For a second straight season, a previously unheralded quarterback is taking the SEC by storm.
Last year, former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow ripped apart the record books en route to winning the Heisman Trophy and leading the Tigers to a national title. Through six games, Alabama quarterback Mac Jones is taking a similar path, passing Trevor Lawrence as the Heisman front-runner while leading the No. 2 Crimson Tide to a 6-0 start.
Two weeks ago, FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt made waves when he questioned whether Jones could pull a “Joe Burrow 2.0.”
Two months ago, such a comparison would have been quickly waved off. Now, it’s beginning to hold some weight.
On paper, Jones is actually exceeding Burrow in several passing categories so far this season. The Alabama quarterback leads the nation averaging 12.4 yards per attempt while his 210.32 passer rating is higher than all quarterbacks who have played in at least three games. While Jones is still a bit behind Burrow’s pace for passing yards and passing touchdowns per game, those categories are in reaching distance as well.
Joe Burrow 2019
Passing yards per game: 378.1
Completion percentage: 76.3
Yards per attempt: 10.8
Touchdowns per game 4
Interceptions per game 0.4
Passer rating: 201.96
Mac Jones 2020
Passing yards per game: 366
Completion percentage: 78.5
Yards per attempt: 12.4
Touchdowns per game 2.67
Interceptions per game 0.33
Passer rating: 210.32
While the comparison might come as a surprise to most, Jones has been modeling his game after Burrow for months. This offseason, the redshirt junior studied film of the reigning Heisman winner, specifically focusing on his ability to extend plays in the pocket.
According to Pro Football Focus, Burrow led the nation with a 71.4 percent completion percentage on dropbacks in which he took 2.5 seconds or more to deliver the ball last season. This year, Jones has completed 68.6 percent of such passes, the highest completion rate of any passer with at least 150 dropbacks.
That’s a dramatic rise from last year when Jones completed 58.8 percent of his extended throws. The increase in pocket presence has contributed greatly to the right-hander’s success with the deep ball.
Jones has completed 20 of 32 (62.5 percent) of his throws that have traveled 20 or more yards in the air this season, up from 9 of 20 (45 percent) last year. For comparison, Burrow completed 47 of 83 (56.6 percent) of such passes last season.
“I don’t really know much about the statistics of everybody and stuff like that, but it’s definitely helped us a lot," said receiver John Metchie III, one of Jones' main deep-ball targets who leads the SEC averaging 22.28 yards per catch.
Outside of their numbers, the two quarterbacks share similar paths to success. Burrow, who transferred to LSU from Ohio State in 2018, didn’t begin to post big numbers until his redshirt senior season last year. While Jones didn’t take the transfer route, he had to wait his turn behind two eventual Heisman finalists in Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa before finally getting his opportunity to step into a starting role late last season.
Like Burrow, Jones has a loaded war chest at his disposal. Alabama boasts one of its best offensive lines in years, the SEC’s leading rusher in Najee Harris and a deep talent pool at receiver — even after the loss of Jaylen Waddle.
So far, the Tide’s offensive numbers have been on pace with the Tigers’ attack from last year as well. This season, Alabama is averaging 555.2 yards of total offense, compared to LSU’s nation-leading 568.4 yards per game last year. The Tide also leads the nation with 47.2 points per game, slightly under the Tigers’ mark of 48.4 last season.
“Man, I’m watching that offensive line, one of the best offensive lines we’ve seen in a long time,” LSU head coach Ed Orgeron said during the SEC teleconference. “Najee Harris is a great back, skilled wide receivers, a great system. I’ve known Steve Sarkisian all my life, great play-caller. I think they’re on track to have the same type of offense that we had last year from what I’m hearing.”
The obvious omission in Orgeron’s assessment was Jones. The LSU head coach was later asked about the comparison between Jones and Burrow. However, he elected to pump the breaks on some of the hype surrounding the Alabama quarterback.
“I haven’t watched him that much this season,” Orgeron said of Jones. “Let’s see where he takes it. Obviously, Joe took it. (Jones is) a good player, he’s well-coached, and he’s a great-character young man. There’s a lot of good things in him. I think there’s going to be a long time before we see another Joe Burrow around here, to be honest with you.”
Alabama (6-0) has an open date on its schedule this weekend before traveling to Baton Rouge, La. to play LSU (2-3) on Nov. 14. The Tigers rank last in the SEC and No. 98 in the nation in pass defense, allowing opponents 335.2 yards per game through the air.
Perhaps Orgeron will have the opportunity to see another Joe Burrow sooner than he thinks.
