Alabama Football: 2021 NFL mock draft after the Super Bowl

8. Carolina Panthers: Mac Jones, QB, Alabama

Another Alabama football player comes off of the board in the top 10. This time, it is the leader of the Crimson Tide offense.

Mac Jones is a gifted passer with incredible leadership and accuracy. He has room to grow as an athlete, but he has a lot of the traits that you can’t coach.

Jones is coming off of an excellent year with the Crimson Tide. After replacing Tua Tagovailoa, he showed improvement in every facet of his game. By the end of the year, he seemed to be the focal point. He was taking risks, and they were paying off.

Jones also got a week to work with Carolina’s staff at the Senior Bowl, and he received praise from Matt Rhule. If this ends up happening, you can point to the Senior Bowl as the reason why.

Many will say that this is too high to draft Jones. With Trey Lance on the board, Carolina could go for the raw product at quarterback. They could also address other needs on the team. However, I think they will take a similar approach to Atlanta’s. They don’t want to be drafting this high again soon, so they need to get a quarterback while they can.

With the powers in the NFC South ready to shift, the Panthers need to be ready to pounce in a few short seasons. This pick would give them that opportunity.