Tag: Elijah Jones

Cardinals NFL Draft grades: Elijah Jones, CB, Boston College

Cardinals NFL Draft grade for selecting Boston College CB Elijah Jones in the third round

The Arizona Cardinals find themselves on the board for the fourth time in the third round and add to what is building up to be an impressive rookie class. Arizona’s secondary was paper-thin heading into this draft, but they addressed it for the second time this draft with the selection of Boston College cornerback Elijah Jones.

It’s likely that Jones will be locked into a camp battle with the corner selected in the second round by Arizona in Rutgers cornerback Max Melton. There isn’t that much of a gap between the two talent-wise, and Jones could come away as the number one corner. With Sean Murphy-Bunting locking down the nickel role, it may very well be two rookies holding down the fort on the outsides of this defense.

Experienced, long, and built for the position, Jones was solid during his three years as a starter with the Golden Eagles and should be well-positioned to take on the bigger receivers in the league. This is good value for a corner who is ready to go Day 1 in the NFL.

Grade: B+

Contract terms for Cardinals 3rd-round pick, cornerback Elijah Jones

The terms of the four-year rookie contract for cornerback Elijah Jones, drafted 90th overall in April.

The Arizona Cardinals selected 12 players in the 2024 NFL draft in April. Of those 12 players, eight have signed their rookie contracts. Cards Wire has learned the four-year contract terms for all who have signed to date.

The most recent to sign his contract is cornerback Elijah Jones, drafted out of Boston College in the third round with the 90th overall pick.

Jones signed a four-year contract worth $5,685,518 that included a signing bonus of $954,920.

The base salaries are $795,000 this year; $1,053,433 in 2025; $1,311,866 in 2026 and $1,570,299 in 2027. If Jones is still on the team in 2027, that salary will likely increase to whatever the lowest tender is for restricted free agents. This year, that figure is $2.985 million.

There is also a split aspect of the deal for 2024 if Jones lands on injured reserve, so he would not receive his full salary. The minimum split is $470,000.

The salary cap charge this year for Jones is $1,033,433. However, the net loss of cap space currently is negligible because his signing pushed a player out of the top 51.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Cardinals sign CB Elijah Jones, drafted in Round 3, to rookie deal

Jones is the eighth of the Cardinals 12 draft picks to sign his rookie contract.

The Arizona Cardinals announced another rookie signing. The latest of their 12 draft picks to sign their rookie deal is third-round pick Elijah Jones, a cornerback out of Boston College selected with the 90th pick overall.

His deal is four years in length.

Jones was the second of three cornerbacks and four defensive backs the Cardinals selected in the 2024 draft.

He is long and very athletic, at almost 6-foot-2 and weighing 185 pounds. He is already 24 years old.

He ran the 40 in 4.44 seconds at the combine and posted a 42.5-inch vertical leap and 131-inch broad jump.

He was very productive getting his hands on the ball. Last season, he had five interceptions in only nine games and broke up 28 passes in 20 games over his final two seasons at Boston College.

With his signing, the Cardinals have only four draft picks remaining unsigned — first-round picks Marvin Harrison Jr. and Darius Robinson, third-round pick Trey Benson and fourth-round pick Dadrion Taylor Demerson.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

The Xs and Os with Greg Cosell: Best defensive scheme fits from the 2024 NFL draft

From the Cardinals’ new secondary to cornerback talent for the Eagles and Lions, Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar get into the best scheme fits from the 2024 NFL draft.

When teams select players in the draft, they’re not just basing those picks on the prospects’ athletic attributes — they’re also looking at how those prospects fit in the structures of their schemes.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” Greg (of NFL Films and ESPN’s NFL Matchup) and Doug (of Touchdown Wire and the USA Today Sports Media Group) discuss their favorite defensive scheme firs from the 2024 NFL draft. Greg and Doug already discussed their favorite offensive scheme fits in this draft, and you can find that right here.

  • The Arizona Cardinals’ secondary with cornerbacks Elijah Jones and Max Melton, and safety Dadrian Taylor-Demerson;
  • The Detroit Lions’ cornerback group with Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr.;
  • The Philadelphia Eagles’ secondary with cornerback Quinyon Mitchell and defensive back Cooper DeJean;
  • The Dallas Cowboys’ defensive line with DL Marshawn Kneeland;
  • The Buffalo Bills’ secondary with safety Cole Bishop;
  • The Green Bay Packers’ safeties with Javon Bullard and Kitan Oladapo;
  • The San Francisco 49ers’ secondary with Renardo Green and Malik Mustapha.

