When Will Mac Jones Be Taken in 2021 NFL Draft? His Over/Under Opens at 18.5
- A prop wager is asking when Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Mac Jones will be selected in the 2021 NFL Draft
- The bar for his overall selection has been set at 18.5
- Former NFL QB Chris Simms believes that Jones is the third-best QB in this draft class
When it comes to Mac Jones and his NFL Draft status, some football pundits butter him up. Others, though look to stick a knife in Mac in terms of his pro prospects.
Jones turned in monster stats in 2020 as he led the Alabama Crimson Tide to the national championship. Yet NFL talent evaluators are all over the map when it comes to assessing the viability of Jones as an NFL quarterback.
Is Jones the real deal, or is the team that reels him in on draft day going to land themselves a flop? Oddsmakers seem as uncertain on this issue as the player personnel staffs that will be making the selections.
Jones is currently pegged at 18.5 in the NFL Draft odds in terms of a prop wager on when he’ll be selected. Bettors will access odds of -112 whichever way they play this action.
Mac Jones 2021 NFL Draft Position Odds
| Total | Over Odds | Under Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 18.5 | -112 | -112 |
Odds taken on Mar. 5th at DraftKings
The first round of the NFL Draft is slated to get underway at 8pm EST on Thursday, April 29th. It will be broadcast by ESPN.
Big Mac Attack
There’s no disputing that Jones put up numbers for Alabama last season. He passed for 4,500 yards, completing 77.4-percent of his passes (311 of 402). Jones tossed 41 touchdown passes against a paltry four interceptions. His passer rating was an off the charts 203.4
Critics are quick to point to his lack of mobility in an era when NFL teams seem to lean more and more toward QBs who can get the job done equally with both their legs and feet.
The Jones doubters also cite the quality of players he was surrounded with while at the helm of the Crimson Tide offense.
The pro-Jones camp notes that both of his predecessors at the position in Alabama – Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins) and Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles) – will enter the 2021 season as NFL starting QBs. Each of them also found plenty of naysayers who questioned their ability to be productive performers at the pro level.
A More Mobile Brady?
The latest NFL comparison to Jones comes from ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. He’s citing Jones as a more mobile version of seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady. While it’s true that Jones isn’t exactly fleet of foot, the same could be said of Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and yes, Brady. John Unitas wasn’t exactly gifted with elite athleticism and he’s in the Hall of Fame.
Tua with all the praise for Mac Jones🐐 pic.twitter.com/70BFhnTcD7
— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 1, 2021
There is a constituency of NFL scouts who are convinced that what Jones lacks in raw physical tools he more than makes up for with an Einstein-level of football IQ. Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy, a former New England Patriots scout, was another willing to draw the Brady parallels after watching Jones up close during the Senior Bowl.
Like Brady, Jones was limited in terms of college reps. He was only a full-time starter for one season. Brady kept developing and evolving as he arrived to the NFL, and many top football minds believe that Jones will do likewise.
Keeping Up With Jones
When is Jones going to go? That depends upon where you’re putting your stock in terms of draft experts.
ESPN’s Todd McShay projects Jones going ninth overall to the San Francisco 49ers as heir apparent to Jimmy Garoppolo. Kiper suspects that Jones will go at #8 to the Carolina Panthers.
For a QB—it’ll always be better to have a fast mind than fast feet. @MacJones_10 may not be “fast” but he plays that way… pic.twitter.com/Bm1VvB1Vro
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) March 1, 2021
Simms, considered the best QB scout among the current NFL media – believed that Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson were better prospects than Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, and he’s been proven correct in that assessment – slots Jones in as the third-best QB prospect in the draft. He’s certain that Jones will be a top-10 selection on draft day.
A year ago, there were similar debates over Tagovailoa following his season-ending hip injury, and he went third overall.
Expect Jones to go sooner rather than later.
Pick: Under 18.5 (-112)
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
