Advanced Stats Report: Mac Jones Finishes as PFF’s Second-Highest Graded Passer in Preseason

Below are various advanced stats from the Patriots’ 22-20 win over the Giants in the preseason finale. 

QB MAC JONES’S PASSING STATS

Starting quarterback Cam Newton only had five drop-backs against New York on Sunday night, following a trend this preseason of most of the summer reps going to rookie Mac Jones. 

Jones out-drop backed Newton 59 to 21 in the preseason, which isn’t surprising given the difference in experience for the two QBs, but the Pats’ first-rounder made the most of it. 

Among all quarterbacks, not just rookies, Jones’s 92.2 PFF passing grade was the second-highest while he had four big-time throws (tied for second) to zero turnover-worthy plays. The 15th overall pick was terrific in the preseason. 

Along with making several high-level downfield throws, Jones was arguably at his best operating out of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’s staple concepts. 

In the clips above, Jones reads out the Pats’ signature play, HOSS Z Juke, in two different ways to throw a touchdown pass to Isaiah Zuber (seam) and a first-down hitch route to running back Rhamondre Stevenson. Both out of an empty formation with good accuracy and a quick release. 

Once we have access to the coaches tape, we can review some of the plays where Jones held onto the ball a little too long, as the rookie quarterback said after the game. 

But the only way to view Jones’s rookie preseason is as a resounding success; Jones was one of the best passers in the NFL in August. 

PASS PROTECTION STATS

Although it felt like a rocky night for the Patriots’ offensive line in pass protection, New England’s three quarterbacks were only under pressure on nine of their 33 drop-backs (27.3%). 

Jones’s number was a bit higher than that at 38.9 percent, but the rookies’ average time to throw was 3.06 seconds on his 14 pass attempts, which contributed to some of the pressure. 

The Giants defense also threw seven blitzes at Cam Newton and Mac Jones, and the Patriots’ blockers had difficulty picking up some of those pressures. Above, the Giants ran a zero blitz that led to two free runners at Newton. Later on, they ran a similar zero blitz with Jones at the helm, and the Pats offense was bailed out by a defensive holding flag in the secondary. 

With the Dolphins and Brian Flores coming to town for the season opener in two weeks, the Patriots will need to figure out a better way to block and communicate all-out pressure. 

Flores is known for bringing heavy pressure at opposing quarterbacks and often utilizes zero blitzes on third down. The Pats failed their dress rehearsal for Flores’s pressure packages, so they’ll need to clean that up in practice over the next two weeks. 

The good news was that the right side of the starting offensive line, Trent Brown and Shaq Mason, and left tackle Isaiah Wynn, were clean in limited reps. 

RUSHING YARDS OVER EXPECTED

In a stat that measures how many rushing yards a ball carrier accumulates over expected, Patriots running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and J.J. Taylor paced the league. 

Stevenson’s preseason performance was spectacular, adding 111 rushing yards over expected, nearly doubling Taylor, who came in second place in the preseason (+62). 

With RYOE, we can see why the Patriots felt comfortable trading former running back Sony Michel to the Los Angeles Rams. 

PASS RUSH PRODUCTION

New England’s defense pressured Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and Mike Glennon on 17 of their 44 drop-backs, or 38.6 percent, with four sacks in Sunday night’s preseason finale. 

As he has all summer, second-year linebacker Josh Uche led the way with three quarterback pressures, registering a sack, a QB hit, and a hurry. Uche finished with six QB pressures on 27 pass-rush snaps, ranking fifth in PFF’s pass-rush productivity metric this preseason.

Along with Uche’s development, the Patriots seem to have found an interior pass-rushing presence in rookie second-rounder Chrisitan Barmore, who helped Uche on his sack by pushing the pocket up the middle, then registered a QB hit with a sweet push-pull swim move. 

Although Uche and Barmore were the breakout stars of Pats camp, fellow edge rusher Chase Winovich beat up on the Giants and Eagles’ backup tackles. Winovich also tied for the team lead with three quarterback pressures in the win over the Giants. Plus, his pass-rush win rate of 40% led the entire league during the preseason.

Another summer standout for New England was 2020 UDFA Bill Murray, who had two sacks against the Giants, and was tied for seventh with nine QB pressures in the preseason. 

Murray’s chances of making the roster are long, and Winovich could potentially get traded in a crowded linebacker room, but both players made strong impressions in preseason action. 

COVERAGE STATS

As one would expect watching the game live, the coverage stats weren’t friendly to roster hopeful Michael Jackson, Sr., who was targeted ten times against the Giants. 

At his best as a press-man corner, Jackson had some good moments in camp playing a physical brand of man coverage on the outside. But the Giants’ receivers exposed his struggles at the top of routes and in off-man situations. 

On a positive note, core special teamer Justin Bethel was excellent in the preseason in coverage, registering the Pats’ only pass breakup of the night against New York. Overall, Bethel broke up both passes into his coverage on 27 coverage snaps this summer. 

Along with Bethel, second-year cornerback D’Angelo Ross wasn’t targeted on any of his 32 coverage snaps and had a terrific third-down stop. Ross is making a late push for the 53.