Patriots owner Robert Kraft said this week that he’s bothered by the fact that the Patriots haven’t won a playoff game since Super Bowl LIII and one of the ways that the team can end that streak is by getting great quarterback play.
2021 first-round pick Mac Jones had some flashes during his rookie season, but the overall body of work wasn’t good enough to carry the Patriots past the Bills late in the regular season or in the playoffs. The Bills added Von Miller this offseason, the Dolphins took a big swing for Tyreek Hill, and the rest of the AFC has also been busy making moves to get ready for next season, so the need for those flashes to become consistently strong play is great in New England.
Kraft acknowledged as much when he was asked his feelings about Jones’ development.
“This year will be very telling,” Kraft said, via Jeff Howe of TheAthletic.com. “To come into something as new as this, as established, I think he got beat up pretty bad, and he kept coming back and getting up and really doing some great stuff. Just the way he handles himself, he took some real beatings and hopped up. He has developed a good relationship with the whole cadre of receivers. I’m very happy with what I’ve seen. But this is a big year, the second year.”
Clear progress from Jones will be a positive sign for the Patriots regardless of what might happen in the postseason because it’s hard to believe there will be any deep playoff runs in New England without a major upgrade in quarterback play.
He will be a backup for somebody in 3 years
There is a ton of room for growth for Mac. He only played 1 full year at Bama compared to Burrow who played 2 years at Ohio State and 2 years at LSU or Herbert who played 4 years at Oregon. With Belichick’s coaching I expect Mac to take that next step in his development.
Rooting for him but he likely won’t take a big leap forward. He will understand better how to play the position but teams have figured out his downfield throwing limitations and that will show up quite a bit this year. Plus he just doesn’t have a lot around him on offense.
The end of last year was telling. Once there was any tape on him the league laughed at the arm. Mac Jones is just good enough to keep the Pats drafting in the teens for the next decade. Anyone who brings up the Pro Bowl (as what the 7th alternate??) needs to have their head examined.
He was average last year with some good and some bad. The 2nd and 3rd years are where big improvements usually happen.
Nobody cares what that old man thinks. Kraft needs to zip it.
Hopefully he doesn’t suffer from the freshman blues. One thing that will be working against him is the fact he’s getting someone new talking in his ear, and it’s only his second year. Last year it was Josh, and this year nobody’s really sure who it’s going to be, because Bill won’t say who the signal caller is going to be. Obviously he’s going to have to adjust so like Kraft said it’s going to be a telling year. If he takes a step back it’s gonna be tough, because that will invite the critics to pile on, and that could spell trouble.
Clearly Kraft was spoiled by having the greatest QB who has ever played the game. He hasn’t quite come to terms with the fact that his coach’s/team’s success was directly dependent upon Brady. I don’t particularly like Brady, and I think the retire/unretire thing was very diva ego driven. But it is more likely than not that New England will have less success this upcoming year rather than more success than last year. The teams around them have made moves to improve and they haven’t, plus 2nd year QBs aren’t particularly known to lead teams to the promise land.
Let’s just hope BB the GM gives him a decent O-line and some legitimate WRs
Dolphins will make it 5 in a row and 6 out of 7 against New England, this year.
Prepare for the cellar boys. The Jets have a brighter future than New England.
Belichek is definitely a great defensive mastermind. He deserves his successes. However, he’s a god awful GM (Like Parcells) and this is why the cook shouldn’t shop for the groceries.
There’s only one Jimmy Johnson.
Burrow only played 2 years at LSU. None at OSU. Either way this is kinda soon to say about a qb who led his team to the playoffs his rookie year. Prior years failures shouldn’t be his issue.
A high majority of his production was from halfback or tight end screens. The good news is that Mac had an amazing deep ball at Alabama. They need to get him real weapons to unlock that part of his game. He should be a great pocket quarterback for a long time as he has the poise and pocket awareness.
touchback6 says: March 31, 2022 at 1:50 pm The end of last year was telling. Once there was any tape on him the league laughed at the arm. Mac Jones is just good enough to keep the Pats drafting in the teens for the next decade. Anyone who brings up the Pro Bowl (as what the 7th alternate??) needs to have their head examined. —
Right, Because there’s no way a 21 or 22 year old can improve there arm strength ..
Mac is unable to throw the intermediate & deep outs. This cuts down the number of zones teams have to cover from 9 to 5. He will have a tougher time this year as teams will press more to throw off the short timing routes. If Tua is able to get the ball to Tyreek Hill, the Patriots will be looking at 3rd in the AFCE.
