Steelers Draft: Ranking the quarterbacks of the 2021 NFL Draft
By Tommy Jaggi
Tier 4: High floor, low ceiling NFL starter
Mac Jones, Alabama
Mac Jones has been a steady riser all throughout the 2020 college football season and through the Senior Bowl practices. It’s not hard to see why so many people believe that Jones could be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
From a tools standpoint, Jones is clearly limited. He doesn’t have anything close to an elite NFL arm and his ability to escape the pocket and make plays with his legs is never going to end up on a highlight reel. However, he was arguably the best pocket passer in the nation this year and he is extremely accurate in the short and intermediate-range – able to hit his receivers in stride without skipping a beat.
Unfortunately, limitations are going to prevent him from being an upper-echelon quarterback at the next level, and he could prove to have a similar career path as a player like Andy Dalton. Jones is the first real option for the Steelers and it’s possible that he could fall to pick 24. The question is do you take a guy at the quarterback position without a lot of upside?