Patriots: 3 things Mac Jones must do to steal job from Cam Newton

2. Throwing on the Run

If there’s one thing that separated Jones from the other highly-touted QB prospects in his class, it’s his lack of ability to make plays outside the pocket.

If you watch film on Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance or Justin Fields in college, their athleticism is so obvious that you’d think they prefer making throws on the run.

Mac Jones’ athleticism could prove crucial in the Patriots’ QB competition.

Jones is a different story, as he’s more of your old-school pocket quarterback, a category that features guys like Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, Jared Goff and Jimmy Garoppolo. All those signal callers  have been to a Super Bowl (some more than others), so there’s no reason to think Jones can’t flourish at the professional level with limited mobility.

However, the first-round selection will only be harder to game plan against if he adds this dimension to his game. While we aren’t asking Jones to transform his entire style of play, establishing an ability to throw on the run will help him beat out Newton.

It might be tough for Jones to improve this in one offseason when he’s already tasked with learning the Patriots’ playbook, but even small steps would make all the difference.