Report: Devonta Smith allegedly prefers Jones over Tua
By Pablo Rosero
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports that Devonta Smith was “bold and definitive” about stating that he prefers Mac Jones over Miami Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa.
Whether or not this is major news, it is worth taking a second to talk about. Jones, who was the Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback following Tagovailoa, was the signal-caller for Smith’s Heisman trophy campaign and was also present at the Senior Bowl, where Smith made the comments. This could just be an endorsement for the senior quarterback and 2020 Johnny Unitas trophy winner for a top college quarterback.
On the other hand, he could seriously mean it since Jones forced fed him the ball in 2020. Regardless, it is likely that he is endorsing the quarterback going through the draft process to help his stock.
The article by Breer points out that all that is said is that Smith prefers Jones, but it never says in what. And Breer points out that that unknown takes the entire question in a different direction. What does Smith prefer Jones over Tagovailoa in and why?
"One team asked Smith, point blank: Tua Tagovailoa or Jones? The question was barely finished before Smith answered: Mac Jones. He was bold and definitive about it, as I heard it. And of course, it’s logical to some degree.-Albert Breer"
This is probably a question that won’t get answered, but Smith did say in an interview with NFL Network that he and Tagovailoa had talked about, “running it back” in the NFL. Tagovailoa was instrumental in Alabama landing Smith during the high school recruiting cycle and the two are close.
In that sense, I would take the comment to the lowest degree possible and just assume it’s an endorsement for Jones, who will seemingly be an interesting quarterback prospect in his own right.