JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mac Jones is bound for the NFL and the New England Patriots.
Jones was the 15th overall selection in the NFL draft on Thursday night, slipping a bit from mock draft projections but landing with the dynasty and coach Bill Belichick.
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Jones is just the 22nd player in the Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia coverage area to be selected in the first round of the NFL draft. He’s the first player in that region to be picked in the first round since Bolles product Hayden Hurst was the 25th pick by Baltimore in 2018.
Jones is just the second former Bolles football player to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft.
Jones went in to his college career buried on the depth chart. He ended it as a national champion and a Heisman finalist. Making it into the NFL as a first-round pick was the capper.
Jones had an exceptional redshirt junior season at Alabama, passing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns. He was intercepted just four times. Going into college, Jones was a solid prospect, a consensus four-star recruit in the Class of 2017, but stuck behind dynamic players Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. Jones bided his time until Tagovailoa suffered an ankle injury late in the season. Jones started the final four games that season.
He won the quarterback job the following spring and parlayed that into one of the best single-season performances in Alabama history. The Crimson Tide finished 13-0, receiver DeVonta Smith won the Heisman and Jones finished third.
Area first-round NFL draft selections
Position, Player, High school, Round, Pick, 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
QB, Mac Jones, Bolles, 1, 15, 2021
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