- Watched: Georgia Tech (2016), North Carolina (2017), Miami (2018), Georgia Tech (2018)
- Pros:
- Won’t make people miss, but he can pick up yards with some straight-line speed when needed; ran a lot of read option at Duke; I’d guess he runs between a 4.80-4.85.
- Steps up in pocket when pressure comes from the edge
- Shows flashes of looking off safety on deep ball
- Shows ability to go through progressions
- Almost always gets the ball out just as his target makes their cut
- Aware of his hot route
- Not afraid of pressure coming up the middle; will stand in and make a throw or try to side-step them
- Toughness; had surgery on a fractured clavicle and returned in 9 days
- Calls adjustments at the LOS
- Can definitely understand why people say he’s been well-coached; seems like he has the right plan on almost every play
- Cons:
- Just average physical tools; average mobility, average velocity, average ball placement, etc.
- Tends to underthrow deep ball; ball flutters downfield; doesn’t seem to transfer weight well on his deep ball which might be taking some of the velocity off
- Velocity outside the hashes can sometimes be an issue
- Will not slide when he runs
- General:
- Shotgun/Pistol based offense
- Plays it relatively safe in the short/intermediate game
- Overall Take:
- Pro-readiness: 1st (out of 6)
- Potential: 3rd
- Overall: 2nd
- Number Grade (out of 100): 86
- Daniel Jones is very pro-ready in my opinion; sense of timing for passing windows, making adjustments at the line of scrimmage, recognizing blitzers off the edge and identifying his hot read, going through progressions, a willingness to make subtle movements within the pocket and make throws even when a hit is coming; it’s all there. It’s apparent that he’s been very well-coached and while I’m still in the process of charting passes for everyone else, I’m confident that the timing on his throws will rank towards the top of this draft class. His ball placement was generally adequate to all three levels though he seemed to struggle throwing go routes the most; often underthrowing them and giving coverage a chance to get back into the play. Finding a perfect NFL comp for him proved to be quite difficult. He’s sort of a blend of different QBs: he possesses the arm talent, timing, and ball placement of someone like Eli Manning in my opinion. However, he tends to play it much safer as a passer than Eli generally has in the NFL and he also brings mobility to the field that Eli never possessed. Physically, there are a lot of similarities to Carson Wentz too, though I don’t think Jones offers the upside that Wentz had coming out of ND State. If Jones can iron out his deep ball some more and maybe improve his arm strength a little bit, I could see him developing into a very good starter.
- Most Likely Comp: 2018 Eli Manning (with some mobility)
- Peak Comp: Matt Ryan
Draft QBs 