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What to take away from Justin Fields’, Mac Jones’ pro days

By

Jacob Hutchinson

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There’s nothing quite like a good pro day. Just pure, unmatched hype, separated from the context of games. You know, games, where players like Mac Jones and Justin Fields have to throw the ball against other defenses.

So, what did we learn on Tuesday, as Jones and Fields held back-to-back pro days? Not much. That may come as a disappointment for those of you hoping to use those performances as a launching point to definitively say it’s one or the other, but it’s the truth.

Mac Jones is goofy and probably just fine

What we saw from Jones was the in-pocket agility to slide and make touch passes. He had a couple egregious overthrows and clearly lacks the elite arm talent that the other top four quarterbacks in this class possess.

In Jones, you’re looking at a guy who had a dad bod, but is affable, well-loved by his teammates (convinced DeVonta Smith to run routes for him), who processes and reads the game efficiently, and is much more of the old school mold of quarterback. The thought process behind drafting him is he’ll do exactly what Kyle Shanahan asks him to do, and he’ll probably do it fine.

He said it himself on Monday.

“At Alabama, I just did whatever coach [Steve] Sark[isian] wanted me to do,” Jones said. “And if another team wants me to run zone read or do something like that, I’ll do that. So I’m willing to do whatever.”

A month (or a few) ago, Jones was seen as something like a third-round prospect, maybe a late first rounder. Then it was a likely first-rounder. But teams are desperate for quarterbacks, and all of a sudden, he’s a lock to go in the top 10.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, there is legitimate buzz about Jones going in the top five. However, he thinks number three may not be exceedingly likely.

“Number three? Most of the people I’ve spoken with that seems a little high, but not that high where it couldn’t happen,” Rapoport said. “The buzz of him going real early is is legit and based on the conversations I’ve had with head coaches and general managers, they really do view him as a 10-year starter in the NFL.”

The best part about Jones’ pro day came at the end, when he ran a play often used by Navy, a school Bill Belichick and Jones are both fond of. Jones ran what seemed like a run option before shoveling to the Bay Area’s own Najee Harris, who flipped it to Jones, a receiver, in the end zone. He said the play was as much something for Belichick as it was an ode to his high school coach who ran a Wing-T offense his entire career and passed away last year.

“Obviously I know Belichick loves Navy so I showed him that and it’s just all fun and games out here man, but I think the moral of the story is, you know, pay tribute to people that have helped you along the way,” Jones said.

Both Shanahan and Lynch were on hand for Jones’ pro day in Tuscaloosa on Tuesday, with VP of player personnel at Fields’. The 49ers will have a second pro day so Shanahan can examine Fields in person.

Here’s what Jones said on his familiarity with Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers’ offense on Monday:

“I’ve watched their tape and stuff, I’ve got a chance to watch a lot of everybody, but 49ers specifically, obviously, they run a lot of wide zone. They also have a great fullback so they can run power, and they do a bunch of good play pass off of that. So outside zones bring out stuff. You know, obviously their drop back passing game is really similar to what we did with Sark. You know, some of their motions that they use, I noticed they got the boomerang motions and the cat motions across the ball fast. So that’s all stuff that I’m really familiar with.”

Justin Fields lights it up, shrugs off concerns about progressions

Fields’ pro day was wholly unsurprising.

Don’t mistake that to mean it was underwhelming. It was electric. But Fields simply showed everything that we’ve already seen from him on tape and why he was the projected No. 2 quarterback to be drafted for most of the past two seasons.

He flashed astounding arm talent and deep ball accuracy, throwing on the move and contorting his body to get the maximum force possible. He ran a 4.43-second 40-yard dash while stumbling and clearly could have gone quicker.

While it started off nervy, Fields quickly settled into a rhythm, delivering dart after dart after dart, with this being the exclamation point.

With Fields, the concerns are actually not about being able to read the field or process the game quickly. It’s not about accuracy or arm talent. He is the most physically gifted quarterback in the draft, very intelligent, and well-liked by those around him.

It’s about split-second decision making, anticipation and not overthinking. He has an elongated release, but has shown the ability to move around in the pocket and step up and away from pressure. The major concern is not anticipating when players are open and then getting into a situation where his options are gone and he takes a hit.

But he is a pocket-passing quarterback, despite some misconceptions that exist because he’s shown he can run. He prefers to stand in the pocket. That, as Shanahan said on Monday, is a prerequisite of his offense.

Here’s what Fields said about his brief time working with Shanahan at the QB Collective, when he was a junior in high school.

“Just going back to the QB collective I remember you know coach Shanahan being a great coach, great quarterback coach, in terms of emphasizing keeping that base in the pocket. He’s a great offensive-minded coach and arguably one of the best coaches in the league so it’s just an honor and a blessing to even be in that position to be looked at by them. So I’m just grateful.”

The nebulous question for Shanahan and Lynch is risk versus reward. They’ve already taken a massive risk to jump up to No. 3. Do you go with the low-risk, but low-reward option of Mac Jones? Or do you follow through and swing on Trey Lance or Justin Fields, who very clearly has the highest ceiling of any quarterback in this draft?

Tuesday didn’t tell us anything new, but it reaffirmed that Fields (and probably Lance, too) is worth the risk.

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