ZWK
Footballguy
RB Matt Jones was a surprise 3rd round pick out of Florida. It's tempting to dismiss him as an NFL prospect, given that the pick seemed to come out of nowhere, but I basically did that with Stevan Ridley a few years back and that proved to be a mistake.
Anyone want to try to make a case for Jones?
Pros:
3rd round pick
231 pounds
generated a lot of yards after contact against Kentucky (the one game of his which has cutups online)
Cons:
less than 1600 yards from scrimmage total in his 3 years at Florida (297/1431/11 rushing + 19/100/1 receiving)
ran for only 4.8 yards per carry
averaged only 5.3 yards per reception
below average athleticism in every combine drill
below average conversion rate in short yardage & red zone rushing in 2014 (see row 74)
CFF graded him in the negatives (below average for a college RB) as a runner, receiver, and blocker
In his favor, these mediocre numbers don't rule him out entirely. Stevan Ridley had similarly unimpressive college stats (including a worse conversion rate on 3rd & short). Jeremy Hill, Mark Ingram, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis had similar combine numbers. And I have generally found successful big backs hard to pick out - Alfred Morris, Arian Foster, and Le'Veon Bell didn't look particularly impressive as prospects, by the numbers that I looked at.
That still doesn't feel like a very strong case for Jones. Can anyone do better?
Anyone want to try to make a case for Jones?
Pros:
3rd round pick
231 pounds
generated a lot of yards after contact against Kentucky (the one game of his which has cutups online)
Cons:
less than 1600 yards from scrimmage total in his 3 years at Florida (297/1431/11 rushing + 19/100/1 receiving)
ran for only 4.8 yards per carry
averaged only 5.3 yards per reception
below average athleticism in every combine drill
below average conversion rate in short yardage & red zone rushing in 2014 (see row 74)
CFF graded him in the negatives (below average for a college RB) as a runner, receiver, and blocker
In his favor, these mediocre numbers don't rule him out entirely. Stevan Ridley had similarly unimpressive college stats (including a worse conversion rate on 3rd & short). Jeremy Hill, Mark Ingram, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis had similar combine numbers. And I have generally found successful big backs hard to pick out - Alfred Morris, Arian Foster, and Le'Veon Bell didn't look particularly impressive as prospects, by the numbers that I looked at.
That still doesn't feel like a very strong case for Jones. Can anyone do better?
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