Patriots: Mac Jones’ old tweet with Tom Brady’s combine picture is perfect
By Jerry Trotta
The New England Patriots entered the inaugural round of the NFL Draft as a real candidate to trade up for one of the top quarterback prospects.
Most of the latest mocks linked them with Ohio State standout Justin Fields, whose stock had fallen over the last few months, and it looked for a while during the first round that the NFL was going to hand the Patriots a one-way ticket back to supremacy.
When all was said and done, however, the Patriots ended up with Alabama star Mac Jones after the Bears moved up nine spots to No. 11 overall to draft Fields.
This is hardly a consolation prize for New England, as the pre-draft process started with them being linked to Jones.
Fans will be hoping the Patriots found their quarterback of the future, and the early reactions indicate that could be the case. After all, Jones’ intangibles and style of play has drawn comparisons to one Tom Brady, who enjoyed quite the career in Foxborough.
Well, it would appear Jones and Brady have more in common than we initially thought. In a throwback tweet from two years ago that resurfaced following the pick, Jones shared a side-by-side post of him shirtless and Brady’s viral combine photo from 2000.
— Mac Jones (@MacJones_10) January 21, 2019
Patriots fans will love Mac Jones’ old tweet with Tom Brady’s combine picture.
Bill Belichick has a type. What else is there to say?
In all seriousness, it’s actually scary how similar those two pictures are. From the scrawny arms, dad-bod stomach, and overall lack of muscle definition, you’d be hard-pressed to identify any distinct differences other than the color of their hair and facial features.
Getting beyond Jones and Brady’s physical similarities, it’s easy to see why the Patriots were drawn to the Crimson Tide product. Not only were they both deadly accurate coming out of college, but both are your traditional pocket passers.
Everybody knows dual-threat quarterbacks are starting to take over the league — the first three selections were QBs who have wheels to bail them out of tough situations — but there’s solid evidence that proves teams can still win with old school pocket passers.
On top of Brady, you have the Saints with Drew Brees and Falcons with Matt Ryan. Even the Rams went to a Super Bowl with with the limited Jared Goff as their starter. For all his durability concerns, Jimmy Garoppolo has done nothing but win with the 49ers when he’s healthy.
Who knows? The Patriots struck gold (and then some) when they drafted the physically limited and goofy-looking Brady in the sixth round back in 2000. Maybe they’ll end up doing the same with Jones. The only difference is he was drafted 184 picks earlier than the seven-time champ.
