Mac Jones earned an unreal amount of praise throughout the offseason.
The No. 15 overall pick won the starting role over Cam Newton for the New England Patriots following a tremendous preseason — where he finished as the highest-graded rookie quarterback. He has the second-best selling jersey in the entire NFL and his teammates are treating him like he’s a seasoned veteran.
The only thing left for him now is to produce during the regular season. Bill Belichick constructed a team with an elite defense, along with an offense that is perfectly equipped for a rookie — starting with a top-tier offensive line. So, what could go wrong?
Former NFL linebacker and current ESPN analyst Bart Scott doesn’t think Jones will pan out as the player he’s projected to be.
“The growth is going to be stunted for a little while, because the ceiling isn’t that high for Mac Jones,” Scott said on ESPN Radio’s ‘Bart & Hahn’ show, transcribed by WEEI. “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.”
While history isn’t on the side of Alabama quarterbacks, Jones appears to be special. He was patient, learned from those before him (Tua Tagovailoa and Jalen Hurts) and went out when his time was ready with record-breaking performances. Jones finished last season with 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and only three interceptions in a year that Alabama won the national championship.
He defied odds by beating out Newton this season and his trajectory is sky-high currently. Of course, Alabama doesn’t have a great track record. But, Jones is proving every day that he can be the exception.
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