PFT: Belichick sees Dramatic Improvement in Mac

[Guts]

I think Mac is more like Burrow than People think.
Give Mac that Bengals team and he would of been fighting for superbowl as well.

Lol I don't know man Burrow had to fight for his life with that awful Oline.

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

Lol I don't know man Burrow had to fight for his life with that awful Oline.

As a pure passer they are incredibly similar.
I would say Mac is better Xs and Os guy Burrow is a bit more athletic.
Arm talent is Similar.
I mean how much of Burrows season was Jamar Chase is somewhere.

 

[Bill Lee]

I thought Mac had a very good rookie year but I didn't see him as a top 10 QB.

I did have him in the 10-12 range, if the criteria is not just "what did you see on the field last season" but "who would you want under contract considering age, salary and upside".

Would I trade Mac for Aaron Rodgers right now straight up? No, I wouldn't want to be paying that much for a 38 year old guy who probably won't be all that motivated to perform now that he got the contract he's been after for at least the last two seasons.

Would I tread Mac for Brady right now straight up? No. TB's salary is a bit more reasonable, but in my mind this is his last season and then what?

A lot of the guys on other people's lists IMO have plateaued and are taking up too much of the team's salary cap.

I think Mac will have a strong year this year, and after this season a lot of players we now have can be cut, so 2023 IMO should be a season when we put together a pretty strong team. By 2024 Mac will want to be paid, and hopefully by then it's clear he's earned being paid like a top 8 guy. Either way it'll be an exciting next few seasons.

 

[RobertWeathers]

According to this video they had one of the highest scoring rates in the NFL when they didn’t make a mistake… the offensive line and weapons made too many mistakes.

False starts, missed blocking assignments, fumbles, penalties… there were way too many. And while this doesn’t necessarily need repeating… Mac was a rookie starting QB.

If they can play more mistake free, better executed football I assume they can do a lot better than 6th most points scored. It will be up to the defense at that point to carry their side of the couch.

Despite all the errors and memories of Mac taking hard hits, especially early in the season, some surprising stats include the offense being ranked 3rd in the league in fewest sacks and 9th in sack percentage which is probably more accurate a measure. They had the 5th best completion percentage and 7th best yards per completion.

There’s a lot to build upon with Mac in year two. Raise his TD percentage, faster WR’s will probably help that, and lower his INT percentage, a lot of those weren’t his fault as much as they were a product of not being on the same page as his weapons… experience. Same with many false start penalties by the OLine, how many of those were an unfamiliarity with Mac’s cadence or his lack of command?

I think if they can stay healthy and block well this will be a very explosive offense… in fact I don‘t see how it won’t be if those things happen.

Yep. Agree. Couldn't have asked for a better rookie year.

I absolutely see Mac improving and having a great 2nd year not necessarily stat-wise but as a quarterback. Specifically in the areas of leadership in the huddle and the locker room, continuing to improve on his quick decision making and leading comebacks.

 

[Bill Lee]

A little more verbiage via Reiss. Some of you may want to take a cold shower before reading...

"We're just a lot further ahead in the conversation [offensively]," Belichick said. "The plays that we talk about, or concepts we talk about, Mac has already done it before. It's easy for him to say, 'Are we going to do this on that? Are we going to do this on something else? What do you think about splitting them a little bit wider? Splitting them a little bit tighter.' Suggestions like that.

"And we have a much better feel for what he can do, what his strengths are, and how to try to play into those. He's self-aware, too. He knows what he does well. We want to try to feature those."

Belichick praises Mac's 'dramatic improvement'

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said quarterback Mac Jones has "made tremendous strides" coming off his rookie season and is "starting from a much, much higher point this year."

www.espn.com

 

[RobertWeathers]

I did have him in the 10-12 range, if the criteria is not just "what did you see on the field last season" but "who would you want under contract considering age, salary and upside".

Would I trade Mac for Aaron Rodgers right now straight up? No, I wouldn't want to be paying that much for a 38 year old guy who probably won't be all that motivated to perform now that he got the contract he's been after for at least the last two seasons.

Would I tread Mac for Brady right now straight up? No. TB's salary is a bit more reasonable, but in my mind this is his last season and then what?

A lot of the guys on other people's lists IMO have plateaued and are taking up too much of the team's salary cap.

I think Mac will have a strong year this year, and after this season a lot of players we now have can be cut, so 2023 IMO should be a season when we put together a pretty strong team. By 2024 Mac will want to be paid, and hopefully by then it's clear he's earned being paid like a top 8 guy. Either way it'll be an exciting next few seasons.

I agree. I'm bullish on Mac's future. FWIW I had him just on the outside of this group.

Mahomes
AR
Tom
Hebert
Prescott
Allen
Stafford
Wilson
Murray
Burrow
Carr

He has the potential to pass Carr and Murray next year. Might need one more to pass a couple of others.

