ESPN Predicts Potential Breakout Campaign For Patriots QB

Mac Jones has a major opportunity in store for the 2023 season to bring the New England Patriots back to contention after a poor 2022.

In his sophomore NFL season, the young passer threw for 2,998 with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while missing three games due to an ankle injury.

Even with the shortcomings of a season ago, Jones holds high potential entering his third season and eyes around the league see a path to redemption for New England’s starting quarterback.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell included Jones in his list of breakout candidates for the 2023 season. Barnwell labeled the 24-year-old as a “post-hype breakout” player and expanded on what lies ahead for the quarterback:

I’ve repeatedly discussed how little the Patriots did last season to create easy, confidence-building completions for Jones. Their play-action rate was down, and their RPO game was virtually nonexistent. It’s one thing to do that with a big-game hunter or a fogey at quarterback, but Jones posted video game numbers on RPOs during his time at Alabama.

As Ollie Connelly wrote about at length in his newsletter, adding coordinator Bill O’Brien and a dollop of the offense both Jones and O’Brien used during their respective times at Alabama should make life easier for the third-year quarterback. The Patriots added a tough wide receiver in JuJu Smith-Schuster and a potential contested catch receiver in Mike Gesicki. Jones was regarded as one of the league’s most promising young quarterbacks after his first season in New England, only to visibly take a step backward last season. I believe he’ll look more like the player we expected to see a year ago.

Jones does have a fair chance at a bounce-back season with the mentioned new pass-catchers around him and the return of a true offensive coordinator in O’Brien to navigate Jones and the offense moving forward.

Jones laid a solid foundation as a rookie, passing for 3,801 yards in 23 touchdowns as a Pro Bowl alternate to take New England to the playoffs. With a rejuvenated system around him, Jones has a second chance to build on that early success.