Patriots QB Mac Jones Has Yet to Reach His ‘Max’ When It Comes to Arm Strength
To paraphrase the words of Taken’s Bryan Mills (portrayed by Liam Neeson in the 2008 thriller), it takes a "very particular set of skills" to make a successful quarterback in the National Football League.
Accuracy, anticipation, footwork, pocket presence, athleticism, decision-making and mental toughness are all necessary to even be considered for elite status.
After only one season under center, New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is well on his way to becoming proficient in many, if not all, of these areas.
Well, all but one … according to some.
One of the most aesthetically pleasing traits possessed by the top-level QB is arm strength. While it may be enough to delight both fans and armchair analysts alike, the "arm" has always been considered to be more of a physical gift than a refined skill. In other words, some would have you believe that those who have a strong arm are born with it. Those who don’t, simply reach their maximum potential after only one year of pro-level experience. They will count the milliseconds of hang time on a given throw as evidence of one quarterback’s prowess, while using the same argument to deride another’s ability to complete the deep pass.
For the quarterback blessed with the rocket arm, throwing the deep pass is a key element of his repertoire. Simply put, "It ain’t no thang but a hot wing." They make it look easy, which it is assuredly not. Make no mistake about it, no one is lessening the importance of arm strength. It is a great quality to possess, and the strong-armed passer deserves the praise which inevitably follows from the throws he makes to showcase it.
However, if another quarterback falls just short of connecting on a would-be touchdown, should it become enough to condemn him to a mediocre career, throughout which said player will eternally carry the label of "rag arm"?
According to one of the top minds in quarterback development, it certainly does not.
In fact, in his estimation, arm strength and velocity are skills which can (turns up the volume for those in Western New York) actually be increased and refined.
Before dismissing House’s opinion, rest assured that he knows that of which he speaks. He began his career as a Major League Baseball pitcher for eight seasons from 1971-1978 for the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners.
Following a brief stint as a pitching coach, House turned his attention to training. He became the co-founder (along with former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Adam Dedeaux) of 3DQB; a training institute designed to inform, instruct and inspire quarterbacks to maximize both physical and mental potential for in-game competition. During his time with 3DQB, House has become a highly recognized arm specialist, coaching not only some of baseball’s most prominent pitchers, but also an impressive collection of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Andrew Luck and Alex Smith, just to name a few.
If Jones should become the next player on that list, he certainly will be in good company.
Following the Patriots’ decision to release Cam Newton at the conclusion of training camp last summer, Jones performed well at the team’s helm in his rookie season. He led all rookies with a 67.6 completion percentage and a 92.5 passer rating, while compiling 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns. He completed at least 70 percent of his attempts in nine games and twice threw for 300-plus yards. Jones was the centerpiece of a rookie class that was chosen as the best in the NFL this past year by Pro Football Focus. The Alabama product also was selected to the PFWA's All-Rookie team along with teammate Christian Barmore.
However, Jones clearly had his struggles down the stretch. He was less accurate, made more rookie mistakes and had difficulty when defenses were able to adjust to take away his preferred routes and targets. The rookie’s arm strength also became the subject of some criticism, most notably following the Pats’ Week 13 victory over the Buffalo Bills. In intensely windy conditions, Jones would finish the night 2-of-3 for only 19 yards. Instead, the Patriots opted to ride the run, rushing for 222 yards on 46 carries, paced by Damien Harris and rookie Rhamondre Stevenson.
While the Pats’ decision to stick with the running game was mostly due to Buffalo’s inability to defend it, the "hot take sharks" salivated at the thought of, “They don’t trust Mac" narratives, pointing to Jones’ arm being too weak to cut through the high winds of Western New York.
Jones’ arm strength once again was called into question in the wake of his first-quarter pass attempt to receiver Nelson Agholor in the Pats’ wild-card round playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills in January. The would-be touchdown was intercepted by Bills safety Micah Hyde in a dynamic effort by the talented Bills defensive back. The take is compounded by the fact that Bills quarterback Josh Allen hit receiver Emmanuel Sanders on a nearly identical play, with Allen completing the touchdown with a deep pass into the end zone.
Though some will malign Jones for being physically unable to make the throw, it should be noted that the speed with which Hyde reached his target, as well as the ball skills he displayed when making the play, were among the best you will see on an NFL field. Comparing Jones’ arm to Allen’s is admittedly a mismatch, which no one would argue. However, Jones’ throw was enough to hit Agholor in stride for what was a sure-fire touchdown, had it not been for Hyde’s play.
Arguments such as those mentioned above have led to the narrative that Jones simply does not possess the required arm to be among the league’s top-flight quarterbacks. Though that narrative has been greatly exaggerated, there is an element of truth to the fact that Jones’ arm strength may have played a role in the Patriots’ conservative play-calling in 2021, especially in the cold weather months.
Here is where House’s expertise may be exactly what the Mac ordered.
Despite the questions surrounding Jones’ arm, House believes the Patriots quarterback has great potential for becoming a stronger passer. It is a sentiment which he shared on NBC’s Patriots Talk podcast with Tom Curran in January. Though he described Jones as an “efficient, accurate” passer, House sounded confident that his training could provide the young quarterback with greater velocity, arm speed and distance. His training can provide Jones with the full-body mechanics necessary to increase both his power and velocity.
“From what I know about dealing with quarterbacks and pitchers, when they show up, very few of them have maxed out their genetic capacity to throw,” House said. “I don’t know the farthest that Mac has ever thrown a football, but I guarantee you we can train him to do it. We can re-pattern and retrain his delivery to handle consistent 60-yard throws if necessary … I could look Coach Belichick in the face and say, ‘If you need him to throw five 60-yarders this game, he can do it for you.”
Earlier this year, House further fueled speculation about potentially working with Jones when he informed the masses about working with "someone new."
Among those who "liked" the tweet was Mac Jones.
Although their collaboration has yet to be confirmed, Jones would benefit greatly from House’s tutelage. As for the Patriots, NFL Network’s Mike Giardi previously reported that the team would "welcome" the two sides working together. Still, whether Jones enlists House’s services or not, the Patriots quarterback will continue to regularly maintain his poise, his focus, and his drive to constantly improve.
Those qualities will continue to make him the ideal steward of New England’s timing-based passing game, predicated on vertical routes and completions from quick, accurate throws. His performance in 2021 provided palpable hope of a bright future for New England at the quarterback position.
In what should be a comforting thought for the Patriots and their fans, no one seems to realize the amount of work required to improve more than Jones himself. As ESPN’s Mike Reiss indicated in his most recent Sunday notes column, those surrounding Jones in recent months "describe him as being on a mission -- from following a disciplined diet to focusing on full-body fundamentals that will help him get more pace on his throws when needed, arm-care maintenance, as well as strengthening bonds with teammates on and off the field."
Therefore, and contrary to some popular belief, New England reasonably can be optimistic about the potential of their 23-year-old quarterback. While he may never rocket the ball the length of the field, Jones possesses enough of the intangibles to make him a formidable force among a talented group of quarterbacks in the AFC. He is still developing, and is not there yet. However, from his offseason approach to 2022, thus far, he appears focused on improving his game in all ways, and at all costs. Any belief to the contrary may be a bit of wishful thinking from his (or perhaps the team’s) most apprehensive rivals.
