Is Mac Jones the best rookie quarterback this season, or has he just been propped up by his situation?
The FOX NFL Sunday crew of NFL Hall of Famers Michael Strahan, Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long were asked this very question and didn’t hesitate to attribute the New England Patriots quarterback’s success to being in the best situation of any of the young signal-callers this season.
The trio all choose the best situation option.
“I think he already played for (Bill Belichick) because he was at Alabama under (Nick Saban) so that’s a perfect marriage,” Bradshaw said.
Strahan echoed the sentiment.
“This is like his fifth year in the pros because he played at Alabama.”
While Jones may be in the best situation, there certainly is an argument that he is the best rookie quarterback from the 2021 draft class right now.
Through nine games, Jones has the most wins of any rookie with five, but also has put himself on a historic pace passing-wise.
With 2,135 passing yards through nine games, he is on pace to become just the fourth rookie quarterback to pass for over 4,000 yards in his first NFL season– joining Andrew Luck, Justin Herbert and Cam Newton — if he continues to sling it. Jones also is leading all rookies in passing touchdowns (10), completions (204) and completion percentage (68.0%).
If Jones were to remain as efficient throughout the remainder of the season, he potentially could break the all-time rookie completion percentage of 67.7% set by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescot in 2016.
