Mac Jones’ Walk at NFL Draft Goes Viral as Fans Compare Him to Bill Belichick

Mac Jones became an internet sensation during the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. His new-found popularity online, however, had more to do with his walk than with him surprisingly being picked by the New England Patriots after falling all the way to No. 15.

The Alabama quarterback’s stock enjoyed a meteoric rise in the lead up to the first round and Jones was widely regarded as a shoo-in to be selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the third overall pick.

As things turned out, the 49ers drafted North Dakota State star Trey Lance instead and Jones was the fifth quarterback off the board in the first round, falling right into the Patriots’ lap.

If Jones’ confident walk on stage was anything to go by, he and six-time Super Bowl champions look to be a perfect match. It didn’t take long for Twitter to point out the similarities between the purposefulness of Jones’ stride and that of Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick.

Unlike the other four other quarterbacks selected in the first round—Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields and Lance—who can, to varying degrees, all be a threat when running the ball, Jones is a more traditional pocket passer. His walk to the stage on Thursday night did little to dispel the notion the former Crimson Tide quarterback is more about mechanics than dynamism.

Although less spectacular than Fields and Lance and lacking Lawrence’s talent, Jones has all the traits of a quarterback who could thrive in Belichick’s offense. A pocket passer who reads the game well, he passed for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and four picks last year, completing 77.4 percent of his passes.

Jones thrived on Alabama’s stacked receiving corps and threw for five touchdowns and 464 passing yards as the Crimson Tide shredded Ohio State 52-24 in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Jones becomes the first quarterback the Patriots have selected in the first-round of the NFL Draft since Belichick first took charge of the franchise two decades ago.

He’s also only the fifth in franchise history after Jack Concannon in 1964—when the team was still known as Boston Patriots—Jim Plunkett in 1971, Tony Eason in 1983 and Drew Bledsoe in 1993. Concannon, Plunkett and Bledsoe were all the first player off the board in their respective drafts, while Eason, like Jones on Thursday night, was selected with the 15th overall pick.

Alabama, meanwhile, became the first school in the common-draft era to have a quarterback, running back and two wide receivers selected in the first round of the same NFL Draft.

Along with Jones, wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and De’Vonta Smith were selected by the Miami Dolphins and the Philadelphia Eagles with the No. 6 and No. 10 pick respectively, while the running back Najee Harris went to the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 24th overall pick.

Mac Jones poses onstage after being selected 15th by the New England Patriots during round one of the 2021 NFL Draft at the Great Lakes Science Center on April 29 in Cleveland, Ohio. Gregory Shamus/Getty Images