There are some prospects who rise their stock throughout the draft process; Velus Jones Jr is one of those guys. After six seasons in college football, Jones was projected to be only a fourth or fifth round pick in this years’ NFL draft. It all began at the Reese’s Senior Bowl, then he backed it up at the NFL Combine. Now being mocked to go in the second or third round.
Jones played at University of Southern California for two years then transferred to the University of Tennessee in 2020. He only pulled in 22 passes for 280 yards and three touchdowns his first year. But once Josh Heupel was hired as the Head Coach, in 2021, and then brought in Kelsey Pope to be the wide receivers coach, Jones took off. He thrived in the no-huddle offense where he was primarily running routes out of the slot.
Last season, Jones caught 62 passes for over 800 yards, seven touchdowns and had three games where he had over 100+ receiving yards. He ended the season with 1,722 all-purpose yards, which was third in the SEC conference.
With Jones turning 25 years old at start of the 2022 NFL season, there are some concerns within the draft community on how much he could actually improve after getting to the next level. One thing that cannot be ignored is his breakout season once he got into the right system. We can make the argument that if he just landed in that scheme to begin with, he could have flourished; but he’s only just now getting started. With the right NFL team, Jones could turn out to be a diamond in the rough.
Let’s go to the film to see what he can add to an NFL roster.