School: Georgia

Position: OT

Year: Redshirt Sophomore

The Good: Jones has a supreme amount of natural talent, as made clear by his stellar showing at the NFL Combine. There wasn’t necessarily any offensive lineman with a freak show performance at the Combine this year, but Jones might have been the best of the group with a position-leading 4.97 40-yard dash at a well-carried 311lbs. Jones also measured in longer than expected at 6’5” with nearly 35” arms, and he’s good about maximizing his length on tape. Jones is a naturally quick OT, both as a runner in open space and with his hand activity across from pass rushers. He possesses “move against your will” type of raw power and an extremely strong grip with his hands.

The Bad: Jones only has one full season of starting experience under his belt, and it shows. For a likely first rounder, there remains a potentially staggering amount of work ahead for Jones’ next coaching staff. Jones will have to get better at centering his hands and sustaining blocks in both the pass and run games, and I’d like to see him finish more consistently in the run game as well. As a pass protector, Jones needs to improve his anchor if he’s going to stand a chance against speed-to-power rushes at the next level. He also has a bad habit of locking up and sinking his head at the arc of pass rushes, leaving him vulnerable to both speed around his outside shoulder and counter moves. There’s also way too much action with Jones’ feet right now. He needs to generally calm them down off the snap in pass sets, and he also has a weird kick step when pulling inside that he’ll want to ditch.

The Bottom Line: It’s never a dumb strategy to bet on talent in the NFL Draft, and in the right spot I’d endorse it for Jones. I just can’t get there with his projection as a top-to-middle of Round 1 type of prospect. You might have to wait until Year 3 of his career to see the light at the end of the tunnel for Jones, and I’m not even sure what position will best suit him in the NFL; I have a good feeling that it won’t be left tackle, so it’s a toss-up between right tackle or guard. I wrote this in Paris Johnson’s ‘Bottom Line’ too that the college-to-NFL transition for offensive tackles is particularly brutal, and you only get rookies on 4-5 year contracts. Leaving Georgia’s friendly confines will make it even tougher for Jones, and even once it pans out for him I’m not sure I see the same potential ceiling for him as I do for Johnson – let alone a Tristan Wirfs type of mega-prospect who didn’t have it all figured out yet in college either.

Grade: Second Round

Pro Comp: Tytus Howard

Games Watched:

• Tennessee 2021
• South Carolina 2022
• Missouri 2022
• Florida 2022
• LSU 2022

Plays That Matter [LINK]