There is at least one ex-NFL player who isn’t raving about Mac Jones: Bart Scott.
Big surprise, I know.
On ESPN Radio’s “Bart & Hahn” show, the one-time Patriots nemesis said he doesn’t think Jones will become a star quarterback in the NFL — citing the shortcomings of previous Alabama quarterbacks.
“The growth is going to be stunted for a little while, because the ceiling isn’t that high for Mac Jones,” Scott said (audio courtesy of Merloni & Fauria). “When you get an Alabama player, you get a player who’s pro-ready, but a player who’s close to being pretty much who he’s going to be, because he’s going to get tremendous coaching, he’s going to have tremendous football acumen. Tell me the last Alabama quarterback who came into this league and took the league by storm.”
Scott’s pessimism about Jones puts him in stark contrast with many NFL analysts, who are predicting Jones can lead the Patriots back to the top of the AFC. But the former Raven and Jet is right about one thing: Alabama quarterbacks don’t have long histories of NFL success.
Despite winning two national championships, A.J. McCarron has never been more than a backup in the NFL. Greg McElroy only wound up playing one season for the Jets.
But there is a new wave of Crimson Tide passers: Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa and Jones. All three are more skilled than McCarron or McElroy.
And Jones is the best passer of the bunch. He impressed throughout training camp, even garnering comparisons to Brady. Charlie Weis, Brady’s first NFL offensive coordinator, said on WEEI the two are “very similar.”
Scott debunked those comparisons as well.
“Just because it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck don’t make it a duck,” he said. “[Jones] can look like Tom Brady in the pocket, he can have the dad bod and everything Tom Brady had. But it doesn’t mean he’s going to be Tom Brady.”
That is actually — *gulp* — a salient point. The Brady comparisons are ridiculous, and don’t serve Jones in the least.
But the Patriots don’t need Jones to be Brady. They spent a record amount of money in free agency to shore up their roster, and could have a top-five defense.
Jones will have plenty of room to grow.
