The fact Mac Jones made college-football history in his only season as a starter might fill New England Patriots fans with hope.
ESPN's Seth Walder on Monday highlighted the total quarterback rating (or QBR) Jones registered in 2020 for Alabama as reason to believe his game will "translate well" to the NFL. Jones' 96.1 QBR was the highest any college QB has posted since ESPN 2011 when ESPN created the stat to measure signal callers' total contributions to winning and impact on plays.
"There's reasonable debate about how well Jones' game will translate to the pro level," Walder wrote. "But any Patriots fan looking for hope in the numbers needn't look too far: He recorded the highest college QBR season in the history of the metric last year! His 96.1 beat out Kyler Murray's and Joe Burrow's amazing seasons for the top spot."
The Patriots selected Jones No. 15 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. Although Cam Newton is expected to beat out Jones in training camp for the starting job, most NFL observers view Jones as the Patriots QB of the not-too-distant future.
Given Jones' sky-high QBR in 2020, there's a good chance New England will boast a potent offense with him under center.
"On offense, the arc of quarterback Mac Jones will likely dictate the ceiling of this team for the next handful of years," ESPN's Field Yates wrote. "Suffice it to say that he'll have great infrastructure around him, as the best head coach in football in Bill Belichick and an offensive mastermind in offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels are always people to bet on."
Jones reported to training camp Tuesday as he begins his quest to fulfill those high expectations he set in college.
