For nearly 20 years, the New England Patriots had nothing to worry about at the quarterback position.
Tom Brady‘s dominant play as a member of the Patriots has cemented him as one of, if not the greatest quarterbacks in league history.
After Brady’s exit from the team, the Patriots haven’t found nearly the same success as they had in years prior.
#Patriots QB Mac Jones struggled in his second year in the NFL, under Matt Patricia's offense.
A look at the diffeirnce between his rookie season in 2021 to his sophomore season in 2022.
Only Baker Mayfield, Carson Wentz and Davis Mills had a worse QBR. pic.twitter.com/i0mG99GD7Y
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 11, 2023
The Patriots drafted Mac Jones with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 draft.
To say that Jones hasn’t met their standards up to this point is an understatement.
Jones had a 14-11 touchdown-interception ratio this season, and his QBR of just 36 was the fourth-worst mark in the entire league amongst qualified quarterbacks.
He will need to make a significant leap in 2023 if he wants any chances of remaining the Patriots’ starting quarterback moving forward, provided they are patient enough to keep him on the field.
Looking ahead to the 2023 season, the Patriots will be picking 14th overall in this year’s draft.
There are a lot of excellent quarterback prospects entering this season, and, if the Patriots aren’t confident in Jones, they could use their first-round pick on a better prospect.
In recent years, many quarterbacks have taken a big leap in their third season, such as Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts.
While it’s not out of the question for a quarterback to struggle in their first two seasons, the fact that Jones regressed so severely from year one to year two is certainly something to be concerned about.
