Assessing Washington Redskins first-round options: QB Daniel Jones

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MIAMI, FL – NOVEMBER 03: Daniel Jones #17 of the Duke Blue Devils heads to the sidelines in the second half against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on November 3, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Scouting Daniel Jones

When watching Jones on tape, there’s one thing that stands out above all else. That’s his toughness. The Duke quarterback isn’t afraid to take hits anywhere on the field. He fights for extra yards as a scrambler and hangs in the pocket to absorb big hits while still completing passes. He will need to be a bit more careful at the NFL level, but the fact that he doesn’t fear contact and is poised when throwing and taking a hit is a plus for him.

Jones (6-5, 220 pounds) has generally solid accuracy and a high football I.Q. He reads the field very well and was consistently able to find open men in Duke’s offense. His numbers would have been better with a stronger supporting cast, as he was the victim of a number of drops and got pressured relentlessly at times.

Jones also is able to put good touch on his passes which leads him to have decent ball placement. His short to intermediate accuracy is very good, and he has showcased solid, albeit inconsistent, downfield accuracy. Additionally, he has good footwork — which is to be expected of a David Cutcliffe coached quarterback — that gives him nice mechanics for the next level. He’s also a very good scrambler. He will be able to execute RPOs and read-option plays with success at the NFL level.

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There are still some concerns with Jones that make him a bit of risk. Though Jones is accurate, he can be prone to hot-and-cold stretches. When his accuracy is off, he tends to overshoot them and miss high. More subtly, his ball placement can occasionally be slightly off and when that occurs, he throws behind his receiver a bit. NFL players will be able to make up for some of the misses Jones had on throws behind, but it could cost them a chance to run after the catch. Jones will have to work a bit on that at the NFL level to create more chunk plays as opposed to short to intermediate games.

The other major area for concern is his decision making. This is somewhat surprising given his good field vision, poise, and intelligence, but Jones had some questionable throws on tape. Sometimes, he threw ill-advised passes into good coverage. In his 2018 bowl game against Temple, he threw off his back foot into double coverage while under pressure.

While Jones had ups and downs against pressure, he still needs to work on not making rash decisions and looking for the open man. Instead of forcing plays at the NFL level, he will have to be willing to throw the ball away when he gets into trouble to avoid sacks and turnovers. At times, he tried to do too much with his mobility and arm talent, and he won’t get away with that playing professionally.

It’s notable that Jones did whatever was asked of him at Duke. He had a couple of pooch punts during the season and seemed comfortable doing that. He actually downed them deep in his opponent’s territory, so that could be a bit of a secret weapon for him. Any sort of versatility helps in the modern NFL.

Of all the quarterbacks in this class, Jones is probably the safest because of his experience in a pro-style system, his frame and mobility, and his overall arm talent. He has some work to do with decision making, ball placement, and working under pressure, but they are all fixable issues. His ceiling is as a Carson Wentz-type while his floor is similar to the skillset of Ryan Tannehill.

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