![]() With teams having to make choices on fifth-year options for first-round picks after year three, we can go back to the 2015 draft to find a worthwhile pool for comparison. To help get a better picture of where Jones stands among some first-round quarterbacks who did and did not get second contracts with the teams that drafted them, here's some raw statistical comparisons to consider.įirst, here's Mac Jones through two years. ![]() ![]() The quarterback's own ability is a major part of the equation, no doubt, but whether that player landed in a spot with good coaching, bad coaching, a chaotic front office, poor ownership, bad teammates, great teammates, or anything else that could impact performance has always been largely out of the quarterback's control. First-round picks get invested in quarterbacks every year, and the success rate on those picks is quite a bit short of 100 percent.Īnd all of those success and failures were, like Jones, based on various factors. Though that's a new way of life in Foxboro, it hardly makes the Patriots unique among NFL teams. But the Patriots, for several reasons, aren't living in an ideal world. We'll all work together on that and again, look for better results."Īgain, in an ideal world, the head coach isn't giving halfhearted statements of support when asked a straightforward question about whether a second-year quarterback who was a first-round pick will remain the starting quarterback next season. "And we have to all work together to try to find the best way as a football team - which, obviously the quarterback is an important position - to be more productive than we were this year. "I think there's - you know, Mac has the ability to play quarterback in this league," Belichick said. It's not ideal, clearly, and it's largely what led to the most lukewarm message of support from Bill Belichick when the head coach was asked Monday whether he expects Jones to be the starting quarterback for the Patriots in 2023. Anyone trying to make a case either way might have a compromised opinion. It's equally difficult to conclude that he'll be relegated to career backup. That is to say, while no quarterback would have been capable of overcoming that particular situation completely, Jones still could have been a bit better at times throughout the season.Ĭombining those two elements makes it rather challenging to make a firm and informed case that Jones has several Pro Bowls in his future. Here's the other thing with Mac Jones: He really complicated the evaluation process by not being particularly excellent when given brief windows to perform. Matt Patricia and Joe Judge were not the duo that Jones needed to progress his career after a very promising rookie season, and most everybody knows that. Preseason stats will be wiped away, real games will begin, and these young quarterbacks are sure to have their successes and struggles in the years to come.BOSTON - Here's the thing with Mac Jones: It is exceptionally hard to evaluate his second NFL season, considering the circumstances. Justin Fields, 92 yards, 1 TD (11 carries)Ģ. ![]() So the stat comparison by no means paints a full picture.īut, well, stats are fun. ![]() Obviously, they're working in different circumstances - some with starters, some with backups, at various points of various preseason games, in different game situations, under different conditions, with different directives from coaches and with different amounts of playing time. And while we can't predict the future for all of them at this point in time, we can take a look at what they did in the preseason. However things pan out for the five first-round picks over the course of their respective careers, they're sure to be linked for some time. ![]()
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