Reality check: Patriots aren’t going to have a very good QB in 2021
By
Andy Hart
It’s really way too early to tell who is going to be the Patriots starting quarterback this season.
(You’re welcome. And please send all appreciative gifts to WEEI directed to Captain Obvious.)
Through two days of “training camp” – the action of a couple sessions on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium has been in shorts and t-shirts, at times less competitive than a pre-COVID buffet line – there have been reports of plenty of ups and downs for both returning veteran Cam Newton and upstart No. 15 overall pick Mac Jones.
The rep-by-rep, blow-by-blow chronicling of New England’s first real training camp quarterback competition since the pre-Drew Bledsoe days three decades ago is all anyone in Patriot Nation seems to care about these days.
So far we’ve learned, again, that Jones is one of the first guys on the field, has more swagger than teammates expected, gets the ball out in a relatively timely Patriots-like fashion and, well, looks like an inconsistent young quarterback with a lot to prove.
And Newton? Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but he brings unique energy and personality to the practice field, has a rather ugly throwing motion and, well, looks like an inconsistent aging quarterback with a lot to prove.
So while it’s really way too early to handicap the Patriots quarterback competition after a couple days of far-from-real football workouts in late July, it’s feeling more and more that there is a indeed at least one real certainty at the position.
Hate to break it to everyone and ruin your summah!!!!!, but the Patriots are not going to have a very good quarterback this fall.
No matter how much time reporters spending meaninglessly charting each meaningless throw from Jones and Newton, the harsh reality for the here and now is that New England has two mediocre-at-best options competitively battling it out for the starting QB job. And it’s not one of those neck-and-neck competitions where a coach is waiting for one guy to slip up or fade in order to make his decision. Nope, this is the kind of real competition that isn’t real good.
Cliché alert from Captain Obvious!!!!!
If you have two quarterbacks, then you really don’t have one.
For 30 years it didn’t really matter what the throws looked like in training camp. Nope. Overthrown bombs, batted balls or suspect swing passes were irrelevant to some degree because Brady was entrenched in the job. And Bledsoe before him.
Now those details are similarly irrelevant but for the opposite reason. Whether it’s Newton or Jones, Jones or Newton, neither is going to play like the memory of Brady that’s still fresh in our minds. Or Bledsoe.
Or even the middle-of-the-road starting QBs in one of the other 31 NFL cities that we’ve mocked from afar for years, like say Andy Dalton.
Bill Belichick will indeed pick a guy to start at some point. Either Newton or Jones will take the initial snap on Sept. 12 against Miami. The season will be off and running.
But there is a stark difference between sending out a guy to start a game and truly having a starting-caliber quarterback. If we’re being real, being honest and being real honest it’s becoming clear the Patriots will lack consistent, competitive, contributing QB play for the second post-Brady year in a row.
Sure the production might be better. Maybe either Newton or Jones will surpass the lowly, ugly, worst-in-three-decades eight TD passes from last year’s dismal offense. Maybe there will be marginally more success through the air in some semblance of an aerial attack that’s actually NFL-worthy. After all, the bar was set pretty low a year ago.
Maybe it will even lead to more wins, which in the new 17-game format could still be a sub-.500 record.
There really is reason to have great hope at a lot of positions across the Patriots roster in 2021. There are a lot of spots where things could be truly impressive.
New England may have a really, really good defense this fall.
The
new tight ends could be a revelation, maybe even party worthy.
Damien Harris may indeed be a developing workhorse runner who can be the centerpiece of an offense.
But the QB position and competition that everyone is writing, talking and reading about these days?
Sorry, but that’s probably not going to be very good regardless of who wins the job in the end.
Training camp is revving up in New England with a QB competition that’s the talk of Patriots fans and media alike. While it’s too early to say whether Cam Newton or Mac Jones will win the job, the harsh reality is that neither may be up to the task.
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