| PRO Former NFL head coach, June Jones, says Trevor Lawrence is not his favorite QB prospect in the 2021 NFL draft.

[RTB Twitter Bot]

June Jones, the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and San Diego Chargers, has watched many of the top quarterbacks available for the 2021 NFL draft. He hasn't seen them all. But he's seen enough of Lawrence to be less smitten with the overwhelming favorite for the No. 1 overall pick to know that if it was Jones' pick at that spot, he'd be cooking up some other plans.

"Hey, I do like him. But I would not take him with the first pick, though," Jones told Yahoo Sports by phone from his home in Honolulu. "Everyone is saying that’s the guy at 1. But I would trade that pick and take one of these other quarterbacks down the line."

The two quarterbacks he prefers? Well, one is by now nearly a household name — at least among those dialed into the NFL draft process. BYU's Zach Wilson, who could be the second overall choice to the New York Jets, is higher on his pecking order than Lawrence.

But Wilson isn't Jones' No. 1 QB prospect this year. He's got Alabama's Mac Jones up top.

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Why so high on Mac Jones?
No, it's not just a surname thing. June Jones believes Mac Jones — who started a mere 17 games at Alabama — is the best quarterback prospect in this class because of his downfield accuracy.

Many evaluators Yahoo Sports have talked to have lamented Mac Jones' lack of dual-threat ability. He's simply not a scrambler of any note, and his athletic traits (including raw arm strength) almost certainly will grade as average to below-average compared to other prospects in this class and the NFL's upper-tier QBs.

But June Jones doesn't see it that way.

"Mac's deep-ball accuracy is probably the best that I have graded in my years of coaching quarterbacks," June Jones said. "He’s almost at 55 percent at over 20 yards, which is unbelievable."

 

[Crimson&WhiteGecko]

I just don't understand how Mac isn't getting the focus of the draft because of his accuracy. And he dissected defenses ALL season long better than any QB I have EVER seen. That includes Manning. But because T Lawrence is big & fast he is taking all the attention away from Mac.

I really think Mac is going to be the steal of the draft by FAR.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

I just don't understand how Mac isn't getting the focus of the draft because of his accuracy. And he dissected defenses ALL season long better than any QB I have EVER seen. That includes Manning. But because T Lawrence is big & fast he is taking all the attention away from Mac.

I really think Mac is going to be the steal of the draft by FAR.

.
Very possible.... and all that stuff....is important...accuracy...arm strength...diel threat..
But...
So is leadership..attitude...control in huddle... respect....being a winner
Mac has all that ....and more...
TL will be a beast-in nfl......dont know about Wilson.... Mac will do well with right team...
please..just say no to Jets...other such

 

[bama alum]

I just don't understand how Mac isn't getting the focus of the draft because of his accuracy.

If I was clever enough to photoshop, I'd put Sunshine's face in this meme.

 

[OldPlayer]

How good of an NFL coach was June Jones? Where is he coaching today?

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

It appears that most in the NFL are in the group that says "no way can #10 be as good as he played". The Saints might have to make a decision to call Mac's number. I hope Mac goes with a warm weather team or an indoor team.

 

[Elderfalsedemigod]

Bookmark this one along with the others I’ve posted. Mac will be a better pro QB than Sarah Jessica Lawrence or Fields

Mac is a better QB than either of them right now. I didn’t watch the kid from BYU enough to have an opinion so I am not including him

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Bookmark this one along with the others I’ve posted. Mac will be a better pro QB than Sarah Jessica Lawrence or Fields

Mac is a better QB than either of them right now. I didn’t watch the kid from BYU enough to have an opinion so I am not including him

So bookmarked.....
i think,....Mac will get a better team....will not be an immediate starter....will have. Anice career...
But..thought same thing about AJ.... ( who is knocking down nice bucks being a backup)

 

[TerryP]

How good of an NFL coach was June Jones? Where is he coaching today?

I don't see what that has to do with his evaluation of a quarterback.

I just don't see the relevance when we're talking about a former NFL quarterback, a former NFL quarterback coach, a former NFL head coach (and CFL,) and a guy who has had some very good quarterbacks in his college coaching days. There's a question about him giving an evaluation on a players ability? When Saban was hired Jones was considered the best non-BCS coach in college football.

The guys in his run and shoot offenses have always been accurate; that's his point here, is it not?

 

[BamaFan334]

I'm dying to know what Justin Fields, Trey Lance, and Wilson from BYU have shown that Mac hasn't. Atleast Lawrence has size on his side.

Fields is up and down and really is the beneficiary of good players around him and no competition.

Lance, poor guy is being built up like crazy playing small time competition and all of this with basically a year off. Jamie Newman can let you know how that feels after the Senior Bowl rust.

Wilson is a solid option, but competition has to be a concern.

Mac has shown he can play at the highest level, with efficiency, and win. he may not be the most mobile guy ever, but he's not a duel threat and limits his mistakes compared to most projected ahead of him.

 

[c5vetman]

No one has played better against better competition than Mac. Trevor's numbers are not awe inspiring, even against those pee wee teams in the ACC. The BYU kid hasn't played against teams as good as ACC teams, and still had slightly less prolific numbers than Mac did. I never watched him play except agains Coastal Carolina, and he lost.

I know everyone will say look at who Mac was throwing to, but can you say that the NFL doesn't have good receivers? That's a joke of an argument. Trevor's biggest advantage is his height and ability to run away when everything breaks down. I think he'll be snapped like a twig in the NFL when he takes off and runs. Ask Joe Burrow what he thinks of running around now...

