With a 72.2 overall grade, Jones has been quite comfortably the highest-graded quarterback of the bunch. The speed with which he plays the game from the pocket and comfort within the Patriots offense are evident every time you flip on the tape. Of all the quarterbacks, his pros and cons so far have easily been the most similar to his pre-draft scouting reports.
You see plays like the one below where he’s almost impervious to pressure.
That’s the kind of pocket where Fields completely abandoned the play call when he saw pressure Sunday, but Jones hangs in, confident as can be. While it didn’t result in a completion there, it’s a skill that will serve him well in the future.
Where he’s struggled, though, is vertical throws. At Alabama, he had windows that anyone could hit on go-balls and posts at times. That hasn’t been the case in New England: He’s gone 4-of-16 on deep balls this season, including going 0-for-7 on throws over 25 yards downfield. Only
Ben Roethlisberger has a worse adjusted completion percentage among starters on such throws.
He has still threaded some beauties, but they often come at the intermediate levels. His six big-time throws are tops in the class and rank eighth in the entire NFL. The wins haven’t quite come yet, but Jones has exceeded expectations out of the gate.