You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os” right here:

You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Contract terms for Cardinals 3rd-round pick, cornerback Elijah Jones

We have the numbers for the contract of third-round pick Elijah Jones.

Editor’s note: This information was given to Cards Wire too early. As of May 14, Jones has not yet signed his rookie contract. The below information probably will be the terms of the contract when it is official. 

The Arizona Cardinals selected 12 players in the draft just over two weeks ago and of the 257 total picked in the three-day event, more than 100 have already signed contracts.

Card Wire has learned the four-year contract terms for five of them. One is cornerback Elijah Jones, a third-round choice (No. 90 overall) from Boston College.

Jones signed a four-year contract worth $5,685,518 that included a signing bonus of $954,920.

The base salaries are $795,000 this year; $1,053,433 in 2025; $1,311,866 in 2026 and $1,570,299 in 2027. If Jones is still on the team in 2027, that salary will likely increase to whatever the lowest tender is for restricted free agents. This year, that figure is $2.985 million.

There is also a split aspect of the deal for 2024 if Jones lands on injured reserve, so he would not receive his full salary. The minimum split is $470,000.

The salary cap charge this year for Jones is $1,033,433. However, the net loss of cap space currently is negligible because his signing pushed a player out of the top 51.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Expected role for rookie CB Elijah Jones for Cardinals in 2024

Jones could be as much as a starter but quite possibly will have to make his impact on special teams.

With the 90th pick in the 2024 NFL draft, the final of their four selections in the third round, the Arizona Cardinals selected cornerback Elijah Jones out of Boston College.

He is a long, very athletic cornerback with incredible ball skills.

He picked off five passes in only nine games in his final season and had seven interceptions and 21 pass breakups in his final 20 college games.

What can he be expected to do as a rookie for the Cardinals?

He has the potential to be a great boundary cornerback.

However, in 2024, there is basically one starting job up for grabs and he is competing with second-round pick Max Melton, 2023 fifth-round pick Kei’Trel Clark and others. Free agent signing Sean Murphy-Bunting will start and 2023 third-round pick Garrett Williams is likely to start again, as he did the last half of his rookie season when he returned from a torn ACL.

So he could be the third cornerback in the rotation if he beats out Melton, whom the Cardinals drafted 43rd overall.

What is more reasonable to expect is for him to be a solid special teams player. He played special teams all through college so it won’t be much of an adjustment.

So, at minimum, he will play on special teams. He could end up being in the defensive rotation.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

How the Arizona Cardinals got themselves a whole new secondary in the 2024 NFL Draft

The Arizona Cardinals may have had the NFL’s worst secondary in 2023, and they addressed that with a passion in the 2024 NFL draft.

Last season, the Arizona Cardinals ranked dead last in Defensive DVOA, and only the Washington Commanders “led” by Jack Del Rio (until Del Rio was fired) and Ron Rivera were worse in DVOA against the pass. Head coach Jonathan Gannon didn’t have a lot to work with in the secondary — safety Jalen Thompson was the only Arizona defensive back in 2023 who allowed an opponent passer rating of less than 80.0, and only Thompson had more than one interception with his four.

So, general manager Monti Ossenfort, assistant GM Dave Sears, and Gannon had a lot they needed to accomplish in the draft. Certainly in terms of draft currency, they did all they could to improve things with the selections of Rutgers cornerback Max Melton with the 43rd overall pick in the second round, Boston College cornerback Elijah Jones with the 90th overall pick in the third round, and Texas Tech safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson with the 104th overall pick in the fourth round.

Both Melton and Jones are true outside stopper cornerbacks, and Taylor-Demerson has the range to play the deep third, leaving Jalen Thompson to do his thing closer to the line of scrimmage. If all these guys pan out early, the Cardinals could have one of the NFL’s most obviously-transformed secondaries in the 2024 season.

“I had about 20 [minutes] with him,” Gannon said of Max Melton in the pre-draft process. “Just his seriousness and intensity, honestly. This guy’s a very serious person. The mentality that we’re looking for fits the price of admission and [after] having him talk through some things, I could tell he was very well-schooled, well-trained, well-coached, and he understood what they were trying to get done there. I really fell in love with his mindset, his attitude and his demeanor. He walked down and I was like that’s a serious person and I liked that.”.

