This week’s simulated sketch from CBSSports.com shows the Steelers making a big shift on the board to arrest Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.
Why not, right? He drove the Alabama Crimson Tide until the 2020 College Football Playoff. And if Ben Roethlisberger gets cut, the Steelers will be looking for their future quarterback.
If not this year, it will be next year.
Opinions are divided on Jones, and it is a cautionary tale about how much value should be brought to these simulated drafts early in the process.
Here is what CBS said in its article about why Steelers would try to negotiate with Los Angeles Chargers in choice 11 of choice 24.
“… The Steelers are looking for their next QB franchise and will have to negotiate to obtain it. Two decades ago, Jones, a traditional pocket drawer, would have been a choice among the top 5. In 2021, it will be less valued than the more athletic QBs in this class, but it will have a chance to be just as good, if not better. “
Note that “less than the most athletic QBs … two decades ago”. We’ll get back to that. In the meantime, I have some other ideas about this theory.
As of now, I don’t think you would have to skip 11 positions to catch Jones. If the Steelers really want it, it may still be available in the 1920s. But I suppose that quarterbacks tend to gain traction as draft day approaches. And sometimes teams get itchy on the trigger when it comes to crafting them.
Frankly, I don’t care when teams do that for a quarterback. If you are fully convinced that a player is in that crucial position and wants him in 24th place and thinks someone else can grab him before you, switch to get him. And pay a lot to do that.
You’re assuming the guy will be your next defender in the franchise to replace Big Ben, right? The cost shouldn’t matter.
So, the concept of screwing the plate, I understand. I co-sign that mentality.
But, if it’s me, and we’re talking about Jones specifically, I’m not entirely convinced. I am not convinced that he is a first-round player, much less is it worth going up to get him.
I loved him in college. How could you not? And I understand why some people make comparisons with Joe Burrow. He was number 1 on the LSU general team last year and was having a great debut season before suffering a knee injury.
Like Burrow, Jones was a championship quarterback at a major SEC school. This year indicated that he has a better arm than those who doubt it. He has a good head on his shoulders in his pocket. And he is accurate. A 77.4% completion rate and a 41: 4 tap to intercept rate show this.
He’s an inch or two smaller than Toca, however. He is 5-10 pounds lighter. And he is perceived as less agile to fiddle with his pocket or escape from it.
As NFL analyst and former offensive NFL striker Geoff Schwartz told NBC Chicago, when discussing the idea of the Bears swapping for a quarterback, Schwartz criticized Jones. And much of his analysis had to do with the aforementioned lack of mobility.
“Mac Jones, I don’t see how good I am in the NFL,” said Schwartz. “I think we are seeing a new version of the quarterback that must be mobile. Mac Jones is not mobile. I think we look at how their wide receivers are open in Alabama – Tua (Tagovailoa, colleague from Alabama) is having this problem in the NFL – they are not open in the NFL. You have to open them. You have to say, ‘OK, it is not open now, but if I throw the ball now, it will be open then.’ That anticipation, you don’t have to do that in Alabama. You don’t have to anticipate, these guys are very open.
“I’m concerned about Mac Jones’ mobility and his ability to play in tight windows when it’s not perfect.”
I co-sign all of that too. As USA Today’s Doug Farrar pointed out, Alabama did everything it could to minimize Jones’ need to play on the go.
And if the Steelers offensive line requires as many quick pitches as it did last year while undergoing a rebuilding process, the Steelers had better wait to put Jones behind five blockers who are in the realignment stages of being patched.
Not to mention the continued absence of a complementary racing game.
In February, making a simulation sketch to excite Steelers fans is easy. But it’s like betting on the total over / under the goal for the Penguins’ postseason opening two months in advance. Especially this year, when we don’t even know if the Penguins will make it to the playoffs. Let alone who they are playing.
There are many variables, such as training, negotiations, free agency decisions and off-season injuries to form a real board.
People do it anyway. And occasionally, I see that it is worth talking about the thought process that it may take to get a particular player, especially a quarterback.
If any of you are on the “Mac Jones Express” – and my email and Twitter feed indicate that many of you are – this dialogue at least serves a purpose today.
Not so much in the cause and effect of “A simulation draft says the Steelers are preparing Mac Jones, so expect that to happen.”
Instead, it is to keep the conversation going if the Steelers should be interested in Jones to begin with. And exchanging for him is really worth it.
For now, I would say no to both.
Tim Benz is an editor on the Tribune-Review team. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets can be posted again. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.
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