 

[Wozzy]

Yep. Agree. Couldn't have asked for a better rookie year.

I absolutely see Mac improving and having a great 2nd year not necessarily stat-wise but as a quarterback. Specifically in the areas of leadership in the huddle and the locker room, continuing to improve on his quick decision making and leading comebacks.

If they’re healthy and block well I think his stats will pop. I hate to make predictions because there’s so much that could go wrong, and all the praise or blame wrongfully gets laid at the QB’s feet when it’s a team game.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

A little more verbiage via Reiss. Some of you may want to take a cold shower before reading...

"We're just a lot further ahead in the conversation [offensively]," Belichick said. "The plays that we talk about, or concepts we talk about, Mac has already done it before. It's easy for him to say, 'Are we going to do this on that? Are we going to do this on something else? What do you think about splitting them a little bit wider? Splitting them a little bit tighter.' Suggestions like that.

"And we have a much better feel for what he can do, what his strengths are, and how to try to play into those. He's self-aware, too. He knows what he does well. We want to try to feature those."

Belichick praises Mac's 'dramatic improvement'

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said quarterback Mac Jones has "made tremendous strides" coming off his rookie season and is "starting from a much, much higher point this year."

www.espn.com

Hopefully this will open up the playbook significantly

 

[Bill Lee]

Hopefully this will open up the playbook significantly

Hopefully by playing to his strengths this means more snaps for players he's in tune with, like Bourne.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

I did have him in the 10-12 range, if the criteria is not just "what did you see on the field last season" but "who would you want under contract considering age, salary and upside".

Would I trade Mac for Aaron Rodgers right now straight up? No, I wouldn't want to be paying that much for a 38 year old guy who probably won't be all that motivated to perform now that he got the contract he's been after for at least the last two seasons.

Would I tread Mac for Brady right now straight up? No. TB's salary is a bit more reasonable, but in my mind this is his last season and then what?

A lot of the guys on other people's lists IMO have plateaued and are taking up too much of the team's salary cap.

I think Mac will have a strong year this year, and after this season a lot of players we now have can be cut, so 2023 IMO should be a season when we put together a pretty strong team. By 2024 Mac will want to be paid, and hopefully by then it's clear he's earned being paid like a top 8 guy. Either way it'll be an exciting next few seasons.

I've read that Patriots are already planning and working on a contract for Mac for when the time comes.

 

[Bill Lee]

He has the potential to pass Carr and Murray next year. Might need one more to pass a couple of others.

Thanks for the interesting post!

I think Tom will take himself off the list next season, and feel Wilson might have a tough year in DEN.

Right now straight up I wouldn't trade Mac for AR, Stafford, Prescott, Wilson, Carr or Murray, based on age or contract or performance or potential.

So I guess this means if things go as I think next year my list would go more like:

Mahomes
Burrow
Herbert
Allen
Mac

Guess it shows I'm biased towards younger players with good contracts and/or proven performance or both.

It'll be interesting to see if Trevor Laurence or Trey Lance make a good showing this season, or not..

If not, it becomes clear we won the 2021 draft.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Thanks for the interesting post!

I think Tom will take himself off the list next season, and feel Wilson might have a tough year in DEN.

Right now straight up I wouldn't trade Mac for AR, Stafford, Prescott, Wilson, Carr or Murray, based on age or contract or performance or potential.

So I guess this means if things go as I think next year my list would go more like:

Mahomes
Burrow
Herbert
Allen
Mac

Guess it shows I'm biased towards younger players with good contracts and/or proven performance or both.

It'll be interesting to see if Trevor Laurence or Trey Lance make a good showing this season, or not..

If not, it becomes clear we won the 2021 draft.

Yea I tend to agree with your criteria. A QB on a rookie deal is HUGE and we really don't know his ceiling yet.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

I've read that Patriots are already planning and working on a contract for Mac for when the time comes.

They would be dumb not to be planning if they‘re already convinced he’s the man going forward.

 

[Kasmir]

I did have him in the 10-12 range, if the criteria is not just "what did you see on the field last season" but "who would you want under contract considering age, salary and upside".

Would I trade Mac for Aaron Rodgers right now straight up? No, I wouldn't want to be paying that much for a 38 year old guy who probably won't be all that motivated to perform now that he got the contract he's been after for at least the last two seasons.

Would I tread Mac for Brady right now straight up? No. TB's salary is a bit more reasonable, but in my mind this is his last season and then what?

A lot of the guys on other people's lists IMO have plateaued and are taking up too much of the team's salary cap.

