Getty QB Mac Jones of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts after a touchdown
Would Alabama quarterback Mac Jones be a solid selection for the Chicago Bears in the draft this April? Based on a few of the latest articles and mock drafts shared by Bears analysts, he’s a viable and feasible option.
Nicholas Moreano of the Chicago Audible thinks Chicago should take a swing at Jones, and Adam Jahns of The Athletic has him falling to the Bears in the second round in a recent mock draft. Chicago currently has the 20th overall pick, and while some feel the Alabama quarterback may not ultimately be first-round material, others think he could definitely go in the first round — and lately, some very comparisons have been tosses his way.
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Kiper Compares Jones to Tom Brady
ESPN senior draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. had a beyond flattering comparison for Jones late last month, noting how well the young signal-caller picked things up at the Senior Bowl:
I hate to say, but he kind of has a little bit of Brady in him,” Kiper said, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “I’m not saying he’s ever going to be Tom Brady. He wouldn’t be close, probably. But he has that competitiveness, and he’s so smart — he picked that offense up [at the Senior Bowl] like it was nothing. Other quarterbacks were struggling with the verbiage and — ‘boom!’ — he was in and out of the huddle quicker than anybody I’ve ever seen. Then he sees the field. He’s tremendously accurate to all levels. He doesn’t have the ‘wow’ arm, like Brady didn’t either coming into the league. And like Brady, he’s not real mobile, not a runner. But biding time, slipping and sliding, he did it in the championship game. So there are some similarities there.
While Kiper’s comparison is clearly a reach, he does have a point — Jones is intelligent, and is is incredibly accurate — but those traits can only take him so far in the NFL. Kiper isn’t the only one who has compared Jones to a legendary quarterback, though.
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Charlie Weis: ‘The Kid is an Excellent Quarterback’
Former Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis is another huge fan of Jones. “What are the two most important components of a star quarterback? They have the ‘it’ factor. And they’re accurate. That’s who he was,” Weis said about the Alabama quarterback, per ESPN.
“You talk about being around good players. Yeah, he was around good players. But playing on a team with a bunch of stars, who is the leader of the offense?” Weis added. “He also had to make all those throws. I think the kid is an excellent quarterback. He has less holes than just about anybody.”
Weis then compared Jones to Brees, who was selected with the first pick in the second round back in 2001.
“He went in the second round because everyone said, ‘He doesn’t take any snaps under center and his arm is not strong enough.’ All he did was play great at Purdue, and complete almost every pass,” Weis said about Brees. “How has that worked out?”
In his senior season with the Crimson Tide, Jones completed 77.4 percent of his passes for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and four interceptions. His touchdown-to-interception ratio is 55-7 over the last two seasons, so those advocating for him can cite those stats as evidence to support their cause..
Whether the Bears take Jones or not remains to be seen, but it’s only a matter of time before the Bears address the quarterback position, and what they do during the draft will be extremely telling in regards to their future plans.
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