Former NFL head coach doesn’t rank Trevor Lawrence as his top quarterback
June Jones isn’t backing down, the former NFL head coach doesn’t rank Trevor Lawrence as his top quarterback in April’s NFL Draft. Instead, the offensive guru thinks that Alabama’s Mac Jones is the best quarterback available in April.
(And June Jones doesn’t even have Lawrence as his second-best quarterback either).
Lawrence has been the consensus top pick after leading Clemson to the national championship in 2019. With a polished game and a Heisman trophy on his resume, it seems a foregone conclusion that he will be heading to the Jacksonville Jaguars with the No. 1 pick.
But June Jones, who is a former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and interim head coach of the San Diego Chargers, disagrees and is doubling down on his take that Lawrence isn't the best quarterback in this draft.
“I would rate Mac Jones first...nobody will have rated at this him in this position but off games I have studied I believe that five years down the road this will prove to be the case,” June Jones told SportsIllustrated.com’s NFL Draft Bible. “He is best in this class, his accuracy is superior to anybody I have watched. He can move well enough in the pocket even though he is not really a runner.
“He can move and make plays with his arm. Very, very good on deep balls. [I] believe he will get drafted in the middle to late first round.”
Beyond his time in the NFL and as a coordinator, June Jones was also an offensive innovator during successful stops in college as head coach at Hawaii and SMU. Last season, he coached in both the XFL and The Spring League.
Currently, he is offering a certification course via CoachTube.com on the ‘Run & Shoot Offense.’ The certification course is a one-of-a-kind keep dive utilizing the virtual platform as a way to provide the coach’s unique offense to a broader platform of instruction.
As for the rest of the quarterback class, June Jones has BYU’s Zach Wilson second overall followed by the aforementioned Lawrence. Ohio State’s Justin Fields, an early Heisman front runner is next as his fourth-best quarterback.
On Wilson, June Jones likes “His ability to throw from the pocket and make plays when pocket breaks down; he can run and move but is a natural NFL pocket passer.”
He adds that “his accuracy is again very good” and that Wilson “also has good size.”
As for Lawrence, June Jones isn’t bashing the heralded quarterback prospect as much as he sees some areas where the former Clemson star will need to continue to better and improve his game.
“Trevor Lawerence - I do not have rated as high...his accuracy on vertical passes I think needs to improve. He was least accurate of Jones and Wilson on passes over 25 yards,” June Jones said. Receivers had to work more for the ball if they did catch it.. [The] kid has proven he can lead and win but the offense he runs is not a typical NFL system so he will have a lot to learn.”
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