A lot of these comments sound like they want him to fail. The patriots had Cam Newton for a full season with 2600 yds 8 td 10 int. Was he making the pro bowl as an alternate? I’d say mac jones and his 4k yards being the top option as a rookie after herbert, mahomes, Jackson, Allen, and burrow is pretty good.
Mac was as good as advertised. A high floor player who will give competent NFL QB play which is hard to find. Its up to the second year jump now and if he can make it. But Ne is in good hands now.
The end of last year was telling. Once there was any tape on him the league laughed at the arm. Mac Jones is just good enough to keep the Pats drafting in the teens for the next decade. Anyone who brings up the Pro Bowl (as what the 7th alternate??) needs to have their head examined.
Last year he was the second coming of Brady….right? No wonder people laugh at your predictions. BB is a good coach but hardly the best talent evaluator. Thanks for the daily chuckle.
New England’s dominance is officially over. No Tom Brady to save their butts and no Josh McDaniels to coach up a non-athletic QB. Mac Jones will regress big time without McDaniels’ offensive system. I have a feeling Bill Belichick, like Pete Carroll, will be retiring from Head Coaching within the next 2 seasons. Franchise QBs like Brady and Wilson don’t come around very often. Both coaches are in their 70’s and won’t want to stick around for a rebuild that could take 5+ seasons. Carroll will be retire from the NFL and Belichick will remain the Pats GM.
patsfan4lifedynasty says: March 31, 2022 at 1:44 pm There is a ton of room for growth for Mac. He only played 1 full year at Bama compared to Burrow who played 2 years at Ohio State and 2 years at LSU or Herbert who played 4 years at Oregon. With Belichick’s coaching I expect Mac to take that next step in his development.
Joe Burrow played two years at Ohio State? And they let him leave?
LOL, he threw like 40 passes in his OSU career.
Mac doesn’t have room to improve considering his physical limitations. His “thing” was his intelligence and understanding of the game. He was more polished than most college QB’s.
Patriots are an after thought.
They will get WAXED by Miami this year.
Other teams will have more individual talent overall and at quarterback, but what most people and many sports media forget that football is a TEAM game. How the pieces FIT TOGETHER, PLAY TOGETHER , and put into positions and schemes for individual players to bring out their best traits. NO ONE DOES THAT BETTER THAN BILL BELICHICK. NAME A COACH OR GM THAT ANY OWNER WOULD RATHER HAVE REBUILD THEIR TEAM!
So, Josh Allen was poor to average his first two years. Looked like a bust. Year 3 and 4 and he’s in MVP conversation. Year two is big, but year 3 is bigger.
Tua>Mac This season will cement that
Mac has a better deep ball than Brady. Just go watch highlights of Mac deep throws to DeVonta Smith and Waddle at Alabama. Brady is better at manipulating safeties and corners, buy just enough time in the pocket and to get someone like Edelman open down the field. This is where Mac needs to improve. His ability to read and manipulate defenses. He will never get to the level of Brady or Peyton but if he can improve he will take a major step.
Major upgrade? He had one of the best rookie years of any QB ever. He almost threw for 4000 yards.
People need to pump the brakes with the anti-Pats rhetoric. It’s so over the top at this point. The kid’s not really different than what Joe Burrow was in 1 year in college or his first 2 years in the NFL, except Jones didn’t get hurt in his rookie year with a putrid OL, so he’s not rehabbing from an ACL this offseason like Burrow was.
Burrow, Herbert and Mac Jones all look very legit.
How does a good rookie with a great drive, attitude, leadership qualities staying in Foxborough in the offseason AND getting 1st team reps all through the camps, somehow not improve under BB? It’s such a dumb premise and insulting to people’s intelligence.
This is how BB builds teams. 2008 was 2019, 2009 was 2020, 2021 was 2010. And so forth. Does that mean they’re going to a SB this year? No. They’ll be more so a real contender with more experience in 2023 with 102 million in cap space. It takes 3 offseasons to do it right.
I mean, the odds of him not improving are pretty distant. Last year at this time he was helping Bill O’Brien learn Bama’s playbook. I’ve never heard of a future 1st rd draft pick doing such a thing.
Lastly, Kraft certainly changed his tune from recent “bad drafts” (highly misleading), and younger players from those drafts taking another step together in the process, which is what I believe will happen.
In a nutshell, ol’ Bob needs to speak LESS, not more. And, they’d have more draft picks if he wasn’t busy capitulating to Goodell and the cheating owners over fake violations that weren’t real.
Pats are done. Nice run but it’s over.
