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For many football pundits, especially those in the New England Patriots‘ orbit, it became tempting to reach for a close-to-home comparison when evaluating the rookie season for quarterback Mac Jones.
But former NFL general manager and league insider Randy Mueller says that comparisons to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen are more than a bit off, and actually only highlight the vast disparities between the AFC East rivals.
Jones, the fifth quarterback off the board in the 2021 NFL draft, had undoubtedly the best season among all rookie signal-callers, completed 67.6% of his passes for 3,801 yards. He helped to bring the Patriots out of the Tom Brady era, leading them to a 10-7 record and a Wild Card berth.
Despite the strong rookie season, Jones’s limitations are clear when held up against Buffalo’s quarterback, Mueller said.
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Comparing Jones & Allen
As the 2021 season went on and Jones showed himself to be the top of his rookie class, some pundits began to look at how he stacked up against Allen. While Jones hit the ground running in the NFL, Allen was much slower to come along his rookie season and didn’t break out until his third season in the league, when he finished second in MVP voting.
Ahead of the Wild Card round matchup between the Bills and Patriots, WEEI’s John Andersen wrote that Jones’s rookie year wins over Allen’s in a “landslide” and raised the idea that the two were actually pretty close in terms of play at that point in time.
“One could make the ‘in a vacuum’ argument for saying Allen is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and is miles better than Mac, but no quarterback steps on the field in a vacuum,” Andersen wrote. “The gap between Allen and Jones is much closer than it’s being made out to be, because Jones’ supporting cast is humming while Allen’s is a bit out of tune.”
The results of the game proved otherwise. Allen had close to a perfect game against the Patriots in a 47-17 playoff blowout, leading the Bills on touchdown drives all seven times the team had the ball before a final series of kneel-downs. Allen finished the game completing 21 of 25 passes for 308 yards and five touchdowns, adding another 66 rushing yards on six carries.
Pumping the Brakes on Comparisons
Mueller says the comparisons between Jones and Allen end the moment they face each other. Appearing on Heavy on Patriots, Mueller noted that Jones seemed to hit a dropoff in the latter half of the season, and his limitations were evidence in comparison to the uniquely talented Allen.
“I felt a little change in momentum which gave me the read that the ceiling is a little lower for Mac (Jones), that people started to figure out the Patriots a little bit, that he’s not Josh Allen,” he said. “The worst thing he can do is be on a field with Josh Allen right now.”
Mueller noted that Jones showed a great ability to understand and process the NFL game in his rookie season, but it remains to be seen whether a strong mental game is enough to overcome his physical limitations.
“I think the big thing with Mac is he does it between his ears. He’s a processor, he’s an instinctive guy, he can figure things out,” Mueller said. “I think the ceiling comes in his physical talents. He’s not a big guy, he’s not really an athletic guy, the arm is slightly above average as is the accuracy. So there’s some ceiling there and its a matter of can what’s between his ears take him to the next level.”
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