Patriots 2021 season thread

Agreed, Orlofsky is the best out there right now. I saw this the other day on espn in a different presentation, thing is Orlofsky pulls stuff like this out every week. And every week it seems like he has one of these for Mac.

Mac graduated Bama in 2.5 years with a 4.0 and then got his masters. We can debate the difficulty of academics at Bama but it is more than that when it comes to the workload on top of the grades. Mac is one smart cookie and it shows every week.

Remember the beginning of the season when he was running for his life, getting hit on every play and the Oline was a sieve? I do and I remember Mac still doing a pretty good job back there. Now he is getting time and making plays over and over. Three drives over 90 yards and another of 83 against a team that had a top 5 D, impressive to say the least.

Why are you poking the bear?? This is going to lead to another 2 page 20 post diatribe that is going to derail the thread for days. You guys are like 2 8 year old brothers fighting over who gets the bigger piece of cake.

I'm talking about the right situation. Every QB needs that. What do you think Mac Jones looks like on the Jets?

I'm simple having him play on his 5th year option. Teams are stupid, you see that in every sport.

RJP changing your opinion on Harry in the first? You loving Williams pick and trade up? Loving Keane and comparing him to a certain 49ers TE? Two can play this game right? I guess every week I should bring up you slamming Jackson right? I'm not going to do that.

I predicted Keane would be Kittles? I barely knew anything about him so that’d surprise me.

Jackson has elevated his game this year and my caution was always around he hasn’t proven to be a number 1. That isn’t slamming a player. He has now and I’ve already acknowledged that when you asked. You can ask me every week tho if you’d like. I am perfectly capable of admitting when i am wrong. It happens quite often.

Also, my Bourne question was legitimately motivated. I wanted your opinion on what you think of him as a receiver after having seen him for 10 games.

I'm just confused,  the universally excepted GOAT needs the most extreme right situation of most QBs. So what exactly is your point? Go look at last game with no Gronk or Brown. He still has Evans and Godwin which alone is among the best group of WRs in the game. 

Which QBs are so elite they don't need the right system around them? It's a crazy hard point to even try and prove because few really good QBs change teams and when they do, those teams give them everything they want.

I don't think Mayfield is elite, I think he has a chance to be elite. You were calling out their play calling no? 

The Patriots most years have the best coaching that get the most out of their players. We've been spoiled for decades. They've even found a role for Harry as a monster blocker. Do you feel Mayfield has that? They put him through the whole OBJ saga, years before he was ready to handle a guy like him. He talked about how the Patriots confused him on D.

Not a doubt in my mind that Mayfield would look better on the Patriots. I'm a true believer in that most QB busts aren't scouting issues, it's developmental issues and not putting together a system so that QB can succeed.

So, what you're saying, we were going to take Jones all along. We'll never know. But, you can't say Brady wasn't dumb luck. They had just signed Bledsoe to a long term contract and certainly didn't need a new quarterback. I heard one of their coaches was screaming to take Brady when they reached the 6th round. Bill took him just to shut the coach up. No one could have known at the time what Brady would turn out to be. Other teams passed on him 198 times! So, there's always some luck involved in any draft choice.

The way I see it, they were lucky the Bears and the Jacs, and the rest passed on Jones. I also don't think Jones would have done so well on any of those other teams. He has the perfect coach and organization to hone his skills.

Trent taking his son JJ to the field

The context was if the draft fell the right way and we were in position to take two WRs. I also said you could trade Harry, I didn't single out Bourne. I also said you could likely easily trade him. At that time we still had Edelman and Newton was our QB. It was before we drafted Mac Jones, I was trying to build a team around Newton, who needs a different type of WR. I stand by that, some of Bournes best plays were on throws Newton can't make. I would then be the top guy calling for us to cut or trade Newton and start Mac Jones so he could use our weapons.

We both thought he was a slot WR, with you saying he could be the next Edelman or Welker. I didn't see that and I still don't. The guy had seasons with almost 50 catches, 700 yards and 5 TDs which is the context I used when talking about him. You still think he's Edelman or Welker?

This is like Barmore, taking one thing to try and make it into something else and it always happens right after the players best game.

If I remember right they had Brady much higher on their board, yet QB wasn't a need so they passed many times till the value was just too good. Yet there is certainly luck that a team didn't take him. Yet the Patriots had him rated much higher than a lot of teams did also. He wasn't some big prospect that fell a ton in the draft either.

Given what we know yeah they had Jones targeted and sure some luck is likely involved. Yet that's about were he was rated before the 49er crazy rumors that were never true, which changed actual reality. The 49ers have said they never made that trade for Jones, just to take a QB. 

You also nailed it, the Patriots and Mac Jones was the perfect pairing. It looks stupid for the Bears passing on him, yet he's not doing what he is here on that Bears team either. The Bears need new coaches and a new system. Perfect example of a team not helping their QBs.

Uche to IR. I believe Winovich is eligible to be activated but, if he's not ready, they might give Perkins a shot (I don't know how he came up but Steve B said he's been doing well in today's PC).

Bower can't be elevated since he's already done so 2 times. He could get signed to 53, I suppose.

EDIT - Looks like Wino was activated so there's your answer (doubt they'd activate him only to have him sit for Perkins but . . . )

theathletic.com/2963238/2021/11/18/the-packers-saints-seahawks-steelers-and-more-get-ready-for-epic-qb-carousel-in-2022/

Two things have me thinking quarterbacks today. First, poll by Phil Perry on whether you'd be happy with a Matt Ryan type outcome for Mac, the second Jeff Howe on the upcoming quarterback carousel (round 2) ($).

On the first, Matt Ryan would have to be a great outcome for Mac. The Brady comp is obvious and obviously unfair. Given his performance at Alabama and how he's performed down the stretch and on 3rd and long plays I think there's plenty of hope for him to be Big Game Mac (unlike Ryan's rep). I hope Mac can work as hard as Brady at mechanics and footwork and gain a few incremental improvements on things like downfield passes and pocket movement (without ever being Lamar) and isn't fully realized at Age 23 as so many pundits claim. I'm guessing the team can scheme some more downfield success too, but I've always been a fan of high percentage throws in the 11-20 yard range more than the home runs, and he's showing early success in that area.

Second, I can't believe how many teams settled last year at QB and are now regretting it (the same as the year before when the GOAT was a free agent and 30 teams basically said "naw we're fine"). The Saints settled for Jameis Winston on a high-ceiling playoff team (not knowing how the injuries would break); how on earth would you win with Jameis in the playoffs? The Panthers, WFT and Broncos half-in changes have never worked and will never work. Maybe the Broncos will get into the playoffs and win a game and I guess maybe that's enough. I don't think Matt Ryan or Kirk Cousins are the problems in Atlanta/Minny and there were cap implications for those guys (same as the Steelers, though Big Ben actually is the problem there).