By: Jadarius McCoy
Mac Jones (Quarterback #10)
6’3 215 lbs
22 y/o Redshirt Junior University of Alabama
Games watched: ARK (‘19), AUB (‘19), MICH (‘19), FLA(‘20), AUB (‘20), GEO (‘20)
Summary:
Mac Jones is from Jacksonville, Florida, and attended The Bolles High School. He was a three-star recruit in 2017 and was ranked the 399th recruit nationally by 247Sports. He received offers from Boston College, the University of Kentucky, Baylor University, and Arizona State University. He committed to the University of Alabama in June of 2016.
Jones spent his freshman season as a redshirt designation and received his first taste of action in 2018, where he appeared in 14 games, eight at QB, and others on special teams.
After a season-ending injury to starting QB Tua Tagovailoa, Mac Jones began to four games in 2019 and finished with 1,503 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Jones became the starter in 2020, where the Redshirt-Junior led the country in passing yards with 4,500. Jones also amassed 42 total touchdowns and four interceptions. Jones finished 2020 as a Heisman and Maxwell award finalist and won the Davey O’Brien Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
He declared himself eligible for the 2021 NFL Draft on January 14th, 2021.
Strengths:
- Good placement on throws
- Solid deep-ball
- Excellent pocket awareness
- Moves efficiently in pocket
- Good at touch and passes with velocity
- Does not usually put the ball in danger; just seven career INTs
- Throws usually on schedule; rare late throws
Weaknesses:
- Throws suffer on the run and off-platform
- Not a great athlete as a runner
- Wind-up elongated with velocity throws
Conclusion:
There is no doubt that Mac Jones benefited from the wealth of talent on Alabama’s roster. However, no matter how talented his cast may be, the QB still needs to take care of business on his end, which Jones did.
His pocket awareness and movement are right up there with the best QBs in the class, and when he has the opportunity to set his feet and throw, Jones is at his very best. He played within Steve Sarkisian’s offense exceptionally well and did not make many mistakes.
Teams may be concerned with how well he moves in general, though. He is a pocket-based QB. Throws on the run are not a strength of his. His inability to go off-script makes him less appealing than the other top-5 QBs in the class.
Jones has started a full season in his collegiate career, which may cause some concern amongst scouts and front offices. He will not have the natural athletic ability that other QBs fall back on as a second option.
To hit the ground running, Jones needs to go to a team that has a solid foundation already, especially on the offensive line, with a solid core of receivers who can get separation quickly.
Teams that best suit him will likely be picking outside of the top 15. If he goes to the correct situation, he could see a much faster start to his NFL career than all of the QBs that will go before him.
Average performance grade: 91.9 / 100
Overall Grade: 5.0 (starter in 1-2 years)
