Pros and Cons of Lions Drafting Quarterback Mac Jones
The Detroit Lions are among the teams that could select a quarterback in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
If the Falcons decide to select a position other than quarterback at No. 4 overall, the Lions could be facing one of the tougher decisions with their first selection.
Do they select a quarterback, wide receiver or address one of the many needs on defense?
"If Mac Jones is sitting there, Mac Jones is -- he’s a surgeon," ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said Wednesday. "He probably, of all these guys as we sit here right now, probably cause of the offense he’s coming out of, he probably processes as quickly as anybody that’s coming out in this draft.”
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According to many draft analysts, Jones could be the selection of the San Francisco 49ers at pick No. 3.
Recently, it has been reported that the 49ers' front office is not in total agreement as to which quarterback should be drafted to replace Jimmy Garoppolo.
Former Lions running backs coach Kyle Caskey spent time with Jones last month to aid in his draft preparation.
"This guy, he’s sharp, now," Caskey said via the Detroit Free Press. "He doesn’t have the Matthew Stafford arm to him, I get it, but not a lot of them do. I think the mental side of this kid is, as long as he stays humble and where he’s at right now and wants to learn, I think he’ll be fine. Cause he’s been asking me if I wanted to Zoom again and I’m like, 'You just tell me, we’ll Zoom any time.'“
One of the traits that left Caskey impressed was Jones' ability to read NFL defenses and his intelligence.
Based on the abilities that Jones brings to the table, the ex-Lions assistant believes it won't be long before the quarterback is starting in the league.
"Really, the guy is one of the smarter guys that I’ve been around at this point in his career," Caskey said. "He knows languages within different systems and he’s spitting out different teams’ offenses. He knew, when I would bring up these crazy blitzes that we had to pick up in the NFL and I would show him video, he would diagnose quite a few of them.
"Once he gets into a system and he knows, that’s my language, I think he’s going to be pretty good right off the bat. If he does end up having to sit behind somebody, it won’t be for very long."
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