Last season, Melton allowed 24 catches on 44 targets for 252 yards, 72 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, three interceptions, three pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 65.7.

As for Elijah Jones, he was one of the NCAA’s better true island cornerbacks in this class — he allowed 13 catches on 40 targets for 194 yards, 58 yards after the catch, one touchdown, five interceptions, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 18.1 — which means that opposing quarterbacks were better off throwing the ball into the stands than they were trying to get it past Jones.

Taylor-Demerson was one of my favorite defensive backs in this draft, and my favorite deep-third safety. I was happy to see that the Cardinals see him in a similar fashion.

“Absolutely, he’s played safety down there for them,” Ossenfort said of Taylor-Demerson as a deep-third defender. “Really his best attributes I’d say are his range and his ball skills. He really has a nose for the football. I think he’s going to be able to play the deep half of the field and then we’ll see what else he can do. Versatility will come after that, but we think he brings a versatile element and range to the back half of the defense.”

My scouting report agrees.

Rookie CB Elijah Jones gets normal CB number instead of old college number

Cardinals third-round pick Elijah Jones wore No. 1 in college but will wear No. 28 in the NFL.

The Arizona Cardinals’ rookies and more will take the first on Thursday for the first day of rookie minicamp. They will don their professional numbers in practice for the first time.

The team hasn’t announced their rookie numbers yet but they have been revealed.

Third-round pick cornerback Elijah Jo

He will; nes, the 90th pick in the draft out of Boston College, wore No. 1 in college. He can’t wear that in Arizona, as that number belongs to quarterback Kyler Murray.

So what number will he wear?

He gets No. 28, worn last season by safety Qwuantrezz Knight. Before that, it belonged to special teams ace and safety Charles Washington.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

CB Elijah Jones adds length, athleticism, upside in Round 3

The Arizona Cardinals added length and athleticism to the CB room, but Elijah Jones, selected No. 90 overall, was projected to go much later.

The Arizona Cardinals had four third-round picks in the 2024 NFL draft and used the final of them, the 90th selection overall, on cornerback Elijah Jones out of Boston College.

He was the second of three cornerbacks the Cardinals drafted.

Jones is another good pick, although some experts would argue the value.

Selected 90th overall and in the third round, Dane Brugler had a fifth-round projection and he was prospect No. 130 for Daniel Jeremiah.

Based on that, he was a reach.

He is nearly 6-foot-2 and weighed in at 185 pounds at the combine. He is a freak athlete, posting a 4.44-second 40, a 42.5-inch vertical leap and 131-inch broad jump.

He is old for a draftee, having played six seasons in college. He is already 24 years old and will turn 25 in January.

But he is a ballhawk. He had five interceptions in nine games last season and, over his last two seasons, he picked off seven passes and broke up 28 passes in 20 games. That is incredible on-ball production.

He had a four-game absence with a non-injury issue he would not elaborate on after he was drafted but the team was clearly ok with it.

He profiles similarly to new Cardinals cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting.

If he can’t crack the defensive rotation, he has experience on special teams, starting four years as a punt gunner, and this athleticism will be helpful there.

He has a high upside. His value where he was drafted compared to where he was expected to go is not great. And the Cardinals could have targeted a pass rusher like Jalyx Hunt or Adita Isaac at No. 90.

That said, he is a good fit, could play but perhaps the Cardinals should have gone with a different position at that point.

This selection deserves a B-plus.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

POLL: Grade the Cardinals’ selection of CB Elijah Jones in Round 3

The Cardinals selected cornerback Elijah Jones with the 90th pick in the draft. What grade do you give the pick?

The Arizona Cardinals had four picks in the fourth round, and for their fourth pick, the 90th in the draft, they selected Boston College cornerback Elijah Jones.

Jones is older, having spent six years in college. He missed the final four games of last season for personal reasons. He is long at 6-1 1/2 and athletic.

He had great on-ball production, too. In nine games last season, he picked off five passes and broke up 13. Over the last two seasons, he had seven interceptions and 28 pass breakups.

What do you think of the pick?

Give the pick a grade in the poll linked here and also embedded.

You can see live results linked here.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.