‘How to ruin a young, promising QB’: ESPN on Patriots’ handling of Mac Jones
"We could point the finger at Mac Jones, have at it people. But this was a walking example of how to ruin a guy that was a young, promising player."
It took a first-round pick to bring Mac Jones to New England three years ago.
This week, the Patriots shipped him out of town via trade and only received a sixth-round pick in return.
How does the value of a player drop that far, that quickly?
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said during a recent appearance on “Get Up!” that the Patriots’ treatment of Jones is a textbook example of how teams should not handle young quarterbacks.
“Everyone wonders why they say the draft is a crapshoot,” Orlovsky said. “You want a 101 on how to ruin a young, promising quarterback? Look at what has happened with Mac Jones and his career in New England. We could point the finger at Mac Jones, have at it people. But this was a walking example of how to ruin a guy that was a young, promising player.”
“You give him God-awful coaching and then support him with very little help around him, and then you see the fall off of the cliff,” Orlovsky added. “So for everyone that says drafting a quarterback is a crapshoot, that’s because you draft the quarterback and put them in situations where they have very little chance to have consistent success in the hardest position in all of sports.”
Orlovsky did acknowledge that Jones’s play put the Patriots in a situation where they had to get rid of him.
“They had to do it,” Orklovsky said. “He lost the locker room and obviously had lost the organization.”
With the Patriots in control of the No. 3 pick in next month’s draft and prospects such as Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Jayden Daniels in the player pool, the Patriots are in position to select a young quarterback to replace Jones if they so choose.
If the Patriots take a quarterback at No. 3, they should sit him while they improve the roster and add the necessary pieces around him, Orlovsky said.
“You could draft a quarterback at No. 3 New England if you want to,” Orlovsky said. “Don’t play him, because your roster isn’t even remotely close to being capable of supporting a rookie quarterback.”
Former Patriots lineman Damien Woody agreed with Orlosvky, saying that the Patriots could risk ruining another quarterback if they play him too soon.
“I’ve been saying that,” Woody said. “First of all, I wasn’t even for them drafting a quarterback at No. 3 because I felt that the infrastructure couldn’t support a rookie quarterback. But, if you do draft a quarterback at 3, you damn well better have a veteran quarterback. I wouldn’t dare put a rookie quarterback out there for New England. That’s the quickest way to set that guy back in his career.”
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