Ranking every NFL team’s quarterback situation ahead of summer offseason program

20. New England Patriots
Projected Starter: Mac Jones

This is another complicated situation. Mac Jones was one of the worst quarterbacks of last season, but he legitimately was in one of the worst situations possible. A defensive coach was running his offense. Matt Patricia had no business calling plays. Yet, there he was, running the Patriots’ offense into the ground.

Still, Jones wasn’t making plays. There was still talent there. Damien Harris and Rhamondre Stevenson were a great one-two punch in the backfield. Devante Parker was added to a wide receiver room that included Nelson Algholor, Kendrick Bourne, and Jakobi Meyers. On top of that, they still had Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry at tight end. Despite all this, Jones was rated as one of the worst quarterbacks in football.

This season, he has Bill O’Brien running the offense. Not only is O’Brien a former Patriots coordinator who coached Jones at Alabama. He knows Bill Belichick and he knows Mac Jones. If anyone is going to get something out of this offense, is he not the perfect candidate?

Still, this could go very, very badly. This is a player one year removed from losing the rookie of the year to Ja’Marr Chase. Maybe it was just a sophomore slump. If it wasn’t, he won’t even be on this list by midseason. There’s still Bailey Zappe as the backup. If he gets better, he could be a legitimate option as well. However, expect the Patriots to go one way or the other.