There’s always been a saying in NBA and NFL circles that you should turn pro when your stock is high.
Pundits say the longer you stay in school, the more there is about your game for scouts to pick apart.
Oklahoma Sooners Senior quarterback Landry Jones now seems to be a victim of such appraisal.
Long consider a potential first round pick as a Sophomore and a Junior, Jones stock has completely tumbled in some scouts eyes according to Albert Breer of NFL.com.
“He would’ve been a late-first or early-second (round pick) last year,” one college scout said. “Now, he looks like a mid-round pick, based on this early part of the year.” One of the primary issues? How Jones reacts to adversity. The scout said Jones “has all the tools we look for in a quarterback, but if he gets hit a couple times, he’s done. Lots of skill, absolutely — great size, good arm, accurate, tons of production the last three years. But he’s killing himself. … He shows he can do everything we want him to do, he just hasn’t shown he can do it consistently in pressure situations. He’s great if his team gets a lead early and mixes it up on offense. If they get behind, and he’s got to lead them back with a defense pinning their ears back, he struggles.”
Jones can be a quality NFL quarterback in my opinion, he just needs to be in the proper situation, and one where he’s not necessarily the vocal point of the offense.
I think some scouts love to hear themselves talk so that they can be the one to say I told you so.
No one actually knows what kind of player Jones will be, and as I’m writing this post, Jones is killing the University of Texas in the Red River Rivalry.