Mac Jones’ rookie season largely was a successful one, as he helped guide the Patriots back to the NFL playoffs and earned a Pro Bowl nod in the process.
However, New England’s starting quarterback is far from a finished product.
Bill Belichick, other Patriots coaches and surely Jones himself will be looking for improvements across the board from the sophomore signal-caller in 2022. ESPN NFL analyst Todd McShay highlighted one of the areas in need of development in a column published Sunday.
“The accuracy definitely still needs to improve when driving the ball down the field,” McShay wrote. “We saw Alabama’s talented receiver group make up for his inconsistent ball placement on deep shots and adjust to off-target vertical throws during his final college season, and it’s still a bit of an issue. Jones’ 37.3% completion percentage and 40.7% off-target rate when throwing at least 20 yards downfield each ranked 21st in the NFL last season. He also had a minus-2.2% completion percentage over expectation when throwing 20-plus yards downfield, per NFL Next Gen Stats (35th).”
Those stats might not paint a very accurate picture, as deep shots weren’t a staple of the Patriots’ offense in Jones’ first season under center. Perhaps we’ll see Jones let it rip a bit more in Year 2 now that there are new faces among the offensive coaching staff in Foxboro.
