With the NFL season set to kick off on Thursday night, there's so much predicting and projecting going on about what will happen in the coming months.
The MMQB staff over at Sports Illustrated released their 2024 NFL predictions, and only one really pertained to the New England Patriots, as Michael Rosenberg predicted that former Patriots quarterback Mac Jones would play well in 2024 and earn another starting opportunity in 2025.
Jones had a strong first season in New England, completing 67.6% of his passes for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while leading the team to the playoffs and making a Pro Bowl. However, over the last two seasons, he played poorly, completing 65.1% of his passes for 5,117 yards, 24 touchdowns and 23 interceptions in 25 games. He was benched for his poor performance and was traded this offseason to the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he'll be Trevor Lawrence's backup.
While Lawrence has missed just one game in his career, Rosenberg predicts that he'll be out for some time in 2024, allowing Jones to come in and flourish.
Here's what he wrote:
"Mac Jones will fill in for an injured Trevor Lawrence and play well enough for another franchise to want him as a starter in 2025. I do not like predicting injuries; hopefully Lawrence is healthy all year and I’m wrong. But this prediction is about my belief in Jones. I think I might be the last person in the country who still believes in him. It’s kind of fun!
The past two years in New England were a debacle for Jones, but they were a debacle for everybody. I would argue that he suffered from the roster disintegration at the end of the Belichick era, and I would even take it a step further: Jones helped stave off the collapse. He had a very good rookie season, and his top receivers that year were Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne. I’m not sold on the Jaguars, but I am sold on Doug Pederson’s ability to play to a quarterback’s strengths."
This would be an incredible story, and it's not totally out of the question.
The coaching staff and front office in New England caused a lot of Jones' issues over the last two years. They didn't surround him with much talent, and he had three different offensive coordinators in his three seasons (including the insane 2022 season that saw Matt Patricia, the team's former defensive coordinator, essentially running the offense).
Putting Jones in the Doug Pederson/Press Taylor offense and allowing him to throw to Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis, Brian Thomas Jr., Evan Engram and Travis Etienne Jr. could mean much better results for the quarterback.
Jones has shown he can be a capable quarterback. He just needs the right situation.
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