2019 NFL Draft: Is Duke’s Daniel Jones a franchise quarterback?

The 2019 NFL Draft class features some polarizing quarterback prospects. Is Duke’s Daniel Jones a franchise player or placeholder?

The 2019 NFL Draft is certainly not revered for its quarterback class. Daniel Jones, a career 59.9 percent passer at Duke and junior entry, can take advantage of the lack of clarity at the top of his class and be a first-round pick.

But is Jones worthy of a first-round distinction? Some may have already read a few scouting reports on Jones and written him off. Some may have even written him off already based on his week of practices at the Senior Bowl in Mobile (he was MVP of the game though).

Even more fans — especially of teams with a need for a young quarterback — have written Jones off for his lack of velocity on intermediate throws or lack of statistical production in general.

I’m not here to bang the table for Jones, but I am here to say I think he is capable of being a ‘franchise’ quarterback in the NFL, meaning I believe he can be a decade-long starter if things work out just right for him.

Jones may not have as high of a ceiling as a player like Kyler Murray. He doesn’t have the natural arm talent of Drew Lock. He doesn’t have the big year of production like Dwayne Haskins. But in his own way, Jones has skills that should make him very attractive to NFL teams.

Here are a few reasons I believe Jones is on a trajectory to become a long-term starter in the NFL, and a player with the ceiling of a Jimmy Garoppolo, Kirk Cousins, or even peak Eli Manning type of player.

Borderline robotic mechanics

Unlike some quarterbacks, Daniel Jones plays with great mechanics and athleticism. It’s easy to forget because of how sound he is mechanically, but Jones is a phenomenal, natural athlete.

Check out his North Carolina tape for some evidence of that.

He has drawn some NFL comps to Ryan Tannehill (though that’s not the best comparison because we rarely have seen Tannehill at his best) due to his ability to take off and run with a somewhat wiry frame, but Jones is a much more polished player mechanically at the position than Tannehill was coming out of Texas A&M.

Jones has received some of the best quarterback coaching in college football, working with David Cutcliffe at Duke. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Cutcliffe has worked with both Peyton and Eli Manning, and given that context, you can see plenty of Manning mannerisms when watching Jones play.

Peyton Manning had a very signature wide base when he dropped back, and Jones has really adopted that. His footwork, in general, is very reminiscent of Manning’s.

It’s clear he’s been studying.

Arm strength vs. Velocity

Jones didn’t put the ball on a rope as often as many would have apparently liked while he was at Duke, but he did a good job pushing the ball deep downfield.

He embarrassed Temple in Duke’s bowl game with throws deep downfield.

I have seen him put some zip behind the ball but definitely not as often as you see from guys like Drew Lock or looking back at last year’s class guys like Baker Mayfield.

Jones made a throw against Navy where he put the ball in a bucket 60 yards downfield, so his arm strength is not a question. Does he have the arm strength to make tight window throws off schedule?

That is the big question, but he can definitely take shots and he can definitely run an offense where his accuracy and touch will help him overcome that apparent lack of velocity in comparison to some other players.

Thriving in a system

While Jones is not a fiery personality like Baker Mayfield, he certainly puts it all on the line when he’s on the field.

I saw this guy take some hits I don’t know that many other players would get back up from.

Though Jones is not at the point — yet — where he’s going to be making adjustments before every play at the line of scrimmage, he should thrive at the NFL level with a stable system, coaching staff, and long-term plan.

Circling back to the Jimmy Garoppolo comparison, Jones is the type of player who could grow quickly in an NFL system because of his prior experience with NFL caliber coaching as well as his NFL-ready skill set.

As Jones adjusts to the speed of the NFL game, he should become a very solid long-term starter.

While I’m not so sure he’s going to be racking up MVP awards like Patrick Mahomes might, Jones has the ability to lead an NFL team to a lot of wins with his methodical approach and well-rounded game.