Alabama QB Mac Jones Declares for NFL Draft
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama redshirt-junior quarterback Mac Jones announced on Thursday afternoon that he will forgo his senior season with the Crimson Tide and has declared himself for the NFL draft.
"I'm up here and I can't begin to thank enough people for helping me get to where I am today," Jones said. "In coming to Alabama, I set out so many dreams, goals and aspirations and so many great people have helped me achieve a lot of those goals. In coming here I wanted to be named the team captain. I was fortunate enough to do that. I've been on teams that have won national championships — contributing this year to that and then watching my freshman year and supporting my teammates — and that's something that I'll never forget.
"Without further ado, I would just like to announce that I am declaring for the NFL draft. There's a lot of work to be done and like I said I can't thank enough people and I'm always thankful for Alabama. Roll Tide."
While Jones still has two seasons of eligibility left due an additional year being added across college athletics as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, his draft stock arguably increased more in his final season at Alabama than any other Crimson Tide player.
Jones finished the 2020 season with 311 completions of 402 attempts — a completion percentage of 77.36. He also threw for exactly 4,500 yards as well as 41 touchdowns while only throwing four interceptions the entire season.
Jones also finished the season with an overall quarterback rating of 203.06 — the highest in college football history.
"I think we're the best team to ever play," Jones said following the Crimson Tide's 52-24 victory over Ohio State in the College Football Playoff National Championship. "There's no team that will ever play an SEC schedule like that again. At the same time we're just so happy to have won this game and kind of put the icing on the cake.
"There was not a lot of pressure. We just wanted to go out there and play the game we've been playing since we were all five years old. We did that really well. I think you just have to give credit where credit's due with everybody."
Jones enters an NFL draft with several other key quarterbacks. Justin Fields of Ohio State — who Jones faced off against in the 2021 national title game — is also expected to declare for the draft in addition to Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence. Kyle Trask of Florida and Zach Wilson of BYU are also top candidates that will give Jones some competition in the upcoming draft.
The draft is currently slated to take place on April 29-May 1 in Cleveland, Ohio.
