Alabama’s Mac Jones has flew up the draft boards after his sensational Junior season. Jones won the Manning award to finish off his career at Alabama, an award given to the top quarterback in the nation.

Before the season started, Jones was not even looked at as a first round prospect, but after impressive play, he is currently sitting at QB #3 on most mock drafts.

Highlights/Pro Day

Junior Season Stats

Jones led the Crimson Tide to a National Championship with an unreal stat line for the season. He thew for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, completing an astounding 77.4% of his passes. He won the Manning Award as well as came in third in Heisman voting.

Strengths

Mac Jones made some unreal throws this year. What differentiates him from the other quarterbacks in this class is that his arm was his ticket to the league, due to the lack of athleticism. He’s a pure thrower of the football. His accuracy is great on the deep ball and always the puts the ball in places where his receivers have the chance to make a play. Jones is also very smart with the football, he doesn’t take any unnecessary chances. Along with his arm and IQ, he has good size. He is 6’3″, 215 lbs, but looks more like 230 when on the field, which is a good thing.

Weaknesses

As stated earlier, Jones is not an athletic quarterback. He doesn’t move very well outside of the pocket, so he will have to be surrounded by a good o-line and receivers that get open quickly to succeed in the NFL.

Even though it didn’t seem like it watching him play, but there are some mechanic issues Jones has to work on. He doesn’t get his legs into throws, which limits his arm strength. He also has average release quickness, which can haunt him against NFL pass rushers.

Comparison and Draft Projection

Comparison – Matt Ryan

Draft Projection – Round 1, Pick 9 (Denver Broncos)

I’m not buying the Mac Jones at 3 rumors. The 49ers are not going to pass up a talent like Justin Fields. I do see Jones as the number three quarterback off the board in front of Trey Lance, though. The Broncos have a plethora of weapons, including his former teammate Jerry Jeudy. Drew Lock has been a huge disappointment for the Broncos thus far and I can see them moving on from him this year.