The Fearsome 5 or the Feeble 5? - The Rookie QB's

Ferm Sheller

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Anyone at all concerned about Jones's performance the other night should have a look at the shit show Justin Fields is putting on right now.
 

JokersWildJIMED

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Anyone at all concerned about Jones's performance the other night should have a look at the shit show Justin Fields is putting on right now.
I missed the first half but Fields just looked fantastic driving them down for a TD coming out to start the 3rd.
 

Big McCorkle

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I missed the first half but Fields just looked fantastic driving them down for a TD coming out to start the 3rd.
I mean, not really. He was just holding onto the ball forever and then doing the scramble drill against second/third stringers. That's not exactly a sustainable method of play for numerous reasons.
 

Ferm Sheller

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I'm confused is this the Justin Fields/Chicago Bears thread or the Patriots QB thread?

Just wondering.
Like it or not, Fields vs. Mac is going to be a thing until it's not given that many believe (but who's to say for sure) that the Pats could/should have moved up to grab Fields.
 

Cellar-Door

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I'd still rather have Fields than Mac, I think he has the tools to succeed anywhere. Jones may have the right tools to succeed here and may end up being the better pick for us, but all I've seen from Fields is what I saw in college, good arm, top accuracy, and the ability to create with his legs.
 

Silverdude2167

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I thought about calling this the Mac Jones 4, but that is a thread for 10 years from now.

I have never really watched any of these players play before so this was interesting.
I will say I only know good QB play from watching Brady so, in reality, I do not know what I am talking about, but some observations are below.

Trevor Lawrence - 6/9 - 71 passing, (0td, 0 int) - 2 sacks taken
Lawrence looked okay I guess, did not play much (not sure what Jacksonville is doing). Half his yards came on one pass (where he could have taken a nap he had so much time in the pocket) so everything else was short. His reads were slow and he seemed a bit indecisive. Also, I hate his hair, get a hair cut man (this ends the old bald man part of the commentary).

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aW18sHiRk0&ab_channel=NFL


Zach Wilson - 6/9 - 63 passing, (0td, 0 int) - 0 sacks taken
Wilson looked good but did not play that much (not sure what the Jets are doing). He had good throws and has made good quick reads. Part of that may have been the Giants D who were playing really soft and Wilson seemed to have the most open receivers to throw to consistently of the 5 QBs.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hthkhFb0JQ&ab_channel=NFL


Trey Lance - 5/14 - 128 passing, (1td, 0 int) - 4 sacks taken
Ugly game for him, but part of that may have been his line play + a few drops. His TD was on a bootleg and the WR was able to get behind the safety (who seemed lost on that route), the ball was not pretty, but it got to where it needed to go. He needs to work on his drops as he goes too deep and made it very hard for the tackles to deal with the edge rushers. Something about the way he holds the ball or his throwing motion bothers me, but not sure what it is and it does not matter if it works.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW3uhFenWlY&ab_channel=NFL


Justin Fields - 14/20 - 170 passing, 33 rushing (1td, 1rtd, 0 int) - 0 sacks taken
Had a terrible first half and a solid second half. Seems to have a great ability to extend the play and just so very fast. His success came mainly against the second and third-string with a lot of misdirection, which the defense could not handle at all. I could have thrown his TD pass, someone on Miami is getting cut over that blown coverage. I like how he holds the ball and always seems ready to throw it. Again he is so very fast.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTYU6AhOT3Q&ab_channel=NFL


Mac Jones - 13/19 - 87 passing (1td, 0 int) - 1 sack taken
Jones looked good back there and made some good throws and some bad throws. He got the ball out quick, but also seemed to almost always throw to his first read, the few times he went to his second/third option he seemed a bit indecisive and the line did not hold up. On most of his passes, he appeared to have predetermined where he was going with the ball before the snap. You can see how the Pats would run the offense with him if he were the starter and it would look a lot like 2001 Brady. Kid gloves, run-heavy, quick short throws, play-action etc.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS_MxAlUrDU&ab_channel=NFL


(TLDR)

After the first game, my rankings:

Fields - His first half was so bad I almost want to put Jones above him.
Jones - I think he could definitely run the Brady 2001 offense today and grow from there
Wilson - Looked good but not a ton of playing time...do the Jets know what the purpose of the preseason is?
Lawerence - Look fine but not a ton of playing time...do the Jags know what the purpose of the preseason is?
Lance - Looked like a raw prospect who did not play against top competition and has not played a competitive game in a long time.

