NFL analyst predicts Mac Jones to be latest QB to revive his career

Mac Jones has had a turbulent first five seasons in the NFL. After leading the New England Patriots to the playoffs his rookie season, where he was named a Pro Bowl alternate, Jones saw things tumble beneath him with organizational dysfunction as well as significant regression in his performance. A one year stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t go much better for the former Alabama quarterback.

But last season, Jones stepped up for the San Francisco 49ers, replacing an injured Brock Purdy for eight games and got back to playing at the level of his early career. Jones went 5-3 as a starter passing for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns, six interceptions and completed 69.6% of his passes.

Jones will be returning to the 49ers this season as he enters the final year of his contract but with his recent success, accompanied by the several other former first round quarterbacks finding success on their second and third teams, NFL.com’s Jeffri Chadiha predicts Jones to be the next to revive his career.

“As much as a we rave about the job head coach Kyle Shanahan did to lead the injury-plagued Niners to the playoffs, we shouldn’t understate how much Jones contributed to that success when Purdy went down,” Chadiha said in his column last week. “The 2021 first-round pick looks much different than he did when he was playing his way out of New England. He’s proving what he can do with better coaching and a better system. He’s also following the same blueprint that helped Darnold, who spent a season in San Francisco as a backup in 2023 before moving onto Minnesota and later Seattle. Shanahan has a strong track record for bringing out the best in his quarterbacks. Jones should be the next journeyman to benefit from all that high-level mentoring.”

The Niners previously suggested that in order for it to trade Jones it would need to see a significant package which all but confirms he will remain in San Francisco for now. But Jones will likely see multiple suitors in the coming months regardless as the quarterback hungry teams look to solidify its offense.