Chances are you've heard someone say that the Patriots ruined Mac Jones. More specifically you might have heard that Belichick ruined Mac. Regardless which version you've heard, it's completely off base. No one "ruined Mac Jones". In reality Mac has gotten further along in his football career than he should have. He is now in over his head and it's painful to watch as a Patriots fan.
So, how did he get selected in the first round if he isn't even good enough to make it in the NFL? Mac got to where he is from a combination of three things: hard work, coaching, and being in the right place at the right time.
EARLY YEARS- Mac has been focused on being an NFL quarterback his entire life. His parents wanted him to have the best coaches and opportunities. They had him play for the best Pop Warner club and sent him to quarterback camps early on. He started playing quarterback at age 5 and had a personal quarterback coach when he was 9.
ONE SPORT ATHLETE- Yes, I know he played tennis as a kid before he got into football. He also played some baseball when he was young but stopped because it got in the way of his throwing motion. Dabbling in other sports when you are 10 and then focusing solely on being a quarterback is a one sport athlete. So what we have here is a one sport athlete who focused on being a quarterback year round.
HIGH SCHOOL- Mac played high school ball at The Bolles School in Jacksonville. The Bolles School is a private school and football powerhouse. According to MaxPreps, the 2016-2017 team had 93 players and 17 coaches. Skimming through the roster it's likely the guys he had blocking for him were big enough to be playing in the NFL No joke, he played high school ball with someone the same height as Trent Brown.
OLD SENIOR- The cutoff date for kindergarten in Florida is September 1st. With Mac being born on September 5th, he lucked into being older than most of his classmates, teammates, and competitors for his entire school career. Being one year older can really have its perks, especially when you are 18 and playing high school football.
ONE SPORT ATHLETE- Yes, I know he played tennis as a kid before he got into football. He also played some baseball when he was young but stopped because it got in the way of his throwing motion. Dabbling in other sports when you are 10 and then focusing solely on being a quarterback is a one sport athlete. So what we have here is a one sport athlete who focused on being a quarterback year round.
HIGH SCHOOL- Mac played high school ball at The Bolles School in Jacksonville. The Bolles School is a private school and football powerhouse. According to MaxPreps, the 2016-2017 team had 93 players and 17 coaches. Skimming through the roster it's likely the guys he had blocking for him were big enough to be playing in the NFL No joke, he played high school ball with someone the same height as Trent Brown.
OLD SENIOR- The cutoff date for kindergarten in Florida is September 1st. With Mac being born on September 5th, he lucked into being older than most of his classmates, teammates, and competitors for his entire school career. Being one year older can really have its perks, especially when you are 18 and playing high school football.
Members of the Bolles School football team during Mac's senior season.
ALABAMA- Talk about being at the right place at the right time. After some back and forth, Bolles School let Mac finish school early so he could enroll in Alabama for the spring of 2017. After redshirting his freshman year and being buried on the depth chart behind Hurts and Tua, Mac lucked out with Hurts transferring to Oklahoma and Tua getting injured. When he did get the chance to play he was also surrounded by several future NFL stars.
COVID- Mac Jones benefitted greatly by the Covid pandemic in the following ways:
SIMPLIFIED OFFENSE- Mac was asked to manage games and given a simplified offense his rookie year. This was going quite well until the ultra-simplified game plan where Belichick only let him pass the ball once and the Patriots won the game. Since that game Mac has struggled.
PEAK HAS BEEN HIT- All we heard about Mac before his rookie season was how he was NFL ready. We can now interpret that to mean that he's hit his peak and he's out of his league. Mac's been getting coached to play quarterback for a long time. He shouldn't need to work on his footwork or throwing motion anymore. If he doesn't have those things down by now, it's not going to happen.
If Mac was truly being ruined by the Patriots at least one team would have be interested in him at the deadline.
COVID- Mac Jones benefitted greatly by the Covid pandemic in the following ways:
- 2020 Alabama spring season cancelled preventing Bryce Young from gaining experience and taking the quarterback job
- 2020 NCAA season and playoffs were greatly affected by teams not playing, players opting out, players getting sick, games being rescheduled, etc.
- 2021 NFL Combine- there wasn't one and Mac's supposed numbers are pretty suspect
- Rookie year benefitted from Cam Newton being sidelined due to a Covid rule mishap.
SIMPLIFIED OFFENSE- Mac was asked to manage games and given a simplified offense his rookie year. This was going quite well until the ultra-simplified game plan where Belichick only let him pass the ball once and the Patriots won the game. Since that game Mac has struggled.
PEAK HAS BEEN HIT- All we heard about Mac before his rookie season was how he was NFL ready. We can now interpret that to mean that he's hit his peak and he's out of his league. Mac's been getting coached to play quarterback for a long time. He shouldn't need to work on his footwork or throwing motion anymore. If he doesn't have those things down by now, it's not going to happen.
If Mac was truly being ruined by the Patriots at least one team would have be interested in him at the deadline.
RSS Feed
