Mac Jones Is Officially A Nominee For NFL's Rookie Of The Year
BOSTON (CBS) -- There was never much doubt that Mac Jones would be up for NFL's Rookie of the Year, but Patriots quarterback was officially announced as one of the six nominees for the award on Friday.
The New England rookie is going up against Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts, and Miami Dolphins receiver Jaylen Waddle for the 2021 Pepsi Zero Sugar NFL Rookie of the Year award.
Jones had quite the rookie season for the Patriots, first beating out Cam Newton in training camp and the preseason to land the job as New England's starting quarterback. The 15th overall pick out of Alabama led all qualified rookies with a 67.6 completion percentage, 3,801 passing yards, 22 touchdown passes and a 92.5 rating this season.
Jones completed at least 70 percent of his pass attempts in nine games to tie Dak Prescott for the most-ever by a rookie, and he became the third rookie quarterback all-time to win each of his first six road starts, joining Prescott and Ben Roethlisberger on that select list. He helped guide the Patriots to a 10-7 record, and is set to make his postseason debut Saturday night in the Wild Card round against the Buffalo Bills.
He has some tough competition though, with Chase the favorite to win the award. The Bengals wideout led all rookies and ranked fourth in the league with 1,455 receiving yards, which was the most by a rookie in the Super Bowl era. His 13 touchdown catches were third in the league, and in Week 17, Chase had 266 receiving yards to set a new single game record by a rookie. He is just one of just five rookies in the Super Bowl era with at least 1,000 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions.
The Rookie of the Year winner will be determined by fan voting, which will take place online at NFL.com and on Twitter. To vote on Twitter, fans need to tweet the first and last name of the player or the player's official Twitter handle along with the hashtag #PepsiROY.
Voting runs through Jan. 31.
