Yahoo Sports' top 2019 NFL draft prospects: Duke QB Daniel Jones
6-foot-5, 221 pounds
The lowdown: Jones is a three-year starter whose mechanics, toughness and athleticism have drawn praise in NFL circles. Throwing to a less-than-impressive crop of pass-catchers and working behind shaky offensive lines, Jones put up strong enough numbers, even with a shocking number of dropped passes that dropped his completion percentage just a tick below the 60 percent mark (59.9) for his career. In 2018, despite missing two games, Jones completed 60.5 percent with a 22-9 TD-INT ratio.
Jones missed those two games (against North Carolina Central and Baylor) after he suffered a broken collarbone against Northwestern. He stunned observers by coming back three weeks later in a start against Virginia Tech, which ended up being one of his better individual games of the season, even if his stats were modest and the Blue Devils lost. Following a 423-yard, six-TD performance in the Independence Bowl, the fourth-year junior declared for the draft.
Groomed by former Peyton and Eli Manning whisperer, David Cutcliffe, Jones has good footwork, a tidy throwing motion and displays the ability to go through progressions (even to his third read) and operate amid pressure. Jones is a very smart and effective short and intermediate passer, and he’s a surgeon in the red zone with good placement and timing throws. And for defenses that fail to respect his athleticism, he has surprisingly good scrambling ability (check out the North Carolina game).
Still, he must speed up his clock against the blitz and develop his downfield timing and accuracy. Jones lacks a great arm, needing to rely more on touch and placement on passes 20-plus yards down the field, so it goes back to speeding up his process in a faster-moving NFL game. Practicing alongside Missouri’s Drew Lock all week, Jones appeared to be the lesser of the two prospects while running Jon Gruden’s offense for the North Team. However, Jones upstaged Lock in the game itself, earning Offensive MVP honors with a strong outing.
Jones’ composure and mechanical refinement make him a high-floor template as a prospect, and he likely wouldn’t embarrass himself if thrust into the lineup early in his career. There are enough limitations in his game to ever imagine him becoming great.
It’s not just because of the Cutcliffe connection, but there are some Eli Manning-esque elements to Jones’ game, albeit with far better athletic traits and a lesser arm. Like Manning, Jones cut his teeth while leading (and raising) a college offense largely bereft of NFL-caliber talent. That’s where some NFL evaluators believe there might be untapped potential and a better outlook than other scouts have cast on him. Do those who like Jones like him because of the Cutcliffe connection? The draft grades on Jones are all over the board.
Fun fact: Jones initially committed to Princeton, with a broken wrist suffered during basketball season hurting his football recruiting. But once Jones’ QB coach, David Morris, put in a call to Cutcliffe at Duke, Jones flipped his allegiance. It didn’t hurt that Morris once played for Cutcliffe at Ole Miss … where he was Eli Manning’s backup. (via MMQB)
Draft range: Top-50 pick, perhaps as high as the middle of Round 1
