Chicago Bears should stay away from Alabama quarterback Mac Jones

The Chicago Bears should steer clear of Mac Jones in the 2021 NFL Draft

The Bears would obviously love to solve their quarterback issues this offseason, but that is not going to be easy. Ideally, general manager Ryan Pace and company would be able to find a true franchise quarterback in the 2021 NFL Draft. However, picking at No. 20 overall makes that an extremely tough task.

There is a group of four clear quarterbacks at the top of the 2021 NFL Draft class. Trevor Lawrence leads the way and he is expected to go No. 1 overall to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Justin Fields, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance also stand out as premier quarterback prospects in this class and the Bears would love to get their hands on any of them. Unfortunately, they will all likely be long gone well before the Bears go on the clock at No. 20.

A trade up for one of those top quarterback prospects should certainly be on the table. Chicago should at least be considering piling some picks together to get in a position to land one of these premier quarterback prospects. That being said, it is much more likely that the Chicago Bears will be deciding whether reaching for the next tier of quarterbacks is worth the investment.

This leads us to Alabama quarterback Mac Jones. Jones is considered by most to be QB5 in the 2021 NFL Draft class and he undoubtedly has a chance to be an impact player at the next level. Jones led Alabama to a National Championship this season and was absolutely incredible for the team all season long.

Through 13 games this season, Jones completed 77.4% of his passes for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and four interceptions. He did a great job of spreading the ball around the field and letting the impact playmakers in the Alabama offense do their thing.

Jones is an extremely smart quarterback prospect who reads the field well and rarely makes a poor decision. He is also accurate at all three levels of the defense and showed the ability to push the ball down the field well this season. Jones does not have elite arm talent but he does throw a pretty deep ball and can hit outside throws into tight spaces when needed.

The biggest knock on Jones as a quarterback prospect is his lack of mobility. In today’s NFL, the most successful quarterbacks can move inside and outside of the pocket and create plays with their legs. If nothing else, it is key to have a guy who can at least maneuver in the pocket and create extra time.

Jones’ limited mobility is a concern and that is what makes him such a poor fit for the Chicago Bears. This is not to say that a pocket passer cannot be successful in the modern NFL but pairing those guys with a strong offensive line is the key. Right now, the Bears simply do not have the proper talent up front to allow a young pocket passer the chance to be successful. Jones would be a sitting duck in the pocket with the Bears and their inability to protect him would likely stunt his development.

While Jones has a chance to be a successful NFL quarterback, it is extremely unlikely that success would come in Chicago. The Bears need to nail their first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and putting Jones in this situation would just be asking for trouble.