New England Patriots: 3 things Mac Jones showed us in pre-season Week 1
There are three major things New England Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones showed us in his first week of pre-season football against the Washington Football Team.
As you may have seen, Mac Jones was the highest-rated rookie quarterback in their first pre-season week according to Pro Football Focus, as cited by patspulpit.com.
What exactly does this mean? Well, frankly it could mean absolutely nothing. But then again, it could mean a lot, and possibly everything.
After all, Pro Football Focus is the guru of gurus for football statistical analysis, and is well-regarded by stat-geeks and the rest of us (hand raised here) alike.
So, let’s take a look at three things that the rookie quarterback showed us with his week one pre-season performance. The contents here may surprise you.
What New England Patriots’ Mac Jones first week means
First, his opening performance demonstrated to the experts that Jones was the best rookie quarterback coming out of the gate in the NFL.
That’s a good sign. Being rated that highly by Pro Football Focus in anything is nothing to sneeze at.
They are la crème de la crème of pro football analytics people. The top-of-the-heap. So in his first game, the analytics people say he was tops.
Related Story. Quick takes on Pats offense from preseason opener. light
Jones rated above Zach Wilson, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, and Trey Lance in that order. Now, let’s keep in mind that Jones was drafted lower than all of those other rookie quarterbacks.
We all knew that but it’s somewhat instructive nevertheless. So the first thing he did was burst onto the NFL scene and make a very good impression.
He did this not only for those of us who caught the game but also for those who caught it and analyzed it, as well for everyone else.
Now one game does not a make season or a career. Granted, yet what it does very quickly and unequivocally say is that Jones may very well be the most NFL-ready of any of those rookies.
This is no shock to anyone who looked at his film highlights and at his statistics during his time at Alabama. The young man is a phenom, whether anyone likes to hear it or not.
Having such a solid game the first time he plays against an NFL team is a positive harbinger (though not a guarantee) that more good things may be on the way.