Alabama Tight End Miller Forristall Not Surprised by Mac Jones' Success
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Through six games of Alabama football’s 2020 season, you’d have to be living under a rock as a college football fan if you hadn’t heard of Crimson Tide redshirt-junior quarterback Mac Jones.
So far this season, Jones has put together a resume that has him in talks for the Heisman Trophy. Leading Alabama to 6-0, Jones has amassed 2,196 yards and 16 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He leads the nation in yards per attempt with 12.4 yards per pass and is also ranked second in completion percentage at 78.5 percent.
After Tua Tagovailoa suffered his season-ending hip injury last season and left the team for the NFL, many fans began to question who would be the starting quarterback for the Crimson Tide in 2020. While some were in the Jones camp, many were also advocating for Bryce Young, a five-star dual-threat quarterback who at that point had seen nothing but time on the bench since coming to Tuscaloosa.
For Jones’ teammates at Alabama, though, they seem to have nothing but confidence in Jones.
On Monday, redshirt-senior tight end Miller Forristall sent a message to those who ever had doubts about his quarterback.
“Mac came in as a little white kid, three-star recruit from Jacksonville,” Forristall said. “So automatically, you get put off. He came here not a big name and everyone just assumed he would get rolled over by the list of big names. Bryce Young has done a fantastic job, I’m proud of the way he has developed and continues to grow and will be a great player, but Mac Jones is an elite passer and will continue to grow in the way he prepares. He’s transformed himself into a really, really good player. You don’t see the intangibles from the outside, and you also don’t see how a guy’s gonna develop. Those are things that are kind of hard to tell.”
Jones indeed came into Alabama as the underdog. With the combined star power of Jalen Hurts and Tagovailoa, combined with Young on the bench, most believed that those three quarterbacks would be the order of succession, skipping Jones entirely.
So far in 2020, though, Jones has proven that his name belonged in the conversation the entire time.
To Forristall, Jones’ success doesn’t come as a surprise in the slightest.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Forristall said. “I know it surprises a lot of people especially on the outside. I don’t want to call all you guys out but I know a lot of people didn’t see that from Mac Jones and we have for the past two or three years the way he’s worked and prepared and turned himself into one of the premiere football players in the country. I’m proud of him, he’s going to keep working and we’re excited to see what else he can do.”
After two weeks off due to a bye week and Alabama’s game against LSU being postponed because of COVID-19 concerns with the Tigers, the Crimson Tide now sets its sights on Kentucky this coming Saturday. Jones was once a commit to the Wildcats before flipping to the Crimson Tide.
On Monday, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said that while he is disappointed that Jones didn’t ultimately choose him and the Wildcats, he is happy to see what Jones has done at Alabama.
“We did recognize Mac early on in the process,” Stoops said. “Coach [Darin] Hinshaw and all of us watched him early, and we were impressed. We felt like there was a bright future for him, and he’s certainly proven us right. We wish he was here, but we still really love Mac, his family. A great young man. It’s really good to see him doing so well and playing at such a high level. He’s been so accurate. I wish he was here, but I’m happy for Mac.”
During Jones’ recruitment, many doubted him due to his size. Weighing in at 180 pounds at The Bolles School, Jones was far from the largest recruit on teams’ watch lists.
Forrstaill joked about how skinny he remembered Jones being when he first arrived in Alabama, but said that the quarterback’s high standards helped him overcome that hurdle and put him in the position as one of the nation’s best.
“I remember him being really skinny,” Forristall chuckled. “Skinnier than I was, and that says something because I was skinny. I just remember [him] being small and undersized but a very hard competitor even on the scout field. He was always yelling at himself because he wanted to be so good — be holding himself to such a high standard.
“That’s something that really sticks with me and I think it’s led to his development being such the player that he is now just because he holds such a high standard for himself. Not only in the way that he plays but in the way that he leads, he earned the respect of a lot of guys early from that.”
With respect now earned from both his teammates and the fans, the sky is the limit for Jones as he and his Crimson Tide heads into the final stretch of the season. Skinny or not, the quarterback who was once glanced over by fans has come a long way since being forced to fill the shoes of one of the biggest names in college football in Tagovailoa.
Not too shabby for a three-star, huh?
