What if Niners had gotten Jones?

[wheresmosi]

We likely all heard back when Mac was drafted that Shanahan wanted him, but was overridden because of the hype on Trey Lance. Intriguingly, as bad as Mac has been, Lance has been worse. And, given Jones style, I do wonder if surrounded by the scheme and players the Niners have, he might not have been able to compete along lines similar to Purdy People will scream no, but consider how Purdy did when his team had serious injuries, and also consider how Jones looked his rookie year.
Of course, I would not have wanted Lance if the Niners had gotten Jones. I dont recall who else was still floating around at that point, but I'm suspecting it would not have been anyone better than where we are now. davis Mills might have been a little more serviceable, but his good moments are not even as good as Jones. Anyway, just a thought.

 

[Jim Beankie]

Imho, Pats would've gotten Davis Mills, and he would've been about as good as Mac. Mills is 3rd all time in rookie completion % behind Mac in 2nd.

 

[upstater1]

Pats would have gotten Shields maybe if the Bears took Lance.

Purdy is a much better QB than Mac and that's not because he's in the 9ers system

 

[wheresmosi]

Pats would have gotten Shields maybe if the Bears took Lance.

Purdy is a much better QB than Mac and that's not because he's in the 9ers system

Maybe, but I am not convinced. Particularly if we compare him to year one Mac. But I'll grant you we dont see evidence of absolute foolish risk after foolish risk from Purdy. But Mac looked to have upside in year 1, and that team did not have the offensive talent of Niners.

 

[wheresmosi]

Imho, Pats would've gotten Davis Mills, and he would've been about as good as Mac. Mills is 3rd all time in rookie completion % behind Mac in 2nd.

I actually felt like Mills deserved to seriously compete for the Texans job, but with the way Stroud has looked, that is obviously wrong. Mills is probably old school serviceable, but it is next to impossible to get it done with that in today's NFL, as much as i have liked some of those guys historically.

 

[upstater1]

Maybe, but I am not convinced. Particularly if we compare him to year one Mac. But I'll grant you we dont see evidence of absolute foolish risk after foolish risk from Purdy. But Mac looked to have upside in year 1, and that team did not have the offensive talent of Niners.

Second half of the year the opposing coaches figured out Mac. He didn't look good at that point.

 

[stcjones]

We likely all heard back when Mac was drafted that Shanahan wanted him, but was overridden because of the hype on Trey Lance. Intriguingly, as bad as Mac has been, Lance has been worse. And, given Jones style, I do wonder if surrounded by the scheme and players the Niners have, he might not have been able to compete along lines similar to Purdy People will scream no, but consider how Purdy did when his team had serious injuries, and also consider how Jones looked his rookie year.
Of course, I would not have wanted Lance if the Niners had gotten Jones. I dont recall who else was still floating around at that point, but I'm suspecting it would not have been anyone better than where we are now. davis Mills might have been a little more serviceable, but his good moments are not even as good as Jones. Anyway, just a thought.

I think that is a great question and in all honesty, part of me feels like Mac would have thrived there….He is as good if not slightly better than Purdy….Guess we will
never know

 

[Water Boy]

Have to assume he would have been at least as good as he was in his rookie year, and that continuity in a system with weapons over 3 years would have given him a much better trajectory.

His weaknesses are glaring right now. I think the lack of protection has him seeing ghosts. If we were a better team, Mac might appear serviceable enough, but hard to imagine him making enough big clutch plays during a season to take us to the promised land.

Maybe a blessing in disguise that we won't find ourselves in a position to have to hitch our wagon to him

 

[Triumph]

Kyle Shanahan would a pick 6 game away from being fired.

 

[Pape]

Second half of the year the opposing coaches figured out Mac. He didn't look good at that point.

Good point... The level of competition increased in the second half of 2021 iirc

 

[Jim Beankie]

Just thought about this a little more. Cam definitely would've been the QB. With the new weapons and more time in the system, the Pats would've probably had the same record. Might've had a shot at Fields or Lance, and who knows what would've happened with a year to learn under Cam (how to lead... not how to throw obv). More likely pick up bust OT Leatherwood or probably a trade down to get a guard like LDickerson and QB Mills.

