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New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones appears to be running away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year award for the 2021 NFL season. He consistently continues to play well, and his Patriots have had a ton of success this year. Both individual production and team success play a factor in determining the winner of the award, and Jones leads the field in both categories.
Backing Mac Jones' claim to 2021 Rookie of the Year award
#1 - The best quarterback in the 2021 NFL rookie class
Five quarterbacks were selected in the first round of this year's NFL Draft, including Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields and Trey Lance. They have all started games this year for their teams, as has Davis Mills, who was not a first-round pick. The other four first-rounders were all selected before Mac Jones, but Jones is outplaying all of them by a wide margin.
Mac Jones is completing over 70 percent of his passes this season while none of the other first round quarterbacks are completing over 60 percent of their passes. Mac Jones leads all rookie quarterbacks in passing yards, touchdown passes, passer rating and QBR. Jones is also the only rookie quarterback with a winning record this season. The comparison isn't even close right now.
#2 - The best team in the AFC
Not only is Mac Jones the only rookie quarterback with a winning record this season, but he has led the New England Patriots to the best record in the entire AFC. The Patriots enter Week 14 with a 9-4 record and are currently the top seed in the conference. They have the longest active winning streak in the NFL with seven consecutive games, tied for the longest overall winning streak this entire season with the Arizona Cardinals. Mac Jones has thrown nine touchdown passes against just two interceptions during the hot run.
#3 - The Rookie of the Year competition is fading
Mac Jones' strongest competition for the 2021 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year has been Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase. The problem with Chase is that his production has regressed recently, while Jones has improved since the early part of the season.
Chase caught five touchdown passes across his first five games, but had only three touchdowns across his next seven games. In his last five games, he is averaging just 41 receiving yards per game. While Chase looked like a real contender for the award earlier in the season, he is fading backwards.
Mac Jones has emerged as a massive betting line favorite for the 2021 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. He enters Week 14 as a -500 favorite while Chase currently has +350 odds. No other player is better than a +5000 line. The bookmakers agree that Mac Jones is running away with the award.
