Oh boy, Mac gonna surprise some folks this year.
Jones makes his QB Tiers debut with a 3.06 average, the 10th-best debut among 49 newcomers since 2015. Herbert (2.14), Prescott (2.52), Mayfield (2.53), Garoppolo (2.58), Burrow (2.58), Watson (2.60), Murray (2.68), Wentz (2.92) and Cousins (2.93) made higher debuts. Mahomes was lower simply because he had started only one game, so voters placed him in Tier 4 provisionally for lack of evidence.
“Mac is going to make good decisions — he sees it,” a defensive coordinator said. “But I don’t think he can carry the game by himself. To me, he is going to be like a Kirk Cousins type where if their team around him is good then I think they will make the playoffs and maybe do some damage.”
Voters respected the way Jones succeeded in a high-pressure environment at Alabama, then went to another high-pressure situation in New England and reached the playoffs as a rookie. A head coach who faced Jones said the quarterback impressed him in live action, showing enough to suggest he might ascend into Tier 2. Others noted that Jones possessed no special traits.
“I think if Mac Jones wasn’t in New England and with that hype machine, maybe he would be viewed a little differently,” a coach from an AFC East rival said. “If Mac Jones was in
Jacksonville last year, how would he have been? How would people feel about him?”
No one is comparing New England to Jacksonville, but voters did express consternation over the Patriots’ handling of their offensive staff following Josh McDaniels’ departure to the Raiders.
“I think Mac Jones is doing all the right things, but is New England helping him?” an offensive coach said. “We have been told his quarterback coach is Joe Judge, and I can’t name the last time he’s developed any quarterbacks. The head coach is more involved, but there are 57 other moving parts on any given day that Bill Belichick must attend to. Unless Bill gets 48 hours in a 24-hour day, then he is not getting enough time to develop a quarterback.”