Patriots

Patriots Talk: Would Using ‘Shanahan Offense' Benefit Mac Jones?

Would Patriots using the ‘Shanahan offense’ benefit Mac Jones? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

As minicamp gets underway, all eyes are on the New England Patriots offense.

All signs point toward a change in the Patriots' offensive scheme heading into the 2022 season. With Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia and Joe Judge tag-teaming duties on that side of the ball, New England has put an emphasis on zone-blocking schemes throughout the spring.

Curran: Minicamp will provide first look at overhauled Patriots

If the Patriots indeed are overhauling their offense, Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry have an idea that may benefit second-year quarterback Mac Jones. They discussed on a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.

Patriots Talk: Shades of ‘Shanahan offense’ for Patriots? | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

"If the Patriots are going to jettison their fullback the way they did, and they're going to feature Jonnu Smith, and they're going to do more zone concepts, could the Patriots' simplification be borrowing from the San Francisco 49ers?" Curran asked Perry. "Wouldn't that be something that would be helpful for Mac Jones?"

Given the league-wide success with the Shanahan-style offense, Perry believes it would behoove the Patriots to follow suit.

"I think so," Perry said. "This is what I said when it looked like Jarrett Stidham would be their starting quarterback, you have to make this as quarterback-friendly as you can. And the best example of the most quarterback-friendly offense we know in the modern NFL is the Shanahan-style offense. So whether you're seeing it in San Francisco, or in Los Angeles with Sean McVay, or in Tennessee, or in Green Bay now where Aaron Rodgers has sort of been taken to another level thanks to some of these types of concepts, it's working everywhere. And it's turning somebody like Jimmy Garoppolo, who I think we all would acknowledge is a pretty average NFL quarterback in terms of talent, and turning him into statistically one of the more impressive quarterbacks in football when he's on the field.

"Some of his numbers are outstanding. Why is that? I think it's a lot of scheme, a lot of it is catch and run, a lot of it is surrounding him with good talent. I mean, it turned Jared Goff into a Super Bowl quarterback. ... That offense takes you up a level. ... It would make a lot of sense to me now if they tried to incorporate a lot of that stuff."

Also discussed in the episode: Who called the offensive plays at practice? Shifting Isaiah Wynn and Trent Brown. And early impressions of Mac Jones.

Check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or watch on YouTube

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