Would Mac go before Lance in re-draft? Here’s what scouts say originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The first round of the 2021 NFL Draft will be the topic of much debate for many years because five quarterbacks were selected in the first 15 picks.
The Jacksonville Jaguars chose Trevor Lawrence with the No. 1 overall pick. He was followed by the New York Jets taking Zach Wilson at No. 2, the San Francisco 49ers selecting Trey Lance at No. 3, the Chicago Bears picking Justin Fields at No. 11 and the New England Patriots going with Mac Jones at No. 15.
Through the first 10 weeks of the 2021 regular season, the results for most of these quarterbacks have been disappointing.
How would the order of quarterbacks taken change in a hypothetical re-draft? Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer recently talked to a few scouts and shared some interesting results.
“Somebody asked me a question about how the quarterbacks would go if they were re-drafted. So I reached out to a handful of scouts — this wasn’t like some sort of scientific poll. I got a pretty strong consensus,” Breer said Wednesday on 98.5 The Sports Hub show “Zolak & Bertrand.”
“Trevor Lawrence would definitely still go first, and then the second quarterback to go would be between the guys taken fourth and fifth. Unanimously, the scouts that I talked to said if you re-drafted right now, the Jets would probably take Justin Fields, but Mac Jones would be the other guy in the equation.
“I just think it’s interesting that this early you’re hearing — because normally you would hear scouts say, well, we haven’t seen enough and everything else. I’ve heard from enough scouts where it was like, yeah, the first quarterback would still be Lawrence, but the second quarterback to go, it would be between Fields and Jones now.”
“I’ve heard from enough scouts where it was like, ‘the first QB would still be Lawrence, the second would be between Fields and Jones now’.”
Albert Breer shares with @ZoandBertrand what he’s heard from NFL scouts on changing perceptions about the ‘correct’ 2021 QB draft order 👀 pic.twitter.com/hQ1Po3FlYr
— NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) November 17, 2021
Given the way Jones has played through 10 games, it’s hard to fault anyone who would consider him the No. 2 or No. 3 pick in a re-draft.
Jones has been the best rookie quarterback by far. He leads all rookies with 2,333 passing yards and 13 touchdowns. His 69.0 completion percentage ranks fourth among all QBs. The poise and composure he shows in the pocket is rare for a first-year player.
So, while it’s very early to judge the entire 2021 quarterback draft class, it might not be long before several teams regret taking a chance on Jones.