Mac Jones Leading All Rookie QBs In Nearly Every Measurable Way As NFL Season Nears Midway Point
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Through seven weeks of his NFL career, Mac Jones has continued to get better.
The Patriots' quarterback topped 300 passing yards on Sunday for the first time, while earning his second win of the season against fellow rookie Zach Wilson.
Jones now ranks ninth in the NFL in passing yards and 20th in passing touchdowns, and he also ranks fourth in completion percentage. But it's where he ranks among his fellow rookie QBs that may be more applicable to assessing where he stands as the season nears its midway point.
With that in mind, here are the raw statistics for Jones and the rest of the 2021 rookie QB class.
Mac Jones
3-4 record
174-for-247, 70.4%
1,779 yards, 7.2 Y/A
9 TDs, 6 INTs
92.8 passer rating
14 sacks, 3 fumbles
13 rushes, 45 yards
PFF grade: 82.5
Trevor Lawrence
1-5 record
129-for-216, 59.7%
1,465 yards, 6.8 Y/A
7 TDs, 8 INTs
75.5 passer rating
10 sacks, 3 fumbles
26 rushes, 121 yards, 2 TDs
PFF grade: 56.8
Zach Wilson
1-5 record
104-for-181, 57.5%
1,168 yards, 6.5 Y/A
4 TDs, 9 INTs
63.5 passer rating
19 sacks, 2 fumbles
8 rushes, 22 yards
PFF grade: 59.5
Trey Lance
0-1 record
25-for-48, 52.1%
354 yards, 7.4 Y/A
3 TDs, 1 INT
88.4 passer rating
3 sacks, 0 fumbles
27 rushes, 133 yards, 1 TD
PFF grade: 59.0
Justin Fields
2-3 record
75-for-131, 57.3%
816 yards, 6.2 Y/A
2 TDs, 6 INTs
61.8 passer rating
22 sacks, 6 fumbles
34 rushes, 140 yards, 1 TD
PFF grade: 49.3
Davis Mills
0-5 record
111-for-171, 64.9%
1,047 yards, 6.1 Y/A
5 TDs, 7 INTs
74.4 passer rating
15 sacks, 3 fumbles
7 rushes, 8 yards, 0 TD
PFF grade: 55.0
Based on all those numbers, here's where Jones ranks among the six rookie QBs:
Wins: 1st
Completions: 1st
Completion percentage: 1st
Passing yards: 1st
Yards per attempt: 1st*
TDs: 1st
INTs: T-1st fewest*
Passer rating: 1st
Sacks: 2nd-fewest*
Rushing yards: 4th
PFF grade: 1st*Trey Lance has more yards per attempt, fewer interceptions and fewer sacks, but he has just 48 pass attempts and has taken just 28 percent of San Francisco's offensive snaps
When you look at it that way, it's rather impressive what Jones has done thus far.
This week, he'll be opposed by Justin Herbert, who was last year's rookie of the year. As a rookie, Herbert's stats through seven starts were slightly bigger than Jones' (Herbert had 2,146 passing yards with 17 TDs and 5 INTs), but Jones has nevertheless put himself among the company of Herbert, Dak Prescott, Deshaun Watson and Joe Burrow with some of his consistency thus far.
Of course, he's likely to hit a bump or two in this on-the-job training, and his NFL ceiling still isn't known and likely won't be known for several years. As of now, though, even if he's not necessarily delivering "wow" plays at all times, the Patriots rookie has been as good as could have been expected heading into the season.
