Debates continue to surface on Twitter, in terms of Mac Jones and Bryce Young.
Many fans want to see Jones prove he can lead the Alabama football program to a national championship, while others believe it is time to embrace the future and look at Young.
Football is the main thing people want this fall, but an interesting perspective on Jones was brought up on Monday via In My Own Words.
Brent Beaird, a college football analyst for First Coast News, joined yours truly of Touchdown Alabama Magazine and said Jones will be one of the top three quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference this season.
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Prior to his arrival at Alabama in 2017, he was a four-star at The Bolles School and won a couple of championships.
“What Mac has done coming from Bolles is… he came from a championship pedigree program,” Beaird said. “He was under the late Corky Rogers, arguably the greatest high school football coach in the history of Florida. Jones comes from a program that was used to winning. He started as a game manager when he was there, but he was really able to improve as his career went along.”
After being in the shadows of Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, Jones played in 12 games last season – including four as the starting quarterback. He filled in admirably for an injured Tagovailoa and led the Tide to a pair of 40-point games versus Arkansas and Auburn.
He accounted for two 300-yard passing games (Auburn, Michigan) and tossed at least two touchdown passes in all four starts.
Jones threw for 14 touchdowns to three interceptions; however, it has been difficult for him to get the respect from fans.
“I think Mac can lower his shoulder and get some crucial yards,” Beaird said.
“I think he’s got a much better arm than what people give him credit for, unfortunately people look at the picks at Auburn but he completed almost 70 percent of his passes.”
It is great to be valued by Nick Saban, but Beaird said more than Alabama’s head football coach has taken interest in Jones.
“I talked to a couple of NFL beat writers, who cover the draft and who are also very familiar with Jones and Alabama, and what they told me was that Mac has a lot of the tangles and intangibles and they both said beyond a shout of a doubt that he if he decided to come out, that Mac would be invited to the Combine,” he said.
“They did not hesitate; they did not stutter. They said if he wants to come out, he would get a chance because he’s got the intangibles and the tangibles that you need to be a good quarterback in the NFL.”
He came from a winning program and during interviews last year, Jones made it clear that he is about winning.
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The redshirt junior is just as competitive if not more than Saban, and this is why Jones has earned his trust. In terms of quarterbacks coming back to the Southeastern Conference, Beaird named Jones, Kellen Mond (Texas A&M) and Kyle Trask (Florida) as his top three.
Even with that, Beaird said Jones can hold his own against the other two.
With the exception of Tagovailoa coming off the bench in 2017, Alabama has won its national championships with a “game manager” at the quarterback position. Jones is not only bigger than the term, but he also has a swagger about himself. Fall camp and the college football season cannot get here fast enough. It will be exciting to watch what Jones will do in the fall.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
