With apologies to the duck sauce-dribbled Chinese calendar beneath my pu pu platter the other night, 2023 is not the year of the rabbit.
At least not in New England.
In these Patriots parts it is, once again it seems, the year of the wide receiver.
You can’t go five feet or five minutes without some local offering up a plan to snare Mac Jones a target who can snatch footballs out of the NFL air to elevate the Patriots’ offense to a level where it might actually appear capable of competing with the trend-setting squads in Kansas City, Buffalo, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Philly and elsewhere across the Super Bowl-chasing landscape.
Trade a first-round pick for burgeoning Bengals No. 2 target Tee Higgins! (Insert Terry McLaurin’s name here if you prefer.)
Use the No. 14 overall pick in April’s draft on a stud prospect at what is becoming arguably the second-most important position in professional football.
Take a more cost-effective approach and step to the plate to land an aging once-great option like DeAndre Hopkins or Keenan Allen or Mike Evans.
Heck, you might even hear someone speculate that 2022 second-round speedster Tyquan Thornton is going to develop into the go-to guy in New England to challenge opposing defenses. (I’ve not actually heard this one, but somewhere in the most optimistic corners of Patriot Nation I’d presume you might.)
Ideas to fix the Patriots’ wide receiver needs, to find a No. 1 option, are as plentiful as the complementary, mediocre options who currently reside on the New England wide receiver depth chart.
But maybe, just maybe, there is an All-Pro caliber option already under cost-effective contract and at work inside Gillette Stadium who might just have the upside to dramatically alter the way defenses must play the Patriots under new, once again offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.
As a rookie third-round pick last fall Marcus Jones rather emphatically and inarguably displayed elite ability with the ball in his hands on an NFL field. Listed as a defensive back in the New England media guide and a third-team cornerback on the “unofficial depth chart” on Patriots.com, Jones was a revelation as a three-phase contributor as a rookie.
Having notched a college career at Troy and then Houston that included a total of 9 punts/kickoff returns for touchdowns, Jones was the 2021 Paul Hornung Award winner as the nation’s most versatile college player.
That versatility was on full display this fall in Foxborough when Jones notched touchdowns in all three phases. There was the 84-yard punt return score to beat the Jets. Then came the 48-yard catch and mostly run touchdown in his early injection to the scuffling offense against the Bills. Finally was his 69-yard interception return to the house in Arizona.
Jones tied for third-most touchdowns on the disappointing Patriots team, despite only playing 18 total snaps of offense for the season.
Bill Belichick, who’s overseen plenty of versatile players and even plenty of guys like Julian Edelman and Troy Brown who’ve contributed in all three phases out of need, explained late in December why Jones couldn’t take on a greater role on offense as a receiver at that point.
“Can we use him a little more? Can we add on to what he’s done? Sure. But, I don’t think he’ll ever have the full receiver playbook, if you will, at this point in time, definitely not with his other responsibilities as well on defense and the kicking game,” Belichick explained.
But that was then, this is now. It’s a different point in time with different needs and different options.
There is an entire offseason for Jones, like the rest of the roster, to learn O’Brien’s new offense in New England.
There is time for Jones to grasp the motion concepts that he seems so well-suited for. Time for him to get lots of reps in the slot, out of the backfield and all over the formation to put his unique skills to use where they might be most needed and valued.
Mac Jones and the Patriots’ offense need more playmakers.
They need more guys that make the opposing defense uncomfortable.
In just a short time in the NFL, Marcus Jones has shown that he can make anyone who tries to tackle him in any phase of the game extremely uncomfortable.
So as the Patriots put together a plan for the offseason, a path toward significant improvement on an offense that put forth its worst season in two decades, it’s going to take some creativity.
Some of that is in terms of the scheme and play-calls that O’Brien will bring to the table.
Some of that will come through personnel.
And maybe targeting an elite target like Higgins really is the way to go, even if it will require a huge investment both in terms of trade capital and salary cap dollars.
Or maybe there is a more creative, cost-effective option to take the new-look Patriots offense to the next level. An option that’s already in the building. Already in place. One that’s already shown the ability to make big plays in a New England uniform.
Maybe, just maybe, Marcus Jones’ transition to full-time offensive weapon is a creative option to take the New England offense to a new, more competitive level.
It’s certainly seems like it’s worth a try “at this point in time.”
It is the year of the rabbit, after all. And come to think of it, tackling Jones is probably kinda like trying to tackle a rabbit. So maybe it all makes perfect sense.