It’s over Patriot fans… Soon it’ll be back to fourth place in the Boston sports market
Looking at the Patriot’s defense, especially the secondary Mac will have to throw a lot of yards and a ton of TDs to keep the Patriots competitive. If the Patriots do not make the playoffs it is not all on Jones.
The Patriots missed the playoffs for one year with a depleted roster and Bounce Pass at QB. They got back to playoffs with a rookie QB.
Everyone on this thread, as well as Kraft, calls it not like it is, rather, how they want it to be. The envy that two decades of dominance bred lives on in every Patriots thread. The Jets haven’t won since Namath (1969). The Dolphins haven’t won since Csonka (48 years ago). The Bills have never won. Shula won 2 super bowls if memory serves me correct, Belichick 6 as head coach and 2 as defensive coordinator (one of which they put his defensive gameplan in the HOF).
Those that are ignorant of history will see it repeated. That bodes well for Belichick and the Patriots unless Kraft starts thinking he should be buying the groceries again.
I’m glad that Mac Jones “has developed a good relationship with the whole cadre of receivers.” Now, how about giving this talented young quarterback some good receivers.
Putting the entire season on a second year kid is crazy. I don’t know what happened after the Bye week. The team, as a whole, fell off of the planet. It will be interesting to see a non-JMcD offense in NE.
tigerlilac says: March 31, 2022 at 3:53 pm The Patriots missed the playoffs for one year with a depleted roster and Bounce Pass at QB. They got back to playoffs with a rookie QB.
Everyone on this thread, as well as Kraft, calls it not like it is, rather, how they want it to be. The envy that two decades of dominance bred lives on in every Patriots thread. The Jets haven’t won since Namath (1969). The Dolphins haven’t won since Csonka (48 years ago). The Bills have never won. Shula won 2 super bowls if memory serves me correct, Belichick 6 as head coach and 2 as defensive coordinator (one of which they put his defensive gameplan in the HOF).
Those that are ignorant of history will see it repeated. That bodes well for Belichick and the Patriots unless Kraft starts thinking he should be buying the groceries again.
Exactly. What I find embarrassing is some of our own supposed fans have clearly forgotten this was their commentary back when Brady first met Giselle and he started to become disengaged a bit with the marriage, the kids, etc, and the team was absolutely rebuilding away from the Old GUard dynasty team that got old. It takes a little while to get good people back in the building and swinging all in the same direction.
It’s like everyone all has horrible memories or have been living in a cave recently, while missing a 2nd Dynasty 3 short years ago.
There’s a lot to like on the roster right now, and another strong draft and all that cap space next year with a likely busting market with overpaid players needing to be cut, makes NE an attractive landing spot because BB will have the QB AND the cap space
Not to mention the way the market is now, NE’s nowhere near filtering in bodies from the FA market for this season. Many guys who are FAs need to retire or play for far less because a lot of the money is already spent.
Pitt has no QB, so their cap space is almost irrelevant unless they hit on a QB in the draft this year.
The Raiders have to pay Carr and others, so their cap space will erode very quickly.
I’m loving it. I love the process of how BB does it because it’s worked well like clockwork for 20 years and I know it works. People just are entitled and/or have no patience. Can you imagine these nutbags in the Sullivan years? LOL! They must have been on some heavy meds.
Maybe if we had Mac Jones in the SBs vs the Giants, we’d have 2 more rings and better QB play before the rebuild was needed then, eh?
Last year he was a fantastic rookie. He showed nice levels of arm, accuracy, and technique, and most if all he was terrific at reading defenses for a rookie. Year two with the touch of experience behind him he will be better at his reading and awareness, arm, accuracy, and technique he will have worked hard on. So all of that is looking good. But he now has a season of film on him. The things he did well last year will have coaches ready for them. Weak points identified will be targeted. They will start noting what schemes might confuse him, what he has not seen, etc. all of that will be coming. This means he too has to adjust. And this adjustment will over this year and next year more of it. Its this ability to adjust themselves to stay ahead of how coaches attack them that really decides if there is a true franchise guy, or as someone said above, someones backup after three years. So we have seen him do a lot if good things, but this is the first time we see how he evolves himself. Two QBs that looked great to start are Kaep and Brady. Brady had that ability to learn new ways to win as coaches learned ways to beat him and thats why the long run. Kaep was stymied once he had defenses knowing exactly how to attack him and were no longer caught off guard by his running ability. They started just waiting for him. So Mac Jones is at that point where we find out which he is.
Someone mentioned belichick developing QBs – that made me laugh. Not sure he was responsible for Brady but who else? Jimmy G is average.
