The New England Patriots need a quarterback for 2021 and there’s a few different ways to go about it.
New England could sign a free agent or trade for a veteran, keep Cam Newton or go to the draft and select a signal-caller in the early rounds, likely with pick No. 15. Out of the options in the draft, there’s clearly a few quarterbacks who’ll be gone before the first round — like Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and BYU’s Zach Wilson.
One of the top-tier prospects who can very easily slip to pick No. 15 is Alabama’s Mac Jones, who had his breakout season in 2020. Jones had a long journey to prove himself, but when he did, it turned into a historic season with a national championship victory at the end. Jones threw for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and four interceptions with a 77.4 completion percentage.
He didn’t rush the ball much, while only totaling 14 yards and 35 attempts (mostly from sacks) in 2020. Regardless, former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa talked about Jones’ athletics ability while joining a Yahoo! Sports podcast.
“I would say he’s a sly kind of athletic person,” Tagovailoa said. “He’s a more mobile Tom Brady.”
Personality-wise, Tagovailoa had nothing but good things to say about Jones.
“He’s a really great person,” Tagovailoa said. “A lot of the guys, when I was playing at Alabama, they really loved being around his personality and who he was. So I’m thinking whatever team gets him they’re going to be very lucky. He’s a great player.”
Bill Belichick and Nick Saban have an extremely close relationship, so if there’s anyone who could convince the Patriots’ head coach to draft this quarterback, it’s Saban. The Patriots could realistically keep Newton this season and have Jones sit under the 31-year-old for a year as well.
