If your extended family is anything like mine, Mac Jones will not be the most contentious debate that breaks out at the Thanksgiving dinner table.
Unlike when your uncle broaches the topic of race relations as the turkey hits the table, the Mac Jones debate hopefully is not as divisive. But like your uncle broaching the topic of race relations, there are some pretty dumb people out there discussing the topic, and you’ll likely end up rubbing elbows with one or more of them today at the dinner table.
Here’s a guide to dealing with some of the ill-informed Mac Jones takes you’re going to hear today at the dinner table.
Take: Mac Jones is a system QB, he wouldn’t have this success anywhere else.
Rebuttal: While it’s true that Mac’s relative success in his rookie season has a lot to do with the team he’s on, it's not fair to hold Mac potentially not having success as the hypothetical starting quarterback on garbage teams with daft offensive coordinators like the Texans and Lions against him. Mac is way ahead of where a rookie quarterback normally is as far as reading defenses goes -- it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t be successful had he been drafted by, say, the 49ers or Saints.
Take: Mac is a passenger, the Patriots are all running game and defense.
Rebuttal: Mac certainly benefits from having a good running game and defense, but it’s not like he hasn’t been successful in his own right. He has the highest completion percentage of non-Cardinals quarterbacks in the NFL, he’s on track to throw for 4,000 yards as a rookie, and is average-to-above average in most traditional box score and more analytical statistics.
Take: Mac’s completion percentage is because he’s a dink and dunk QB!
Rebuttal: Careful here, as the numbers presented in the previous rebuttal may have confused whomever you are arguing with and thus made them angry because numbers hurt their head and all of their opinions are just repetitions of what former NFL tight ends say on the radio. There’s a bit of an overlap between these people and the hypothetical uncle from before who just repeats whatever Tucker Carlson said that week.
The truth here is that Mac is about league average in the average intended air yards category -- the average yardage between a quarterback and their intended receiver. In fact, he has the exact same mark as Patrick Mahomes and is ahead of Kirk Cousins, Justin Herbert, and Matt Ryan. Is anyone calling Mahomes a dink and dunk quarterback?
Take: Mac’s going to hit the rookie wall!
Rebuttal: I’m not entirely sure where this take came from, it sounds like it was created in a take think tank at FS1, but it’s so wildly illogical because most of the time it’s the other way around. The rookie wall is typically more of a learning curve. The rookie doesn’t necessarily hit it, at least for quarterbacks, but they break through it as they get more NFL reps. I’m not sure how someone can watch the Browns tape, who were a top three defense in the NFL at the time, and think Mac hasn’t broken past the wall, or that he’s going to hit another one.
Take: Mac doesn’t throw the deep ball!
Rebuttal: Again, stats may not be the best way to deal with the pea-brained and while it’s unfair to expect the reader to memorize nine data points, the onslaught of evidence to refute this take is staggering. Mac has attempted 38 passes of 20 or more yards this season -- tied for 15th with Baker Mayfield and Kirk Cousins, and more than Ryan Tannehill, Justin Herbert, and Matt Ryan.
Is anyone saying Herbert doesn’t throw the deep ball?
Take: But he sucks when he does it!
Rebuttal: The onslaught continues: Mac is about league average in passing yards off of deep passes, completion percentage on deep passes, and is tied for eighth in PFF’s “big time throws” category on deep passes (passes when a defender is within one yard of his intended target).
Take: I just don’t like him!
Rebuttal: We finally landed on the truth!
Look, Mac is not blowing doors by any means, but more often than not rookie quarterbacks flat out stink. Mac doesn’t stink. There’s hardly an odor to him. And that’s a win.
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