The tough unknown is Josh's leaving. One thing about Josh is that he really put Cam and Mac in a great situation to succeed for the both of them given the constraints. Mac's rookie year, we were all screaming for Josh to take of the training wheels and have Mac let it rip. Maybe he knew something about the guy (and the OL) and knew exactly what his limits were.

 

[Jim Beankie]

As for the 49ers, a year under Jimmy would've been helpful for Mac's development.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Have to assume he would have been at least as good as he was in his rookie year, and that continuity in a system with weapons over 3 years would have given him a much better trajectory.

His weaknesses are glaring right now. I think the lack of protection has him seeing ghosts. If we were a better team, Mac might appear serviceable enough, but hard to imagine him making enough big clutch plays during a season to take us to the promised land.

Maybe a blessing in disguise that we won't find ourselves in a position to have to hitch our wagon to him

In 2001 TB12 was sacked every 10.7 dropbacks. Folks forget but there were games he took a beating his 1st year as a starter.

In 2023 Mac is sacked every 15 dropbacks. In 2022 it was 13. In 2021 it was 18.

I get the seeing ghosts part. It happened to Tom a few times. However there are soooo many throws he makes off his back foot and when his feet aren't settled. He doesn't have the arm strength or natural accuracy (see Mahomes) to get away with that. He clearly doesn't see the field or trust the routes they are running.

At face value it's unfair to compare Mac to Tom but comparing him to 2001 Tom- who stayed disciplined with his pocket presence, feet and throwing fundamentals is very fair. Mac is a nervous nellie back there whereas Tom was not.

 

[sb1]

Would have changed the draft. Does Lance or Fields fall to us? If not do we panic reach and pick Mills in the first round?

Also Cam Newton likely stays our QB to start the season.

 

[rkarp1]

my assumption is he would be much, much better.
coaching continuity
better weapons for sure
stud OT with WIlliams and while McGlintchey was there
great RB out of the backfield in CMC. Aiyuk is turning into a top 12 WR in the league
Deebo with the ball in his hands is a YAC machine

you also have to notice that while Lance was hurt and played poorly, the whole time the staff talked him up, said he was the starter over Jimmy, gave him starters reps. they groomed him mentally as well as physically. obviously it did not pan out.
but compare that to how Mac was handled here... what the opposite of nurture?

 

[PaulThePat]

Purdy is a much better QB than Mac

Yeh, I remember you being high on Purdy coming out of Iowa State

 

[PaulThePat]

Another take on this, what if Brock Purdy had been drafted by the Pats in 2022 as a last round flier, and forced into action because of injuries. Kinda suspect his development might not have been so stellar chucking to our WR class under the guidance of Matt and Joe. Anyone who tries to claim that the environment around a raw talent (coaching, roster etc) isn't a huge difference maker is an idiot or a troll or likely both

 

[condon84]

LMAO at the idea that Mac is an NFL starter at QB. He ****ing sucks. He has no physical traits that are NFL level starter. He's dumb as a rock and is scared of his own shadow.

 

[Hyped]

Would have changed the draft. Does Lance or Fields fall to us? If not do we panic reach and pick Mills in the first round?

Also Cam Newton likely stays our QB to start the season.

I wonder if part of the reason we cut Cam in 2021 was because we drafted Mac and were going to play a schematically different offense. Had we drafted Lance or Fields...we would have installed an offense built for a running QB.....

 

[Rob0729]

Second half of the year the opposing coaches figured out Mac. He didn't look good at that point.

I think that is overstated. Mac started to become inconsistent when the defense stopped being lights out and allowing other teams to score points. That was a big part of what affected Mac. Prior to the blizzard game in Buffalo which marked the decline of Mac's play, the Pats defense gave up 27 or more points twice in 13 games (both losses to the Saints and Cowboys). After that, the only game they didn't give up 27 or more points was against Jacksonville. That included two games vs. Buffalo where the defense let Buffalo score on every meaningful drive in both games.