Top 10 quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft

CFP Semi-final at the Allstate Sugar Bowl - Clemson v Ohio State
CFP Semi-final at the Allstate Sugar Bowl - Clemson v Ohio State

#5 2021 NFL Draft Prospect: Mac Jones (Alabama)

6' 3", 215 pounds; RS JR

Mac Jones
Mac Jones

A three-star recruit in 2017, Mac Jones did pretty darn well filling in for Tua Tagovailoa over the second half of 2019, completing just over 70 percent of his passes with an average of 11.6 yards per attempt and 11 touchdowns, compared to two interceptions in his four games as a starter.

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He especially shone in Alabama’s bowl game versus Michigan, when he went for over 300 yards and three TDs, with no picks. Last year, he beat out another five-star recruit in Bryce Young and put together a season for the ages, which nobody expected.

Jones set NCAA records for completion percentage (77.4%) and (college) passer rating (203.1) throwing for 4500 yards and 41 touchdowns, compared to only four interceptions, while averaging 11.1 yards per attempt in 13 games. He lit up some of the top defenses in college football against Georgia, Texas A&M and finally Ohio State in the national title game, while finishing second behind only his top receiver Devonta Smith in the Heisman voting.

While he did have to wait his turn, Jones took full advantage once he got a chance. He has a pretty quick release, which fits well with Alabama’s screen- and RPO-heavy offense, where he could get it out to his playmakers and let them go to worst. However, he is at his best on those rainbow deep balls and he also excelled on touch throws to layer the pass in-between zones.

On passes of 20+ yards last season, Jones went 33-of-56, including 17 touchdowns and a nation-leading 25.4 yards on average per attempt, as well as an FBS-best 1355 total yards off those. I think Mac’s arm is much better than it gets credit for, always pretty much throwing a perfect spiral and he made a lot of pro-level throws. He is extremely consistent and sharp with his footwork, anticipates throwing windows and let’s the ball go, so it arrives there right on time, rather than when he sees the receiver enter it.

What I really appreciate from a technical standpoint is how he always follows through accordingly. He displays some beautiful ball-placement, in order to throw receivers open, while minimizing the risk, with a bunch of them over the top of a trailing defender, perfectly in stride or with some loft on it, to allow the target to elevate on passes right over the helmet of the opponent.

Something that is routinely underrated about Jones is when he has a receiver open, he does not slow them down and still puts the ball at places where they can maximize yards after catch. Jones does that consistently, and he really takes care of the ball, with only four picks and two fumbles last season. He is also slick with his eyes and head-fakes as he manipulates safeties and opens up seams in the coverage, and he adds in some violent pumps, to sell double moves.

While he won’t blow you away with his athleticism or ridiculous scramble plays, Jones showcases great, subtle pocket movement and the ability to make his linemen look good, or just to buy that little bit of extra time, by sliding or shuffling around. He does not shy away from hanging in there and taking shots, in order to deliver the ball down the field either though.

The former Alabama signal-caller has some of the best cross-over steps, when moving laterally and creating a new platform, while staying in a throw-ready position throughout, and shortening the distance to the target. On the move, he can maintain a tight spiral and lead receivers away from the coverage. And while he might not break off any long runs, he can pick up the necessary yardage on third-and-five or whatever it may be.

For me, it is his processing ability however, which is unmatched in this class – being able to work through progressions like a machine and that’s how I would also describe him as a thrower, with ultra-consistent accuracy. His completion percentage on passes within ten yards was at 85.1 percent.

He recognizes when one of his receivers has a leverage advantage or defenses give too much cushion, as they blitz the original underneath defender and a safety caps over the top or there’s just a late rotation. And he does a great job of making his targets slow down and protect them from hits. You listen to his former offensive coordinator Steve Sarkasian talk about how quickly he was able to install new parts of the offense with Jones.

The way he would learn to master what they do, it makes you feel very good about Jones being able to get him ready to play at the next level as well. And then during Senior Bowl week, you saw that attention to detail, the ability to take information and respond to it, the accuracy and just the command he had once again in that environment with NFL coaches.

However, Jones simply does not have the Howitzer some of the other guys in front of him do and that’s why you don’t seem deliver on power throws as routinely. If you put him next to those other guys or have them all run next to each other, he is not going to look good.

The Alabama QB certainly benefitted from supreme offensive line and skill-position play around him, with guy streaking wide open behind the defense at times, while having a Heisman Trophy wide receiver. But more importantly just barely getting pressured. Steve Sarkisian schemed open receivers for easy YAC throws on mesh concepts and screens more so than any team in the country.

Jones might have had 1000 yards alone off just waiting and dropping the ball off over the middle on shallow crosser, with what Devonta Smith and others did after the catch, and he was second to only Trevor Lawrence with just 600 yards off screens. Smitty also bailed him out a few times, by working back to the ball aggressively and wrestling the ball out of the hands of a defender.

Mac Jones clicks his heels a little too much and a times you see him end up throwing the ball with his feet planted to the ground and not aimed at the target, when he comes back to his outlets. Overall, he gets to his checkdown too quickly at times, not allowing something to develop first.

I never thought this would be the case for such a vanilla guy like Jones, but he has been overhyped this offseason. At his pro day, you saw him underthrow some of those deep balls – which you also see a few times on tape. And there are some balls that nose-dive in front of receivers on out routes from the opposite hash.

While it had to be mentioned, especially when it comes to elite protection, I don’t really get how the main negative for Jones is that he had so much talent around at the skill-positions, when compared to Tua a year ago, he really only had one of the four first-round receivers for the majority of games, considering Jaylen Waddle broke his ankle four weeks into the season.

For me, it’s much more about the lack of elite physical ability, compared to the big four. I believe Jones is kind of in a tier of his own, as a fringe-first round pick, with plenty of separation to the next name. His ability to process information pre- and post-snap, the consistent accuracy and the ability to run an offense effectively will make him a long-time quality starter.

He doesn’t have that kind of talent to create on his own and save an offense, when the original play breaks down. I thought him potentially being the third overall pick is pretty crazy, but I’d have no problem if a team brought him in with a pick in the mid-to-late first round, which already had a lot of pieces on the roster.

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Edited by Bhargav
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