New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones has an elite trait, an intuition that is evident when one watches his performances for Alabama last season. So what exactly is meant here by “intuition”?
In once again reviewing some of Jones’s highlights from his Oscar-winning 2020 college season in which he torched the best conference in college football, the SEC, the word intuition finally came to mind.
In trying to sum up what exactly makes Jones so special, that’s the right word that finally manifested. As has been written in this space before, he posses “intangibles”. That’s right on.
Other words used have been used to describe his talents like cerebral, efficient, analytical, intelligent, and on and on. All are accurate.
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Yet, the best word to describe him is intuitive. He has intuition on a football field that few have. He’s like Robert Redford in the movie in which he played an intuitive baseball player, “The Natural”.
Jones is a natural at what he does on a football field. He intuitively, naturally sees what’s in front of him, analyses in an instant, processes the data, changes his pre-play determinations, if necessary, and then just makes the play.
He sees in an instant what others may ultimately see but not like Jones does and not as early in his football career as he has achieved that mastery.
He processes what he sees intuitively and then executes it almost perfectly most of the time. That’s the key to what makes Mac Jones so special.
Keep in mind, the guy has really only had one full season of college ball, yet he shattered many FBS records in that one season and in the process helped his team with the National Championship.
His statistics were off the charts. Many will and have attributed his success to the players around him. No doubt, he had a superb cast.
Yet, as has been previously noted, he did exactly what a top-flight quarterback is supposed to do with that type of squad around him, excel, and excel he did.
How New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones’s intuition leads to wins
Before further elaborating, it’s instructive to say once again that New England Patriots seem to have stumbled onto their quarterback of the future. They did so a few times in the past.
Steve Grogan, an all-time Patriots great was a fifth-round pick. Grogan was a multi-role quarterback who could pass and he also was a terrific runner.
He was the best running quarterback at that in Patriots’ history. And he was a winner. A certain No. 12 was, of course, a sixth-rounder. He hasn’t done so badly for his teams or himself either.
And now, they seem to have once again stumbled upon this unique talent. One might ask how did they “stumble” upon him when they took him in the first round at pick 15?
The answer, they stumbled upon him because they took him with the fifteenth pick in the first round!
As nine teams did on Patrick Mahomes, they allowed 14 other teams to pass on this talent before finally waiting and selecting. The pick should have been obvious and they should have traded up to ensure getting him. They lucked out. Again.
They must have gleaned a lot from his film. They must have learned a lot from Alabama’s coaches, especially head coach Nick Saban and former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
So, why then did they wait and have Jones fall into their lap on the fifteenth pick? They were very lucky and very fortunate.
Lots of the teams that picked ahead of them will look back at their pick and woe the day they passed on Mac Jones.
Back to Jones’s intuition, what finally occurred to this writer again looking at his ability to make decisions on the field was that observes and then intuitively makes the right decision, the right throw, the right movement in the pocket.
He does whatever is necessary to make the play work. He makes all the right decisions to meet the objective of moving the ball downfield in chunks. Some of those are huge chunks.
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If he has a great target they will be huge for New England (they don’t now unless Nelson Agholor emerges).
Some of the chunks will be smaller, as likely will be the case for New England much of the time. They don’t have explosive wide receivers like Davonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle.
But the beauty of the situation which plays in the Patriots favor, however, is that Jones’s intuition will make the plays work no matter what weapons he has at his disposal. He’ll make them better.
If someone has great separation and is wide open he’ll drop the rock into their hands for a big gainer. If they are tightly covered as they likely will be here, he’ll drop it on a dime to complete the play.
That’s the absolute best thing about the intuition Jones possesses, it will work with whatever he will have at his disposal.
He will maximize the talents of his weapons through intuition. And he’ll win games. Unlike others, who speculate, it is irrelevant to this writer if Jones starts or not this season.
Cam Newton is a terrific quarterback and now with some decent weapons, the Patriots will be just fine with Cam at the helm.
I see an 11-6 or 12-5 team with Cam at the controls. But should he be injured or otherwise falter, having Jones available is a magnificent security blanket.
Whenever Jones takes the helm the Patriots will be winners due to his intuition. He’s mastered the position at a young age and he’ll only get better.
That’s bad news for the rest of the NFL, very bad news, indeed.