{"id":264099,"date":"2026-04-12T15:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T15:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/264099\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T15:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T15:35:08","slug":"nfl-expert-predicts-career-revival-for-49ers-qb-mac-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/264099\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Expert Predicts Career Revival for 49ers QB Mac Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can San Francisco 49ers<\/a> quarterback Mac Jones emulate the heroics of Sam Darnold and win a Super Bowl just two seasons after playing second fiddle to Brock Purdy? Or can he win one at any point given his current situation?<\/p>\n

Jones has been heavily linked with potential trade deals since the 49ers\u2019 offseason began.<\/p>\n

Hypothetical scenarios have been floated left and right, but no move has materialized so far. The 49ers appear intent<\/a> on keeping him through the second year of his contract and would reportedly demand a high draft pick if they were to consider moving him.<\/p>\n

So when his contract expires at the end of the 2026 season, the likelihood of Jones leaving will increase<\/a> considerably.<\/p>\n

Mac Jones tipped to become a starter elsewhere after 2026 NFL season <\/p>\n

“As much as we rave about the job head coach Kyle Shanahan did to lead the injury-plagued Niners to the playoffs, we shouldn’t understate how much Jones contributed to that success when Purdy went down,” wrote the NFL’s Jeffri Chadiha<\/a>. <\/p>\n

“The 2021 first-round pick looks much different than he did when he was playing his way out of New England. He’s proving what he can do with better coaching and a better system. <\/p>\n

“He’s also following the same blueprint that helped Darnold, who spent a season in San Francisco as a backup in 2023 before moving onto Minnesota and later Seattle. <\/p>\n

“Shanahan has a strong track record for bringing out the best in his quarterbacks. Jones should be the next journeyman to benefit from all that high-level mentoring.”<\/p>\n

Jones enters the 2026 season after producing some of the best football of his career while filling in for Purdy during the 2025 campaign. Despite playing behind an injury-riddled roster and dealing with injuries himself, he still delivered several impressive performances. <\/p>\n

Jones started nine games and appeared in 11 overall, throwing for 2,151 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also recorded a career-high passer rating of 97.4, highlighting his efficiency when given the opportunity.<\/p>\n

Working under head coach Kyle Shanahan has also played a role in Jones\u2019 development. Shanahan is widely respected for his offensive creativity, which has helped several passers thrive. His scheme emphasizes timing, play-action, and quick decision-making, giving quarterbacks a structure that can maximize their strengths and efficiency.<\/p>\n

If he lands in the right organization and builds on his recent performances, a career resurgence similar to Darnold\u2019s is certainly possible. <\/p>\n

However, if Purdy remains fully healthy throughout the 2026 season, teams may overlook the role Jones played in keeping the 49ers in playoff contention during the 2025 campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Can San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones emulate the heroics of Sam Darnold and win a Super Bowl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-264099","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-san-francisco","9":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","10":"tag-san-francisco-news","11":"tag-sf","12":"tag-sf-headlines","13":"tag-sf-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}