The second most important player on an NFL team after the quarterback is his backup. For that reason, you'll see clubs making a significant investment in a competent signal-caller in case the starter goes down. That's why the Jacksonville Jaguars thought they had acquired a viable option behind center when they traded for Mac Jones in 2024.
However, things didn't turn out the way they expected, and a recent tweet just exposed how dreadful the former Alabama standout was during his lone season in Duval.
A first-round pick by the New England Patriots in 2021, the same year Trevor Lawrence went first overall, Jones made the playoffs and earned a Pro Bowl designation. However, he didn't have nearly as much success the following two seasons and struggled to the point that he was benched several times.
By the 2023 season, the Pats had seen enough of the Jacksonville native and shipped him to the Jags in exchange for a measly sixth-round selection. That's how drastically his stock has plummeted.
On paper, Jones provided experience and depth in case Lawrence missed time. In practice, he was underwhelming, completing 65.3 percent of his passes for 1,672 yards with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. In his defense, the 15th overall pick in 2021 was thrown into a less-than-ideal situation, in which his supporting cast was unremarkable.
Having said that, Lawrence had more or less the same supporting cast before the injury bug struck and performed much better. In fact, NFL analyst Warren Sharp just highlighted how dreadful Jones was in one key area last season.
Sharp put together a list of the highest rate of incompletions in the red zone due to inaccurate passes, and Jones was near the top. Cooper Rush led every with a 56 percent incompletion rate. Jones and Bo Nix were second at 54 percent. Matthew Stafford was a distant fourth with a 49 percent rate.
To nobody's surprise, the Jaguars didn't hesitate to let Jones walk in free agency. He latched onto the San Francisco 49ers and is now the backup behind Brock Purdy.
Why the Jaguars made a mistake when they traded for Mac Jones
Hindsight is 20/20, but trading for Mac Jones was a desperate attempt from the Jaguars to add insurance in case Trevor Lawrence got hurt. After all, teams should make a continuous investment quarterback room, and the past regime hardly allocated any resources to the position since C.J. Beathard was brought in as the primary backup in 2021.
Beathard was a great mentor for Lawrence, for sure, but didn't inspire much confidence whenever he was pressed into action. That's maybe why Lawrence played through injuries in 2023, and the coaching staff crafted a rather simple game plan when Beathard made his sole start that year.
Had the Jags made a proper investment at quarterback, they wouldn't have needed to trade for Jones. Sure, they only gave up a sixth-round pick, but they wasted a pick that they could've otherwise used to address another position.
To replace Mac Jones, the new regime signed Nick Mullens. Of course, Jacksonville surely expects Lawrence to stay healthy, but if he once again misses time, Mullens should be able to keep the offense afloat for a few games. Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers can worry about Jones.
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