I think Mac will have a strong year this year, and after this season a lot of players we now have can be cut, so 2023 IMO should be a season when we put together a pretty strong team. By 2024 Mac will want to be paid, and hopefully by then it's clear he's earned being paid like a top 8 guy. Either way it'll be an exciting next few seasons.

I think he objectively finished ranked in the 12 to 16 range, depending on the stat system. So he was and above average starter in his first year.

 

[Bill Lee]

They would be dumb not to be planning if they‘re already convinced he’s the man going forward.

I think there's a big difference between what you're suggesting (they're convinced he's the man going forward) versus what BB is saying (he's showing a dramatic improvement) yet I also think Mac's on that path. I'm confident they already have a big block of money on their salary planning spreadsheets assuming Mac will need to get paid after Year 3. That leaves this year for improvement, and next off season for a whole bunch of moves to improve the team while Mac is still on a cheap money contract.

 

[Bill Lee]

I think he objectively finished ranked in the 12 to 16 range, depending on the stat system. So he was and above average starter in his first year.

NFL's Gregg Rosenthal has him right at 16, and he's actually a Pats fan. He's going by 2021 stats and game film and not factoring in contract or future potential. Here's what he had to say about Mac (bolding is mine):

I never understood the narrative that the Patriots weren't asking Mac Jones to do much. If anything, the cautious Patriots staff's willingness to ask a lot was one of the defining traits of Jones' rookie season. He was running a hurry-up offense while throwing the ball 40 times in the rain against Tom Brady by Week 4. Immediately stepping in as a league-average starting quarterback on over 600 dropbacks is usually a sign of great things to come. Jones needs to get stronger, but that's attainable. His already-excellent pocket movement and accuracy are harder to learn. His ceiling looks higher than most analysts expected, Kyle Shanahan excluded.​

NFL QB Index: Ranking all 62 starting QBs of the 2021 NFL season

Gregg Rosenthal evaluated every quarterback who started a game (including the playoffs) during the 2021 NFL season to create a complete ranking from 1 to 62. Did MVP Aaron Rodgers finish No. 1? Where did Joe Burrow land after a brilliant postseason run?

www.nfl.com

 

[XLIX]

Rankings are a tricky thing because people define rankings quite differently. If someone gives a ranking of QBs, are they talking about...

1) Career achievement
2) Performance over the past few years
3) Performance over the past year
4) Anticipated performance going forward irrespective of cap concerns
5) Anticipated value going forward where cap concerns are a factor

Rosenthal does us the rare courtesy of defining his list very well, which he puts squarely in bucket 3. So using that criteria....

#16 is damn decent for a rookie (especially after factoring in the quality of pass catchers). The next highest rookies were Fields, Mills and Lawrence at #28, #31 and #32 respectively. I would have put Jones solidly over Tannehill, Ryan and Jackson - and in a toss up with Wilson and Murray.

 

[Ross12]

A little more verbiage via Reiss. Some of you may want to take a cold shower before reading...

"We're just a lot further ahead in the conversation [offensively]," Belichick said. "The plays that we talk about, or concepts we talk about, Mac has already done it before. It's easy for him to say, 'Are we going to do this on that? Are we going to do this on something else? What do you think about splitting them a little bit wider? Splitting them a little bit tighter.' Suggestions like that.

"And we have a much better feel for what he can do, what his strengths are, and how to try to play into those. He's self-aware, too. He knows what he does well. We want to try to feature those."

Belichick praises Mac's 'dramatic improvement'

Patriots coach Bill Belichick said quarterback Mac Jones has "made tremendous strides" coming off his rookie season and is "starting from a much, much higher point this year."

www.espn.com

That sounds a lot like the game plan meetings Bill used to have with Tom.

 

[Ross12]

I think there's a big difference between what you're suggesting (they're convinced he's the man going forward) versus what BB is saying (he's showing a dramatic improvement) yet I also think Mac's on that path. I'm confident they already have a big block of money on their salary planning spreadsheets assuming Mac will need to get paid after Year 3. That leaves this year for improvement, and next off season for a whole bunch of moves to improve the team while Mac is still on a cheap money contract.

I wonder if they’ll try to make some deals that are fairly front-loaded next year while they have a lot of salary cap space so that the Mac extension is easier to fit in later.

I also wonder if Mac will be willing to go the Brady route and take top-10-ish, but not top of the market, extensions to allow the team room to make other moves. That may be too much to wish for these days.

 

[ashley]

I also wonder if Mac will be willing to go the Brady route and take top-10-ish, but not top of the market, extensions to allow the team room to make other moves. That may be too much to wish for these days.

Yeah Ross,. hoping we can lock Mac up for a long time!! Brady was never all about the money because his wife Giselle, makes more than any him or any other player in the league. As a family they are all set. But like you said, not sure if a lot of players are going to be willing to give that kind of money up, especially if their "significant other" isn't bringing home significant income.