Chris Simms is high on both Mac Jones and Cam Newton — relatively speaking, anyway.
The former NFL quarterback-turned analyst recently revealed where the New England Patriots signal-callers rank on the 2021 version of his top 40 NFL QBs list. As of Tuesday afternoon, Simms only had revealed the Nos. 17-40 quarterbacks in his rankings.
Here they are:
17. Joe Burrow
18. Carson Wentz
19. Sam Darnold
20. Cam Newton
21. Jimmy Garoppolo
22. Ben Roethlisberger
23. Ryan Fitzpatrick
24. Taysom Hill
25. Jameis Winston
26. Daniel Jones
27. Zach Wilson
28. Trevor Lawrence
29. Andy Dalton
30. Mac Jones
31. Jared Goff
32. Teddy Bridgewater
33. Drew Lock
34. Tua Tagovailoa
35. Tyrod Taylor
36. Marcus Mariota
37. Kellen Mond
38. Trey Lance
39. Justin Fields
40. Case Keenum
During his podcast, Simms said this of Newton:
Cam Newton is still one of the 20 best quarterbacks in football for my money. It’s not about the quarterback stats all the time, it’s the effect you have on the football game. He’s a little bit of a force of nature that way and I think that sometimes gets swept under the rug.
… Cam Newton still has got one of the greatest presence of all quarterbacks on the NFL field. He’s a great leader, he’s a great worker. … You have to get over the passing numbers at times, and I understand work needs to be done. He’s one of the best running quarterbacks in football still, and his skillset running the football is one of the things that made that not-very-talented offense somewhat of a threat in certain weeks and it certainly made them one of the best running offenses in football.
As for Jones, Simms offered the following:
Yeah, he’s a rookie, but he’s an experienced rookie. And I know there’s only 17 games in college, but it’s all those years in Alabama and playing the tough SEC schedule and everything about that. And all the things you hear right now, listen, it’s been nothing but positives. You don’t even hear things about first-round picks in New England. They’re quietly gushing about him. That just tells you it all. He is the most NFL-ready quarterback to come out in the draft this year, hands down.
We’ll disagree with Simms on one point: The Patriots haven’t been quiet with their praise for Jones.
Bill Belichick was awfully complementary of the rookie quarterback last week, and his veteran teammates have sung similar tunes.
