Will Mac Jones start for the New England Patriots at some point in 2021?

As many expected, Mac Jones landed with the New England Patriots in the 2021 NFL Draft. Could he supplant Cam Newton as the starter during his rookie season?

Cam Newton has had a terrific NFL career. The former number one overall pick of the Carolina Panthers kicked things off with a bang with 36 total touchdowns as a rookie en route to a Pro Bowl appearance at just 22 years old, according to Pr Football Reference.

From there, things got even better for Newton. By 2015, The 6’5” athletic quarterback had reached his third Pro Bowl and became the NFL’s MVP in his first All-Pro season. In this year, Newton compiled 45 total touchdowns to just 10 interceptions as he led his team to a 15-1 record and fell just short in the Super Bowl.

Sadly, the Super Bowl loss seemed to be the turning point of Cam Newton’s career. Since then, the former star quarterback has thrown for just 73 touchdowns and 54 interceptions and has put together a record of 30-28 over the past 5 seasons.

In his first year with the New England Patriots in 2020, Newton had a record below .500 and threw more interceptions than touchdowns. As a result, the team eyed the quarterback position in the 2021 NFL Draft, and I don’t think anyone was surprised to see them go with Mac Jones in the first round.

Jones really isn’t much like Newton at all. He’s not big, doesn’t have a huge arm, and his athletic traits don’t meet the thresholds that many teams set for the position. However, Jones was known for his ball placement and accuracy in college. This could help him see the field sooner rather than later.

Jones likely to start over Newton at some point in 2021 for Patriots

Cam Newton has been well worth the number one overall pick that Carolina spent back in 2011 to acquire him. However, that’s only going to get him so far for New England. If things are going swimmingly for the Patriots during the 2021 season, then I see no reason why Newton would be pulled as the starting quarterback.

While I do think that the Patriots still have a reasonable shot at a Wild Card spot this year (thanks to a strong defense and a brilliant head coach), the AFC East has gotten much better over the past few seasons. The Miami Dolphins are loaded with talent and the Buffalo Bills have one of the best up-and-coming quarterbacks in the NFL in Josh Allen. All of these factors make the Patriots a longshot to win the division.

There are essentially two ways that Mac Jones could emerge as the starting quarterback at some point during his rookie season. The first is if Cam Newton is not meeting expectations (much like last year). However, unlike 2020, there was no incentive to bench Newton without a promising young quarterback behind him. This year, if things go south, they can start to rebuild and give Jones some NFL game experience.

The other way Mac Jones could see the field is if the team as a whole is out of the hunt. As good as Belichick is, I can certainly see a scenario in which the Bills and Dolphins start to pull away in the AFC East, and the Patriots essentially become eliminated from contention late in the season. This could be a just cause to play the rookie quarterback.

It’s hard to say how well Mac Jones is going to perform in the NFL, but he went to a team that should be a perfect fit for him. With Cam Newton trending in the wrong direction, Jones might see the field for the Patriots sooner than fans expect.