So you heard it here first Mac Jones is better than Trevor Lawerence!
 

pedroia'sboys

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I know it's only been one preseason game and 3 weeks of training camp but it's become obvious that BB had Jones above Fields and probably wouldn't of drafted Fields even if he had fell to 15. Mac is the perfect QB for this team/system. Whether BB turns out to be right is a different story.
 

Big McCorkle

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After the first game, my rankings:

Fields - His first half was so bad I almost want to put Jones above him.
Jones - I think he could definitely run the Brady 2001 offense today and grow from there
Wilson - Looked good but not a ton of playing time...do the Jets know what the purpose of the preseason is?
Lawerence - Look fine but not a ton of playing time...do the Jags know what the purpose of the preseason is?
Lance - Looked like a raw prospect who did not play against top competition and has not played a competitive game in a long time.

So you heard it here first Mac Jones is better than Trevor Lawerence!
For what it's worth, the PFF grades for the rookies were as follows, and I'm going to include Kyle Trask because I like Trask:

Wilson: overall 80.3, passing 79.9
Jones: overall 79.5, passing 82.0, running 53.0
Trask: overall 71.3, passing 70.2
Fields: overall 58.7, passing 64.2, running 47.5
Lawrence: overall 58.7, passing 58.5
Lance: overall 48.8, passing 49.0

Was the pre-draft consensus between myself and my brother about how we'd be happy if the Patriots drafted Bateman or traded up for one of the Bama receivers and then targeted Trask in the second round totally and completely vindicated but this short span of preseason play? No, it absolutely was not in any way. And Jones-Barmore is looking like a scrumptious pair of picks. But Brady's probably going to retire at some point and I wouldn't put it past Trask to actually be the one to replace him for Tampa.
 

SMU_Sox

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I love Fields. He was the third guy on my board but he’s not a lock. Also not to be that person but it’s way too early for this discussion and drawing any conclusions. Not that it isn’t a good topic to monitor and track but we’re talking year 1 first preseason games. Fields needs time to get acclimated to the pace of the NFL game. Lawrence ran a mostly vertical offense at Clemson. Mac Jones threw to wide open guys. Lance is very young and needs mechanical work. Wilson was someone I personally didn’t love by the time I got done with his tape. Too many bad decisions.

Who knows how it pans out. The odds are 2-3 of these guys bust. If I had to guess based on landing spot and their tape it’s Wilson and Fields. I wish Fields had gone to a more stable environment where I trusted the coaching.
 

BigJimEd

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I know it's only been one preseason game and 3 weeks of training camp but it's become obvious that BB had Jones above Fields and probably wouldn't of drafted Fields even if he had fell to 15. Mac is the perfect QB for this team/system. Whether BB turns out to be right is a different story.
I don't think it's obvious. Certainly nothing in the preseason will tell us either way.
 

SMU_Sox

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I feel pretty stupid for not seeing it earlier. While Bill drafted guys with more impressive physical skill sets later he also drafted guys more in the Mac mold too with Cassell, Etling, and Jimmy G. Stidham was more in that mold too. Lombardi was cryptic about if the Pats were interested in Trey Lance or not but the whole time said they weren’t interested in Fields. If your offensive system requires more timing and rhythm than other systems and you need to make reads and get the ball out quickly Fields wasn’t the guy for you coming out. I thought with Cam they might be wanting to go in a different direction but I completely misread the situation.

