Chicago Bears NFL Draft: Mac Jones may be the best option

Mac Jones offers a lot to like to the Chicago Bears

My first exposure to Mac Jones was watching him fill in for an injured Tua Tagovailoa during last year’s Citrus Bowl. Alabama ranked 13th at the time, took on 14th ranked Michigan. In his very first series, on his very first offensive play, in only his fourth career start, Jones did something that would portend things to come in 2021.

In a scoreless game, Jones dropped an absolute dime in the hands of a streaking Jerry Jeudy who took it the rest of the way for an 85-yard touchdown.

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In 2021, Jones has continued to demonstrate his superior ability to throw the deep ball. In fact, in my estimation, no one in college football — including Trevor Lawrence — throws a better deep pass than Jones.

In fact, Jones is one of the most accurate, if not THE most accurate passer in college football. It’s primarily what I think separates him from Trask in the second-tier. While Trask’s statistics are impressive, a deeper review of him reveals he is quite average to below average in almost every category. In other words, there isn’t one or two things he does exceptionally well.

Jones, on the other hand, is spectacularly accurate. Prior to his game this past Saturday, he had the third-highest accurate pass percentage according to PFF at 71 percent. All he did on Saturday was go 18/26 for 302 yards and 5 touchdowns, so expect him to remain where he is when the updated rankings come out. Speaking of rankings, his play has earned him PFF’s second-highest QB grade behind Zach Wilson.

Interestingly, the two biggest knocks against Jones seem to be his arm strength and supporting cast. While he does not have the strongest arm, it is certainly strong enough to make all the necessary throws. The question will be whether it’s strong enough for the poor weather conditions of Chicago. That remains to be seen.

As for his supporting cast, while it’s true he plays with superior talent, no one held that against Joe Burrow when he played with the best supporting cast in the NCAA last season. In addition, regardless of the talent around you, you still have to execute, and that’s where a deeper review of his film is critical. Jones’ ball placement is phenomenal to the point that even with less separation from his wide receivers, he would still be executing at a high level.

Needless to say, the latter criticism doesn’t concern me, though the arm strength is definitely something that’ll need to be monitored. Assuming his arm strength checks out as he goes through his pro day and the combine, he’d be a terrific fit for the Bears, and here’s why: