To be fair, there is some evidence for his personality being dynamic: Jones was reportedly ejected from a game as the coach of a sorority flag football team, and was nicknamed “McEnroe” by Alabama’s coaches because of his penchant for losing his temper. The only place he is described as “dynamic” is on his personal website, where the word is used in reference to Jones’s personality, not to his athleticism or throwing ability. Jones, a former three-star recruit, was supposed to be the bridge from Tagovailoa to Young. Jones’s successor at Bama is Bryce Young, a five-star recruit who is universally considered the top quarterback in the 2020 class. They won the national championship game in January 2018 behind Tagovailoa, a former five-star recruit who’s now the starting quarterback for the Dolphins. The Crimson Tide made the national championship game in January 2017 behind Jalen Hurts, a former four-star recruit who’s now the starting quarterback for the Eagles. While the program long had a reputation for conservative, game-manager-type quarterbacks, it’s come to embrace dynamic playmakers at the position. Jones even seems to defy Alabama’s recent quarterback trajectory. The Great QB Gold Rush Has Created Two Different NFL Draft Experiences Zach Wilson’s Transformation From Draft Afterthought to Headliner He had just 42 rushing yards in his entire college career. Jones led the FBS in completion percentage last season, but he certainly isn’t mobile. And it’s in part because he represents the exact type of prospect who NFL teams seem to be moving away from. That’s in part because “Mac” is short for “McCorkle,” Jones’s middle name. Athleticism has never been more valuable at the position: Just about every pro quarterback who excelled in 2020 was capable of gaining yardage by either running the ball or throwing while on the run.Īnd so the wheel has turned again, to the point where it’s now become funny that Alabama’s Mac Jones is considered a top prospect in the 2021 draft class. Justin Herbert had the best rookie season of any quarterback in the 2020 class, despite being drafted after two of the most prolific college passers of all time (Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa). Josh Allen-a massive, mobile man-mountain-has emerged as the best quarterback from the 2018 draft class, and seems close to being the best quarterback in the NFL, despite generally underwhelming at Wyoming. 1 a year later.īut recently, these types of accurate young quarterbacks have been outplayed by toolsy, more athletic players who may not have produced great stats on campus. Then the Cardinals took 5-foot-10 quarterback Kyler Murray at no. The idea of a quarterback with Mayfield’s body type going first seemed unthinkable until the Browns actually selected him. 1, the Browns took 6-foot-1 former walk-on Baker Mayfield with the top pick. Just over a decade after Russell went no. Over the past half-decade or so, NFL teams began to recognize this bias and seek out quarterbacks whose statistical profiles suggested that they could make accurate passes. Yet oftentimes those quarterbacks would fail to cut it in the NFL, and would be surpassed by smaller, weaker-armed, more accurate players. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell as the biggest-bodied, strongest-armed prospect imaginable. For years, traditional draft wisdom was to seek out big-bodied, strong-armed passers, with an emphasis on physical traits over statistical success let’s cite 2007 no. It feels like there have been two 180-degree shifts in how NFL teams draft quarterbacks, leading right back to where we started.
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