Check these out. There have been some questions asked recently about Jones's hands (Chaos Commish in another thread). I believe he has at least average hands, and is great in the open field once he catches the ball. If someone receives kickoffs, their hands can't be awful, right?
In this highlight he seems to be running through "junk" quite a bit, which translates pretty well to what he will be required to do between the tackles. He doesn't need a ton of space to be effective (make sure you check out college video 1 and All America First team).
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/video.as...amp;vidid=32978
High school, but it gives you an idea of his running style...
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/video.as...amp;vidid=27954
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/video.as...amp;vidid=27955
I am also slightly worried about his strength, as I have mentioned before. However, he benched 255 in high school, with a max squat of 550. As long as he keeps his thick lower body, he can work on upper body strength without losing speed.
Some more info on Jones from NFLDraftscout.com
Analysis
Positives: Has a lean frame, but shows good muscle development and bubble, well-defined thighs and calves, large hands, wide back and room to carry at least another 10 pounds of bulk with no loss of quickness...Has excellent quickness and explosion coming out of his stance into the rush lanes...Demonstrates the feet and balance to pick his way through trash and stay upright after initial contact...Has pick-and-slide agility to make tacklers miss, especially when he turns the corner...Plays with good toughness and competitiveness, as he will lower his head and square his shoulders to drive through after contact...Not really a punishing runner, but easily bounces off tackles and gives second effort when the rush lane is clogged...Self-starter and hard worker in the training room and will put in extra time watching film...Mature with good field intelligence and vision...Has a good attitude, as he never complained about sharing the rush load, despite his obvious pedigree...Has the sudden moves out of his stance to gain advantage and the quickness to avoid and accelerate past defenders...Shows a natural feel for the crease and displays excellent vision and hip swerve as he weaves through traffic, picking his feet nicely over trash...Hits the hole with no hesitation, showing the explosive leg drive to break arm tackles, as he works hard to get upfield inside and clear the line of scrimmage...Has a low center of gravity, which allows him to keep his base moving through tight areas and does not need to gear down when cutting...Instinctive in his movements, displaying the vision to see threats...Uses his blocks well...When he keeps his pad level low going through the rush lane, he has the short-area explosion and juke moves to elude defenders turning the corner, as he excels at cutting sharply with good acceleration...Has the body control and foot agility to step and slide on his way to avoid tackles...Has made strides in being more patient to let his blocks develop, showing a good feel for the hole and vision to spot the seam in the zone...Can find the inside hole but will run a little upright doing this and he knows how to adjust on the move, using impressive pick, slide and acceleration through the holes...Has the balance needed to keep his feet and shows a sharp burst out of his cuts...Has outstanding lateral range to gain yards in chunks on outside runs, utilizing excellent change-of-direction agility to can freeze defenders with fakes and body lean...As a junior, he displayed much better ball security and the hands to handle pitchouts (had problems grabbing the ball on the fly and running with it in 2006, resulting in five fumbles, compared to one in 2007)...Has improved his patience waiting for the toss to develop before trying to burst through the seam or turn the corner...One of his better assets is his ability to accelerate into the second level, redirect and break away for the long run...Very fast-twitched runner when attacking the hole and, while he might go down on first contact at times, he has that vision to locate small seams, sink his pads and try to slip past...Has the ability to jump-cut and shoot upfield...Has a very good feel to anticipate where the rushing lanes are and does a good job of keeping his pad level to break arm tackles around the corner (not as effective running inside)...Adequate pass catcher who shows good concentration and flexibility in his pass routes, extending his hands properly away from the framework, but will use his body as a crutch when working in a crowd...Makes good body adjustments toward the ball and shows patience, body control and vision waiting for blocks to develop as a returner...Best asset as a kickoff returner is that he creative enough to vary his speed, set up the defender, execute a fake and then accelerate into the open.
Negatives: Has to learn to run at a lower pad level when running through the inside holes...Will get erect in his stance as an attempt to squeeze through tight areas...Has good leg drive, but will make bigger gains when trying to avoid, as he is generally brought down on the initial hit when operating in a crowd...He had just 22 runs on which the opposition needed more than one defender to take him down on 133 attempts in 2007...Elusive runner who does a good job of squaring up before initial contact, but must improve his body lean, as he does not do a good job of falling forward...Pitter-patter running style will see him get up on his toes...Just an adequate receiver who needs route-running refinement, as he tends to round his cuts...While he shows good hands on returns, as a receiver, he does not get to the ball at its highest point and can get a little sloppy trying to explode out of his breaks...Despite showing aggression as a blocker, his size prevents him from gaining leverage vs. bigger defenders (will get a piece of his man, but his weight-room strength fails to translate to the field, as he is not the type that can overpower second-level defenders).
Compares To: CARNELL WILLIAMS-Tampa Bay...Both are best taking the ball outside. Jones is a water bug on the field, excelling at avoiding defenders when he clears the line of scrimmage. He has a Devin Hester-type of burst as a kickoff returner and has worked well within the two-back system. Team him up with a powerful inside runner and you will get better value. We doubt his frame can handle pounding associated with touching the ball 30 times a game at the next level, especially if he doesn't learn how to run at a lower pad level between the tackles. He greatly improved his ball-security ability as a junior, something that turned out to be a major problem for his running mate, Darren McFadden. Some teams might prefer Jones over McFadden, as he has greater avoidance skills, while McFadden is more likely to seek contact and has a few off-field issues to be investigated.
Injury Report
2007: Bothered by a stomach virus vs. Kentucky (9/22)...Suffered a deep thigh bruise early in the Tennessee game (11/10) and was limited to just four plays vs. the Vols and one play the next game vs. Mississippi State (11/17).
You know who I thought was bad at this last year? Michael Bush. It seemed like he never changed the angle of the blow and took a lot of head on tackles. Interested to see how he does in the NFL.
