I've read he was the weakest link on that Bama line when he was moving around. I personally think he's still not a very powerful player. And from the little I've seen of him, he's not quick enough to play guard. Probably not quick enough to play center either. It's just a shame that we waste 4th round picks like this...I'd rather draft a high upside with character concerns and work with those guys emotionally...Maybe they work out, if not, cut them....
As far as drafting a center, naw...rather try Barnes & Rhaney....draft a OG and RT...
In my opinion, that's not true. Jones was a really good college Center.
But I do agree, he's not a very powerful player. Gotta hope he can continue to add functional strength and bulk.
But a waste of a 4th round pick? AGAIN, it's too early to go there.
BTW, I do not agree at all that you should take high upside guys with character concerns rather than overachievers with great character and production that lack measurables. I think it comes down to a case by case basis...as with anything draft related.
The 49ers drafted an overachiever in the 3rd round named Chris Borland who is tearing it up for them right now.
That's damn good to hear jrry. I was hoping that someone with good eyes would give us some skinny. I'm not all that convinced with the rest of your post but I do trust your judgment on player evals.
If he looks good like you said then why isn't he getting more reps on special teams? Still, that's darn good news. Hope springs eternal.
I just rewatched all the snaps he played against KC and I think he should be given a chance to play this year. It's possible they're not playing him because Wells is a better run blocker.
Jones is a really smart guy and that's evident when you watch him. He knows his assignment and does it the way it's drawn up. Really good use of positioning. He does a nice job of sustaining his blocks as well...strong grip and good hand placement.
The two big issues I saw in the KC game are that he still seems under-powered as he doesn't have a great anchor in pass pro and he positions himself well while run blocking but doesn't blow people off the LOS and that Jones has a pretty soft punch.
But watching him play, he wasn't a liability. He may not have a ton of upside but I don't think he'd hurt us at Center. Guard is a different story. I don't think he has enough strength to start at OG.
He made 2 or 3 really good blocks in that game. On one play that only resulted in a 3 yard gain, Jones came off the LOS and handled Vance Walker one on one and then passed him off to Joseph who joined in on the block, kicked out, and sealed Dee Ford. It created a huge alley for Mason but, of course, Davin Joseph got beat right as Mason was about to run through the alley.
On another play, the DT hit Joseph with a vicious club move, disengaged, and Jones slid over and stonewalled him in pass pro.
However, there were some other plays where Jones gave up a bit too much ground while being bullrushed.
