Back in 2021, I was hoping the Niners would draft Mac Jones. Personnel evaluators were all over the place, with no consensus on how to rank Jones, Justin Fields, and Trey Lance. Lance had the greatest physical skills, but Jones was the most pro-ready.
I wanted Jones because I felt he would fit head coach Kyle Shanahan's offense better than the others would. (Full disclosure: I am an Alabama grad, but that means I had seen a lot of Mac Jones.) Shanahan's best offenses over the years were generally run by quarterbacks with limited athleticism. Matt Ryan was an MVP, Kirk Cousins passed for nearly 5,000 yards, Jimmy Garoppolo led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance, and Brock Purdy has set the franchise season passing yards record and appeared in the big game.
Only Robert Griffin III was a great athlete. So, except for the hiring of Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator, the signing of Mac Jones to back up Brock Purdy was my favorite move of the offseason.
Many have pointed to Santa Clara as a good place for a quarterback to revive his career. Sam Darnold did that two years ago. Darnold was a disaster at multiple franchises, and I hated that the 49ers signed him. It is a testament to Shanahan and Purdy that he turned things around. Though after his strong performance in Minnesota, he looks to have faded a bit in Seattle.
Mac Jones, on the other hand, had a promising rookie season in New England—nearly 4,000 yards passing, and an over 67% completion percentage. And he did that on a team with no weapons and a poor offensive line. He showed talent. But head coach Bill Belichick made two of the strangest (read: dumbest) hires in the NFL.
First, Belichick replaced Josh McDaniels with Matt Patricia as offensive coordinator. Now, Patricia had been a good coordinator—a defensive coordinator. Belichick then hired Joe Judge, a special teams coordinator, to be Jones' quarterbacks coach. Considering the offensive line was still porous and the skill position players subpar, was it any surprise Jones regressed?
He never really regained the confidence he had as a rookie, but his skill set is the same. And when general manager John Lynch signed him as a backup to Purdy, I was ecstatic. I am a big Brock supporter, so I was less than thrilled when he got hurt. But I was not distressed the way I would have been had Darnold had to fill in for Brock two years ago.
On Sunday, we got to see what I was so pleased about. On the road against the New Orleans Saints, Jones completed 26 of 39 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns. He was generally accurate and didn't force throws. His athleticism is markedly below Purdy's, but in Shanahan's offense, athleticism is a bonus, not a requirement.
Fortunately, Trent Williams and Jauan Jennings were able to play, and Christian McCaffrey looks 100%, so Jones had some talent to work with. Still, George Kittle is out, and Kyle Juszczyk went down with a concussion early. But Jones was focused and consistent.
Right guard Dominick Puni said much of what I felt: "[Before] this game, I was like, 'I'm glad we have Mac Jones.' [No.] 13 [Purdy] obviously is the most amazing quarterback. But if you're going to have a backup [playing], Mac Jones is a hell of an option."
Adam Schefter reported that Brock has made good progress in his recovery, and playing next week is not out of the question. It is still a long shot, but he hasn't been ruled out yet. If I were Kyle Shanahan, though, I wouldn't rush Purdy back. Mac Jones can play at a high level, and it's more important for the long haul for Purdy to be 100%. Fans don't want him to come back and get re-injured or make his injury worse.
There is no quarterback controversy. Just confidence that the 49ers have a backup who can win them games. That feels really, really good, and fans can thank John Lynch for it.