't run fast or jump high. I like to remind everyone that former Astros GM Kevin Malone said that Brady could have been a Hall of Fame baseball catcher if he had stuck with baseball, he raved about his fantastic arm and hands (and we've all seen his footwork and hand-eye coordination). Finally, it is one thing to have outstanding football intelligence (like Mac Jones) and it is something else to have the football genius IQ of Tom Brady.

So: you are right, Mac Jones does not have the arm of Brady, he isn't anywhere in the same universe as an athlete, and while he has excellent football intelligence he is in Elementary School compared to Brady's football PhD. But, I'm still excited by the potential, maybe with enough work he can become an effective starting QB and hopefully a championship level QB. He may be no Tom Brady, but nobody else is either.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

On a very simplistic scale, Jones has to be able to break the huddle and look over the defense.
Who is the mike, is there a free rusher, man or zone, set the protections and know your hot!

Once the ball is snapped everything should be as it is in college, except the athletes and the game and the athletes are sped up!

Jones struggled when knocked off his spot and when he had to go to his second read.

 

[Ivan]

A poor mans Brady.

Fine, I’ll settle for the next Joe Montana.

Nice