Mac Jones 2021 Production

Career Contextualization

The New England Patriots drafted mac Jones in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft with the 15th overall pick after a decorated college career at Alabama. In 2020, he was at the head of one of the best offenses in college football history. His adjusted completion percentage (84.2%) and PFF passing grade (94.8) ranked first and second in the nation, respectively. Both were superior to Joe Burrow‘s magical 2019 Heisman season.

With Jones’ routes tied to the Crimson Tide, it was no surprise to see Patriots head coach Bill Belichick take the prolific passer as his future franchise quarterback in the post-Tom Brady era.

Jones was named the starter after beating out Cam Newton in the summer. He started all 17 games for the Patriots and led the team to their first playoff berth since 2019.

The rookie quarterback was highly efficient as a passer, finishing 18th in PFF passing grade, throwing 10-19 yards, 13th from a clean pocket and 10th on early downs. Those specific metrics tend to be sticky year over year and more predictive than raw counting stats.

Still, those numbers were equally impressive for Jones, who posted the sixth-highest passer rating (92.5) and second-highest completion percentage (67.6%) for a rookie quarterback with at least 300 attempts in NFL history.

Although, the passing effectiveness did not translate to much fantasy goodness early in Year 1. Jones had one top-12 finish through the first nine weeks of the season. It wasn’t until Week 10 that Jones tuned out a worthwhile fantasy production, finishing the week as the QB4 on the back of three passing touchdowns.

Over the final eight weeks, Jones averaged 16.5 fantasy points per game — a massive increase from the first half of the season (13.8).

Current Situation

The Patriots have added a few pieces on offense this offseason — Cole Strange, DeVante Parker, Tyquan Thornton — but nothing too significant to write home about. It’s basically the same offensive setup and personnel aside from Josh McDaniels stepping down as offensive coordinator to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. The Patriots — how kind of them — have been remiss of naming a new offensive coordinator to the chagrin of literally everyone invested in the team.

Former Giants head coach Joe Judge has taken on the offensive assistant role, so he may have some input in the offense. That’s the worst-case scenario based on Big Blue’s offense a season ago.

General Prediction for 2022 and Rest of Career

It’s hard to imagine Jones not taking another step forward in Year 2 of his NFL career, but the Patriots aren’t exactly laying out the red carpet for him to do so. No McDaniels and minimal weapons added this offseason raise some eyebrows.

However, the Patriots still have a rock-solid group of receivers, running backs and tight ends who could be significantly worse (i.e., Justin Fields in Chicago). A group of Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson doesn’t exactly strike fear into opponents. Still, the depth at all positions should not be overstated.

And it should be considered that the team feels Jones is ready to shoulder more of the offensive play calling and be the quarterback they need to get the most out of an average group of playmakers.

Jones remains a strong buy in QB2 formats because he looks the part of a quarterback that will have a lengthy NFL career. Availability is super key in 2QB leagues, making Jones worthy of targeting. One quarterback leagues are a slightly different story with his lack of rushing juice tough to overcome.

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