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Comparing Mac Jones’s first 7 starts to Justin Herbert’s historic rookie season ahead of Sunday’s matchup
Jones doesn't have the raw stats Herbert had as a rookie, but he does share some things with the guy he'll be up against Sunday.
Mac Jones has earned some nice praise for his performance to start his rookie season.
As Jones and the Patriots prepare for the Chargers on Sunday, let’s take a look at how well Jones is performing in comparison to second-year quarterback Justin Herbert, who is regarded by many as one of the game’s best young quarterbacks.
Herbert’s rookie campaign was one for the record books. He set rookie records for most passing touchdowns (31), completions (396), and the most games with 300-plus passing yards (eight). And he did it all in just 15 games, too.
It didn’t take long for Herbert to make his mark in the league, either. He had two 300-yard passing performances in his first two career starts, and through his first seven starts, Herbert had four 300-yard passing games. Jones just threw his first 300-yard passing game against the Jets last week, finishing with 307 yards in the win.
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Through his first seven games as a rookie, Herbert threw for 2,146 yards and 17 touchdowns, making him the first rookie to reach 2,0000-plus passing yards and 15-plus passing touchdowns in their first seven games.
Jones’s numbers look noticeably smaller in comparison, as he’s thrown for 1,779 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Jones has also thrown one more interception in his first seven starts (six) than Herbert did in his first seven (five).
Jones does have Herbert beat in a couple of areas though in this comparison. Jones’s completion percentage is currently 70.4 percent, which ranks fourth-best in the league, while Herbert completed 67.3 percent of his passes in his first seven games. Jones also has a better record than Herbert did, going 3-4 to Herbert’s 1-6.
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Both quarterbacks do share some similarities though from their rookie seasons. For instance, both had to play the defending Super Bowl champs early in their careers, with Herbert going up against the then-defending champion Chiefs in his first start and Jones facing the Buccaneers in Week 4.
And both players looked the part in those respective games. Herbert threw for 311 yards with a touchdown and an interception in an overtime loss to the Chiefs. Jones threw for 275 yards with two touchdowns and a pick in a two-point loss to the Bucs. As a matter of fact, both players threw more yards than their respective MVP counterparts in those games.
The way they’ve completed their passes in their rookie seasons is similar, too. As a rookie, Herbert’s average completed air yards was 5.2, per Next Gen Stats. Jones’s average completed air yards this season is the exact same –5.2. Jones’s average intended air yards is actually a tic higher than Herbert’s was his rookie season (7.7 vs. 7.5), which is a bit surprising considering the common narrative around Jones is that he doesn’t throw the ball downfield a lot.
Jones also has a similar time to throw, which measures how long it takes a quarterback to throw the ball after the snap, to Herbert in his rookie year (2.64 seconds vs. 2.69 seconds). Jones’s air yards to the sticks, which measures air yards ahead or behind the first down marker on all attempts for a passer, is the same as Herbert’s was his rookie season, which is -1.3 yards. That means both players typically threw short of the first down marker than throwing past it.
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So, even though Jones’s raw numbers fall short of Herbert’s in his outstanding rookie season, his rookie campaign does share some similarities to Herbert in his early career.
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