By Marc Lawrence — Charlie Weis, who coached in New England’s first three Super Bowl championships, is high on Alabama’s Mac Jones as a great fit.
“What are the two most important components of a star quarterback? They have the ‘it’ factor. And they’re accurate. That’s who he was,” he said.
Weis was a central figure in Tom Brady’s development in the early years of the QB’s career.
One of the knocks on Jones is he was surrounded by an all-star level cast at Alabama, but Weis sees that as more of a positive factor. “You talk about being around good players. Yeah, he was around good players. But playing on a team with a bunch of stars, who is the leader of the offense?” Weis said.
“He also had to make all those throws. I think the kid is an excellent quarterback. He has less holes than just about anybody.”
The Patriots pick No. 15 in the 2021 NFL draft and ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. has them taking Jones in his latest mock draft.
Fellow ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay had Jones going earlier than that in his second mock.
Jones’ athleticism isn’t at the same level as other top prospects. But Weis, who highlighted how Jones has been coached by Nick Saban, one of Bill Belichick’s closest friends, believes his positive attributes outweigh potential concern.
“If you’re looking for a guy that’s going to be running for 30 yards on a regular basis, that’s not your guy. But he can move in the pocket, and from the pocket, and run the ball when he absolutely needs to… But this guy, he’s the one making all the plays. All he does is win and throw completions.” Read more on this development here.
Grinding Out The Profits
From the Playbook Basketball Newsletter: Don’t look now but we couldn’t ask for a better foe than the torrid-hot Jazz to step in front of with the team we call the league’s most over-looked squad the season: the Charlotte Hornets.
The killer bees enter tonight’s fray in the first of a 6-game west coast road trip knowing they are 9-3-1 ATS as dogs of more than 4 points this season.
They are also 4-0-1 ATS away when coming off three consecutive games at home in their hive.
Yes, the Jazz are re-writing history books this season as you read this, but the fact of the matter is they happen to have a quadruple revenge contest on deck with the defending world champion Lakers. It doesn’t hurt know they are 7-8 SU and 5-9-1 ATS in games before taking on the Lakers.
Just do it!