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

Everyone wants Fields because he can run around. Then he launches a shit pass or gets sacked but they believe he will suddenly learn in the NFL. He will be hot garbage and a waste of the #4 pick when the Falcons go with him.

They want Lawrence because he looks like the prototypical QB. But they don't want to admit that he can't throw past a few yards without the receiver needing to be a gymnast. He does have teachability though. Maybe. Assuming he doesn't have his head up his ass.

Mac could easily do better than both of them in the NFL, but he needs a team with a decent line, a few receivers, and a scheme that uses the RB in the passing game. Those are things all NFL teams really should have, though some don't.

 

[alabama mike]

It is going to be interesting to see how the draft plays out at QB.

 

[OldPlayer]

I don't see what that has to do with his evaluation of a quarterback.

I just don't see the relevance when we're talking about a former NFL quarterback, a former NFL quarterback coach, a former NFL head coach (and CFL,) and a guy who has had some very good quarterbacks in his college coaching days. There's a question about him giving an evaluation on a players ability? When Saban was hired Jones was considered the best non-BCS coach in college football.

The guys in his run and shoot offenses have always been accurate; that's his point here, is it not?

I'm saying that he has never had a lot of success and therefore I wouldn't take his evaluation too seriously. He was a system coach (the run & shoot) that could rack up stats. He was 112-84 (57%) in college and 41-50 (47%) in the pros (NFL, CFL, XFL).

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy he thinks Mac is better, but I don't think his opinion has much weight.

 

[ElephantStomp]

I’m not saying this because of crimson colored glasses (I didn’t and still don’t think Tua is the NFL star people were saying, I view him in the almost AJ category), but eliminate everything else with the top QBs in the draft and Mac is the best field general (making the reads) of all the QBs and it’s not even close. I also believe passing the ball Mac just might be the best there’s been in years. He puts the ball where it needs to be damn near every throw.

 

[TerryP]

I'm saying that he has never had a lot of success and therefore I wouldn't take his evaluation too seriously. He was a system coach (the run & shoot) that could rack up stats. He was 112-84 (57%) in college and 41-50 (47%) in the pros (NFL, CFL, XFL).

His evaluation skills are based on his winning percentages? 57% overall in college, 65% at Hawaii. Do we just leave the point he took over a SMU program who had won less than 20 games the 10 years prior to his arrival? (I think the total was 17 wins which he was on shy of after three years with the Mustangs.) We're going to hold his eval skills up for question using the Atlanta Falcons in the mid-90's as the leading indicator?

QB's can't rack up stats in his system unless they are accurate quarterbacks who can hit downfield patterns. He's proven his QB's can do such; the ones he recruited.

Your opinion, I get that. What it's based on seems skewed from my view.

 

[c5vetman]

Say what you want about June Jones, but he always had a potent offense. That was never his problem anywhere.

 

[OldPlayer]

His evaluation skills are based on his winning percentages? 57% overall in college, 65% at Hawaii. Do we just leave the point he took over a SMU program who had won less than 20 games the 10 years prior to his arrival? (I think the total was 17 wins which he was on shy of after three years with the Mustangs.) We're going to hold his eval skills up for question using the Atlanta Falcons in the mid-90's as the leading indicator?

QB's can't rack up stats in his system unless they are accurate quarterbacks who can hit downfield patterns. He's proven his QB's can do such; the ones he recruited.

Your opinion, I get that. What it's based on seems skewed from my view.

SMU was still suffering from the death penalty. Yes, he got them winning games, but never more than 8 in a season and finished with a record of 36-43 (<46%). His best QB at Hawaii was Colt Brennan who was drafted in the 6th round by Washington and let go two years later. From there he bounced around the Oakland Raiders (just over a month), Hartford Colonels (United Football League) (just over 2 months before the league shut down the team's operations), Saskatchewan Roughriders (about 3 1/2 months), and LA Kiss (Arena Football League) (just over 4 months). He was a system QB and never really produced after college (although, to be fair, he was in a car accident and apparently suffered a TBI in 2010).

All-in-all, not a high level of QB success or overall winning.

 

[JoseyWalesTheOutlaw]

How good of an NFL coach was June Jones? Where is he coaching today?

The NFL burial ground for good coaches is large. Nick even has a plot.

 

[TerryP]

SMU was still suffering from the death penalty. Yes, he got them winning games, but never more than 8 in a season and finished with a record of 36-43 (<46%). His best QB at Hawaii was Colt Brennan who was drafted in the 6th round by Washington and let go two years later. From there he bounced around the Oakland Raiders (just over a month), Hartford Colonels (United Football League) (just over 2 months before the league shut down the team's operations), Saskatchewan Roughriders (about 3 1/2 months), and LA Kiss (Arena Football League) (just over 4 months). He was a system QB and never really produced after college (although, to be fair, he was in a car accident and apparently suffered a TBI in 2010).

All-in-all, not a high level of QB success or overall winning.

Timmy Chang, who still holds NCAA passing records today, is another example of his QB's. He had that kid nicknamed "Rolo" who threw for eight or nine TD's against BYU. He was a solid guy as well.

As mentioned earlier his offenses were always on point; starting with and ending with his QB's play. Which leaves me just as I was, lost on your reasoning.

If a team has good offensive production which is based solely on QB play—as the run and shoot is—how can one say "not at a high level?" To me, that's a lot like saying Dillon Gabriel isn't a good QB because his team lost four games last season. Do we judge Brodie Croyle on his NFL career? On the 2004 season? On his overall wins and losses? Look, I'm not a big fan of Brodie for a number of reasons but if I used the same criteria on him that wouldn't be a fair shake, right?