Mac Jones has been one of a few quarterbacks connected to the New England Patriots one month prior to the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback seems to be a potential target due to where the Patriots are set to pick, No. 15 overall, in the first round. It wouldn’t be crazy to think the Patriots may even need to trade up to select the 22-year-old, either.
Well, NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah fielded questions from reporters Tuesday after Jones and the Crimson Tide hosted their first of two Pro Days. Jones committed to throwing in both of said Pro Days, despite the fact more of his skill position teammates weren’t participating in the first one.
Jeremiah agreed with that strategy and shared plenty of insight on the potential Patriots target.
“In terms of what I saw, he moved around well. He’s an above-average athlete. He’s not a poor athlete,” Jeremiah told reporters on a video conference. “He doesn’t have a ton of twitch and horsepower to be someone that’s going show out in this type of a setting. There’s some guys you watch where the ball really jumps out of their hand or you see some really dynamic movement. I don’t really think that’s how he plays the game. So, this is not going to accentuate his best qualities in a Pro Day. He was fine. He was consistent and it was kind of what you would expect. But in golf terms, he’s not going to win the driving range. That’s not him.”
Jones has been praised for his football knowledge and decision-making ability.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he’s got good feedback on what he’s done because that’s everything you hear when you talk to the guys at Alabama — just how, not only how smart he is, but how football smart he is, conceptually (he) gets stuff,” Jeremiah said. “… So that doesn’t surprise me at all.”Â
Jeremiah also explained that while other quarterbacks in the class — Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, BYU’s Zach Wilson, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance — are looked at from the outside as the top four signal-callers available, that not every team has the same order.
“In terms of climbing up, he’s already there for some teams,” Jeremiah said. “He’s not No. 5 for every team. He’s up a little higher for some whether that’s No. 3 or whether that’s No. 4 kind of depends. But I think you’re going to see a different order for some of these quarterbacks no matter who you talk to. You’re going to get a lot of variance.
“Mac has his teams,” Jeremiah continued. “He’s going to have teams that feature what he does really well and are going to really, really like him.”
We’ll have to wait and see if the Patriots feel that way when the 2021 NFL Draft kicks off April 29.
