Dreaded 'sophomore slump' claims Mac Jones as next victim

The dreaded "sophomore slump" came for Mac Jones this season. Next year, the Patriots QB will look to start a new trend: the "junior jump."

A promising rookie season that led to a wild-card appearance gave way to a difficult second year in the league for the former Alabama Crimson Tide QB.

A statistical look at his two seasons shows no discernible dip in production other than in one category. He's thrown touchdowns on 2.3 percent of his pass attempts this season after throwing them on 4.3 percent of pass attempts in 2021. 

His interception rate (2.6 percent) is comparable to last season's (2.5 percent) while he's completing 68.2 percent of his passes this year as opposed to 67.6 percent in 2021.

For the vast majority of the season, however, Jones has looked like an inferior version of the one who took the field a season ago. Instead of looking more comfortable operating the offense, he looks more unsteady. He took 28 sacks on 549 plays that resulted in either a pass attempt or a sack last year. On 331 such plays this season, he's been sacked 26 times.

It might be unfair to put the onus solely on Jones after head coach Bill Belichick made the decision to have Matt Patricia and Joe Judge — two coaches with little offensive backgrounds — coach the offense. 

Patricia was an offensive assistant and assistant offensive line coach during his first two years in New England. From 2006-2017, though, he exclusively coached on the defensive side of the ball and then was head coach in Detroit from 2018-2020. The Lions were 13-29-1 during that span.

Judge coached special teams and wide receivers in 2019 for New England. Other than that, he built his name as a special teams coordinator except for the one season he coached linebackers at Birmingham-Southern College in 2008. He was then the New York Giants head coach from 2020-2021 and recorded a record of 10-23.

As little help as he's getting from the coaching brain trust, there's also reason to believe Jones is suffering from a lack of help on the field. His offensive line ranks 23rd in adjusted sack rate, per Football Outsiders, showing the uptick in sack rate this year isn't all on Jones misdiagnosing defensive coverages and blitzes.

The team lacks premier talent at the skill positions, with wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and running back Rhamondre Stevenson representing the team's best options. Both are solid contributors but aren't the elite playmakers seen on the league's top teams.

A reconfigured offensive coaching staff and upgrade at the playmaker position could be the antidote to Jones's lackluster 2022. There's no reason to give up on him now. He may have been doomed from the start.