Edit: my guess is that they had 3 guys they loved: Lawrence, Lance, and Jones in that order and they were out on Wilson and Fields.
 

pedroia'sboys

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I don't think it's obvious. Certainly nothing in the preseason will tell us either way.
I think if Bill loved Fields he would of topped the Bears offer of a 1st and a 4th in 2022. It certainly wasn't a huge haul. Lombardi while not perfect with his predictions was saying for a month the Pats were not going to take Fields. Lazar also said BB wasn't in on Fields, but he said that after the draft.
 

DJnVa

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Wilson - Looked good but not a ton of playing time...do the Jets know what the purpose of the preseason is?
Lawerence - Look fine but not a ton of playing time...do the Jags know what the purpose of the preseason is?
Not to get your starting QB hurt?
 

SMU_Sox

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I think with the timing of the cuts coming this week many NFL coaching staffs wanted to get a thorough look at the bottom of the roster to help make decisions for cuts. The Patriots OTOH want to get Mac ready if not for this year than for next and know right now he’s their only guy on the roster who should be counted on to contribute something at QB. I guess Stidham has a year left but I don’t think he’s going to make the 53 this year. If he couldn’t uproot 2020 Cam and is clearly 3rd-4th best option might as well cut him loose this year vs wasting a roster spot on him.

A lot of other starters only played a series or two. I would imagine they get more reps in joint practices and in the next game or two.
 

BigJimEd

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I think if Bill loved Fields he would of topped the Bears offer of a 1st and a 4th in 2022. It certainly wasn't a huge haul. Lombardi while not perfect with his predictions was saying for a month the Pats were not going to take Fields. Lazar also said BB wasn't in on Fields, but he said that after the draft.
Yes, it is certainly possible they liked Jones more than Fields. That was discussed here and elsewhere at draft time. I don't think it is a given but very possible and maybe even likely.
However, I don't think anything that happens during the preseason will make it more obvious.
 

lexrageorge

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I think with the timing of the cuts coming this week many NFL coaching staffs wanted to get a thorough look at the bottom of the roster to help make decisions for cuts. The Patriots OTOH want to get Mac ready if not for this year than for next and know right now he’s their only guy on the roster who should be counted on to contribute something at QB. I guess Stidham has a year left but I don’t think he’s going to make the 53 this year. If he couldn’t uproot 2020 Cam and is clearly 3rd-4th best option might as well cut him loose this year vs wasting a roster spot on him.

A lot of other starters only played a series or two. I would imagine they get more reps in joint practices and in the next game or two.
Stidham will start the year on PUP and likely be on IR for the year. So no roster spot used. Can’t really be cut unless they do an injury settlement.
 

Silverdude2167

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Zach Wilson - 9/11 - 128 passing, (2td, 0 int) - 0 sacks taken
So far he looks good, made good throws hit the open receiver. Was playing against the second team I believe and always had a clean pocket. For the second week in a row, his receivers were wide open. Very few tight windows. Did have two plays that stood out. One where he made a good throw with pressure in his face and one where he escaped pressure and threw a strike 30 yeards down the field on the run.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ujpToy1bcM&ab_channel=NFL


Justin Fields - 9/19 - 80 passing, (0td, 0 int) - 2 sacks taken
Fields did not look nearly as good as he did in the second half last week. Part of that was his O-line seemed to be trying to get him killed. Probably because of that, he was quick to abandon the pocket. He does not seem to be great at recognizing pressure or changing protections yet. He got lit up at the start of the 4th quarter by a helmet-to-helmet hit from an unblocked man. The fact that he was left in the game after that hit shows how stupid the Bears and NFL are.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tG_9YtWk_0&ab_channel=NFL


Mac Jones - 13/19 - 146 passing, (0td, 0 int) - 0 sacks taken
Jones looked good, playing against the second string, and almost always had a nice clean pocket to work from. Once his receivers start catching the deep balls his numbers are going to look a lot better.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IkONHd1enA&ab_channel=NFL


Overall Wilson has looked the best through two games with Mac not far behind.
 
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