After arriving in New England via the 15th overall pick in last weekend’s NFL Draft, the question facing Mac Jones and the Patriots is now when the rookie quarterback makes the jump to the starting job.
While Jones had to wait for his turn at Alabama, there is certainly the possibility he’ll take a more direct route to the game field in New England. After all, while Bill Belichick offered up on draft night that Cam Newton is still the team’s quarterback, the incumbent vet is only on a one-year, low-money contract and coming off a dismal first season in Foxborough in which he threw a mere eight touchdown passes for a team that failed to make the playoffs by winning just seven games.
But according to at least one anonymous NFL talent evaluator, Newton may be holding on to the starting job in New England longer than many expect or even hope.
“I don’t think Mac Jones sees the field for a while,” the evaluator told The Athletic in its 2021 NFL Draft: Execs Unfiltered report.
“I’ll have a better feel when we see the schedule, when the bye falls, when their division games are, when the Tampa game is, those things. Is he starting by November? No, he’s not. Because Cam wasn’t bad early in the year and they really should have won more of those games, and he just wasn’t the same after getting COVID. I think Cam is going to be entrenched there for a little bit.”
Of course “at little bit” is subjective, but if Newton is still starting in November either Jones has failed to take advantage of his early developmental opportunities or the veteran former NFL MVP has a major bounce-back season of production.
Not all the sources polled by The Athletic had that opinion, though. One expressed the belief that Jones would be in the starting lineup by Week 6.
“You put the guys around him, let him distribute, yes, Mac Jones can be good, because he was really accurate,” that NFL executive told The Athletic. “He probably didn’t get enough credit for how he threw the ball, how accurate he was. He put it on those guys where they could run after the catch. There was no adjusting to the ball or anything like that. The guy was super accurate and rarely made a bad decision. If last year is any indication, Cam is on the downward slant. I think they’ll pile it on Mac Jones, and he is going to be able to handle it.”
Another executive tied Jones’ immediate future to the New England running game, a group that includes talented backs Damien Harris and Sony Michel as well as what should be a very good offensive line.
When will Jones earn his first career NFL start?
That is THE question facing Patriot Nation these days. Get used to it, because opinionated answers to it will be flowing freely from now until he finally steps under center at Gillette Stadium, whenever that day actually comes.