JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – From his days starring at Bolles where he led the Bulldogs to the state finals, to the top of the college football world at Alabama, where the
Mac Jones has had quite the football career already. Thursday, he could become the highest-drafted player from Jacksonville.
Recommended Videos
In the history of the common draft, the highest-drafted player from Jacksonville was Ron Sellers, the former Paxon and Florida St. wide receiver who went number six. Now the question: where will Jones be chosen?
One of the most common projected landing spots for Jones is the 3rd pick of the draft. The San Francisco 49ers traded up to the third spot to take a quarterback and the most recent reports are that the Niners are deciding between Jones and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance. If Jones goes at 3, he would match Gerard Warren of Union County as the highest-drafted player from our extended viewing area.
The other popular landing spot is with the New England Patriots, who currently hold the 15th pick of the first round. They could trade up to get Jones. If that happened, Jones will have gone from playing for Corky Rogers at Bolles, the most decorated high school coach in the history of Florida high school football, to Nick Saban, arguably the greatest college coach ever, to Bill Belichick, considered one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. It’s a path his parents have thought about.
“I just think it’ll be super cool,” Gordon said. “If he goes to that level, I just think, you know, it’s kind of one of those visions you have like, OK, the kid goes and plays for Corky. Does well. Plays for Alabama, it goes well with Coach Saban. And I’m thinking like, ‘hey, the next part of this vision and story should be Coach Belichick.’ You know, obviously, there’s a lot of other great coaches, "
What’s interesting about Jones’ potential in the draft is that while some think he could go as high as three but many have him rated in the 20s on their big board. It’s going to be very interesting to see. There have been 21 players from our area drafted in the first round. Jones should make it 22 on Thursday.
Highest drafted players from our area: (position, name, high school, round, selection, year)
- DT, Gerard Warren, Union County, 1, 3, 2001
- WR, Ron Sellers, Paxon, 1, 6, 1969
- CB, Champ Bailey, Charlton County, 1, 7, 1999
- RB, C.J. Spiller, Union County, 1, 9, 2010
- WR, Travis Taylor, Ribault, 1, 10, 2000
- WR, Ken Burrough, Raines, 1, 10, 1970
- CB, Leodis McKelvin, Ware County, 1, 11, 2008
- DE, Derrick Alexander, Raines, 1, 11, 1995
- DL, Earl Leggett, Lee, 1, 13, 1957
- OT, Laremy Tunsil, Columbia, 1, 13, 2016
- LB, Reinard Wilson, Columbia, 1, 14, 1997
- RB, John L. Williams, Palatka, 1, 15, 1986
- WR, Yatil Green, Columbia, 1, 15, 1997
- WR, Rod Gardner, Raines, 1, 15, 2001
- LB, Jarrad Davis, Camden County, 1, 21, 2017
- TE, Hayden Hurst, Bolles, 1, 25, 2018
- QB, Tim Tebow, Nease, 1, 25, 2010
- RB, Terrence Flagler, Fernandina Beach, 1, 25, 1987
- DB, Lito Sheppard, Raines, 1, 26, 2002
- WR, AJ Jenkins, Parker, 1, 30, 2012
- DB, Kelly Jennings, Suwannee, 1, 31, 2006