Mac Jones

Mac Jones Scouting Report

  • Watched: Texas A&M, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State
  • Pros:
    • Capable of making full field reads.
    • Gets the ball out quickly, sometimes even too quickly for my liking.
    • Throws with anticipation more than most.
    • Moves the defense with his eyes.
    • Numerous examples of leading his receivers into space.
  • Cons:
    • Doesn’t have the fastball in his arsenal; some throws will be off the menu for him.
    • Not a pinpoint accurate passer, lower accuracy percentage than his peers despite a shorter and easier diet of passes.
    • Doesn’t change arm angles to fit his throws around the defense, resulted in a decent number of passes batted at the line.
    • Has a tendency to throw off his backfoot or fade away on his throws, which often leads to his vertical throws coming up short.
  • General:
    • Vast majority of his snaps are in shotgun or pistol.
    • Offense features a ton of motion, particularly jet motions with the WRs.
    • Doesn’t make adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
  • Overall Take:
    • Pro-readiness: 5th (out of 8)
    • Potential: 7th
    • Overall: 6th
    • Number Grade (out of 100): 76
    • There’s been a lot of buzz about Mac Jones in the lead up to the draft, with rumors running rampant that Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers traded up to #3 to select him. Shanahan is undoubtedly a good coach, and if that ends up coming to fruition, I think he can succeed with Mac, but for me, he’s a 2nd or 3rd round prospect. One of my main mantras when it comes to QBs is that the last thing I want is to be stuck paying an average or below-average starter 20+ million. So for me, it generally boils down to trying to project them a few years down the line and deciding whether or not I can envision being comfortable giving these prospects a contract after their rookie deals are up. Maybe Mac will surpass my peak expectation and end up being one of those guys that you’re happy to pay, but I just don’t see it personally. There’s flashes of him moving safeties with his eyes or throwing the ball before his WR has even thought about throttling down that get me excited, but at the end of the day, he doesn’t have the arm strength I’m looking for and doesn’t throw with accuracy consistently enough to make up for it. Like Mitch Trubisky or Andy Dalton, if you put the right team and coach around him, I think there’s a pretty good chance that he ends up being a guy that can start while you keep an eye out for an upgrade.
  • NFL Comparisons:
    • Most Likely Comp: Poor Man’s Andy Dalton
    • Peak Comp: Brad Johnson