Originally posted by jonnydel:
Well, here's my initial scouting report:
Fields: live arm, elite athlete, can make something out of nothing, fearless thrower, heavy arm thrower which means he generates lots of power from just his arm, when he knows where he wants to go with the ball, he's very accurate.
Negatives: his footwork is really bad, it will take quite some time before he's able to operate in a timing based WCO like Shanahan wants, as far as footwork is concerned, accuracy under pressure can be very spotty/bad, doesn't have great pocket feel - will often not react to pressure until it's right there(reminds me of Kaepernick in this regard), needs work on throwing into zones with anticipation.
He's very talented but pretty raw. I think the deshaun Watson comparisons are unfair to him. He's fields, not Watson. Watson had 2 very successful years as a starter under his belt. He'll need 1, maybe 2 years to really develop IMO.
Mac Jones: elite accuracy, can make all the throws, very good understanding of the offense/progressions to get deep in the progressions, throws with excellent anticipation, tough under pressure(go look at his 1st passing td vs MIZZOU), put up insane passing numbers this past year, great footwork from shotgun, great pocket awareness/management.
Negatives: not an elite athlete, has no tools to avoid pressure other than his arm, there are character concerns.
The negatives about Jones are all about him not being a deshaun watson type.
Lance: talented but raw. Huge arm, lots of experience operating under center, explosive runner, above average accuracy.
Negatives: doesn't handle pressure well, passing was very spotty/poor in his 1 game this year(50% comp 5 YPA, 150 yds 2 TD 1 INT), will take development in a sophisticated drop back passing game.
To me, Fields has the highest potential - could be a deshaun watson type, or could be a Dwayne Haskins. There's a lot of question marks and would benefit from sitting and learning and working one the game from the ground up but will need to unlearn and relearn things.
If he's the pick, at minimum, Jimmy should be here 2 years, barring injury IMO. I could be wrong but he's raw.
Jones, I see him as faster plug and play. His biggest issue is adjusting to under center more and turning his back to the defense. If we're looking at keeping a consistent qn room to insulate against injury, Jones makes more sense. You will have the exact same playbook with Jimmy/Jones/Sudfeld/Rosen. With Fields, you'll have a slightly different playbook.
Thanks... all things considered, is it fair to say you are the highest on Mac? If you had to make this pick, would it be Mac?