CINCINNATI — Former Bengals cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones popped on The Pat McAfee Show this week. He dove into why Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes are a cut above the rest of the NFL’s quarterbacks.
The in-game independence sets those two apart for Jones.
“I just said that he don’t call out the line protection,” Jones said explaining why Justin Herbert is not in that class of quarterbacks. “He don’t know who the mike (linebacker) is, and for a guy to be the quarterback, he need to be setting all those protections. When I went and watched him this summer he didn’t do any of that. The center did.”
Burrow entered the league as a dynamic weapon with audibles at his disposal, while Mahomes has built that pre-snap part of his game up to a great level.
It’s a stretch to say Justin Herbert “doesn’t know who the mike is,” three seasons into his NFL career, but the passer is already starting to lag behind his peers in terms of career accomplishments.
Everyone is chasing Mahomes right now, as the AFC continued to run through Arrowhead Stadium in the 2023 Playoffs.
