I'm taking time today to break down these Jones highlights in the championship game against Ohio State, another team loaded with NFL talent.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzfWp-5WxXE
1. RPO into a screen to the left. Mac with the fake, gets the throw out in rhythm, thrown right where Smith can get it and accelerate.
2. Another play-action fake to Harris, who slides to the left flat. Jones looks off his first read, then throws a beautiful ball to Harris in the flat, in rhythm, so Harris can get yards after the catch easily.
3. Play-action, easy pitch-and catch to Smith to the left. Not a difficult throw at all, but of course Jones makes it look super easy.
4. Jones avoids the rush and scampers up in the pocket away from pressure and makes a nice creative little flip pass to Waddle. Good vision to see that play.
5. Jones looks right and middle, can't find open guys, then throws a dart to the pylon to a fairly well-covered Bolden. Just short of a TD.
6. Play-action, roll to the right, then a nice throw to a wide open Smith. Not a difficult throw due to Smith being so wide open. But of course, he makes it.
7. Straight shotgun snap, throws a beautiful ball deep and right outside the numbers for a good gain to Smith.
8. Little quick out to Metchie for a modest gain to the right. I see that Mac has thrown balls to all levels now, and to the left, right, and middle.
9. Play action, little soft touch pass in the flat to Smith for a touchdown. Gorgeous touch on the ball, something Cam has never shown.
10. Jones steps up to avoid pressure and runs for 8 yards. He's not Kyler Murray obviously, but he's not afraid to take the yards on the ground when they're there for him. Smart play.
11. Big pressure and Jones manages to avoid it and loft a really nice ball down the left for Harris for a touchdown. Guy bearing down on him and he gets it away beautifully. He recognized that the guy doing the blitzing would have been the guy covering Harris, so it's a really good read.
12. Laser down the middle through heavy traffic to Metchie for a good gain. I don't see any arm strength concerns on a throw like that. Just ripped it with pace.
13. Play-action, hits Smith down the right sideline. Smith had 3 yards on his defender at the catch, but if you pause it, here's what it looks like when he's about to throw the ball.
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Smith is even with the corner. Now Jones knows that Smith will - or should anyway - get by him (and the CB, Wade, is considered a 2nd or 3rd round NFL pick, so he's a legit NFL talent). But at release, Smith is even and Jones is throwing to a spot where he anticipates Smith will be. And when you see the result, the throw is right on the money.
14. Rollout to the right, hitting Smith short right for the touchdown. I like this throw because (1) Jones is rolling out and throwing on the move, and (2) he hits Smith perfectly in stride. Yes, Smith is open, but throwing on the run like that can often result in the pass being a little ahead or behind the receiver, so he has to adjust to catching it, which limits opportunity for YAC. He hit Smith perfectly for an easy score.
15. Deep ball to the center-right portion of the field, easy throw (well, at least he made it look easy) to a wide-open Smith for the long TD. Not a high degree of difficulty, but of course Jones hits him right in stride, 40 yards downfield. Effortless.
16. Escapes a heavy rush, and runs for 10 yards. Chris Fowler gushes about Jones' pocket awareness and escapability, and we again see his willingness and ability to run when necessary. You're never going to run designed QB runs for him, but he can get yards when needed. I like his toughness, diving into traffic for the first down.
17. Flip into the left flat for Bolden for the touchdown. Another nice touch pass, in rhythm, in stride for the easy score. Wide open, but again, the throw made it super easy for the receiver to catch and run.
18. Fakes a screen left, and while on the move to his left, zips a dart to Metchie 24 yards downfield in stride.
Obviously these are highlights and not lowlights. But...well...he didn't have many lowlights against an elite team in the biggest stage in college football. Which is part of the point. The guy faced a bunch of elite teams and shredded all of them. In this little 6 minute reel, we see Jones' ability to:
- Throw to his left, right, and middle
- Throw short, medium, and deep
- Throw on the run
- Throw to receivers in stride so they get max YAC
- Throw with zip (showing plenty of arm strength), and throw with touch
- Make quality reads, either seeing the blitz or working quickly through his progressions
- Evade pressure in the pocket
- Show a willingness and an ability to scramble for positive yards; nobody will mistake him for Lamar Jackson but he got the job done
- Showed toughness; at points he was limping and still hung in there and showed grit and competitiveness
So I don't know folks...again, this is a highlight reel so of course he's going to look good. But when I see stuff like this, I can't see why people are down on him. Seems like a really good quarterback at the highest level in college.