Let’s see who ahead of pats in AFC on QB talent alone: Mahomes, burrow, Allen, Watson, Lamar, Herbert, Wilson, Carr, Tannehill (maybe). Pats will be lucky to get into playoffs let alone win. What’s worse is all these guys are young and not going anywhere.
Get used to mediocrity or basement. Then realize it was almost all Brady with belichick around for the ride
The problem with the Pats the last five years is the lack of overall talent. That falls on the GM constantly making terrible personnel decisions. There’s a reason Mac Jones wasn’t one of the first QBs drafted. His ceiling isn’t as high as the others and he’s not likely to close that gap. He was great in college sure. So what Danny Wuerffel. Neither has an NFL arm and that really showed later in the season. Most of his yards are from short passes and his arm doesn’t scare anyone. Even worse news for him is losing those two OL in free agency. They won most of their games with the defense and they didn’t need much from the offense. They’ll need a lot more from the offense this year now that CB left in free agency. I just don’t think Jones has the arm to be able to do it.
Just stop! He was by far the best QB in last year’s class what more do you want?
footballpat says: March 31, 2022 at 5:20 pm Just stop! He was by far the best QB in last year’s class what more do you want?
—— I’d still trade Lawrence straight up for Jones. But only him nobody else in that QB class.
footballpat says: March 31, 2022 at 5:20 pm
Just stop! He was by far the best QB in last year’s class what more do you want?
—— I’d still trade for Lawrence straight up with Jones. But only Lawrence nobody else in that QB class.
The Patriots won the super bowl in 2019. They have gone to two playoff games since then. Not exactly a barren wasteland.
I really do not understand the Mac Jones haters. I’m guessing the hate is more Patriot success PTSD than anything else.
I see zero Pats fans suggesting that Mac will be anything close to Tom Brady. Oddly enough, the fanbase seems to be in agreement; very solid year 1 until he hit q rookie wall and the Defense fell apart.
As a whole, like Kraft, we’re hoping for a leap in year 2 & 3 – regardless, the next 2 years will likely dictate Mac’s ability to compete in this league.
If Mac does win a SB soon, I can’t wait to hear all your excuses; system QB, it’s all Bill, it’s all the defense, fake cheating accusations…. I genuinely love the hate tho, please don’t ever change.
Baby Goat will surpass expectations much to the dismay of the fans of the other 31.
I see zero Pats fans suggesting that Mac will be anything close to Tom Brady.
— And thank goodness for that. Mac doesn’t need to cheat to be good.
Jones could exceed expectations, of course. But right now, he’s exactly what scouts predicted.
In the QB-heavy AFC, that won’t be enough. This isn’t a “just add water” situation for BB anymore, where in a QB-driven league, he had the best of all time. It’s a little easier to build a contender around that.
These are uncharted waters for the Patriots.
Was BeliCHEAP able to do it without Brady?
If the answer is no, you should know where the credits should go.
The only AFC QBs that Belichick hasn’t handled so far are Allen and Burrow who he hasn’t faced yet. Belichick is building a defense to handle Allen this year and if he succeeds that only leaves Burrow. Let’s see what happens.
bobhk says: March 31, 2022 at 4:43 pm Someone mentioned belichick developing QBs – that made me laugh. Not sure he was responsible for Brady but who else? Jimmy G is average.
Let’s see who ahead of pats in AFC on QB talent alone: Mahomes, burrow, Allen, Watson, Lamar, Herbert, Wilson, Carr, Tannehill (maybe). Pats will be lucky to get into playoffs let alone win. What’s worse is all these guys are young and not going anywhere.
Get used to mediocrity or basement. Then realize it was almost all Brady with belichick around for the ride
The thing is, you said all that last year too, and I even agreed with you. Then look what happened.
What are the odd’s they pick up Garapollo if San Fran lets him go? He’s coming off shoulder surgery and needs a good o-line. The teams that are looking for a QB have bad o-lines. New England has a top 10 o-line. Jimmy needs that to be successful, as do most QB’s. Maybe he plays a prove it year on the cheap, and gets a bigger contract next year when the Patriots have $100 M in cap space. Maybe they structure a deal where the money is incentive laden and back loaded into future years. I have no idea how that works, but the question is: Would they do it? Or are they convinced Jones gives them a better chance to win, which is what they say their mantra is? It would be jarring, but not shocking if it happened. More will be revealed.
Amazing to me how so many of you are talking smack about the coach that’s won the most Super Bowls all time. I think you’re all kind of crazy. He didn’t win by a fluke.
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