The New England Patriots chose Mac Jones as Tom Brady's heir. Will it pay off?
The New England Patriots have their quarterback of the future — and present — in Mac Jones.
The Alabama product won the starting job during the preseason and will take the reins of the offense in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins. That move rendered Cam Newton expendable in the process.
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After a bridge year with Newton as the starter in 2020, the Patriots now appear to have a quarterback to build around after the departure of Tom Brady.
But is the strong showing from Jones in the preseason an indicator of future dominance for the quarterback, or should expectations be tempered?
Nick Wright believes more needs to be seen from Jones before declaring him a star, pointing out that the odds are already slim compared to those for the four other rookie quarterbacks who were first-round draft picks.
"If I had to rank them on the likelihood of being awesome, not the most likely of the five," Wright said of Jones on "First Things First." "So no, I'm not buying the preseason hype on Mac Jones."
The odds of all five first-round quarterbacks becoming success stories are slim, but that doesn't mean it's out of the realm of possibility for Jones to be a hit.
While Mark Schlereth agrees with Wright that Jones' preseason performance doesn't matter that much when predicting the future, he was still impressed by what he saw from the quarterback in training camp and believes Jones showed that he could excel.
"What he did in these scrimmages, what he did against the [New York] Giants," Schlereth said, "you have to be exceptional at seeing things, having vision and understanding instantly what you have and where everybody is. That's what is impressive about Mac Jones. He doesn't have to think, he sees it, he believes it, he waits for it, and he just lets it rip."
And while debates rage over whether Jones' performance to date is worthy of the hype, his biggest obstacle might not be any defense he sees this season.
According to Skip Bayless, it could be the enormous shadow of Brady looming over him.
"He is going to be expected to be the next Tom Brady," Bayless said on "Undisputed." "Sooner than later that's going to be his bar, and it's completely unfair."
Jones isn't the only rookie quarterback who will start this season, but because he beat out Newton, because he's succeeding Brady and because he plays for the Patriots, it'll be fascinating to watch. Will the Patriots' faith pay off? Find out starting in Week 1.
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