Skip to content
Eagles
Link copied to clipboard

Connecticut's Jones could be a draft target for Eagles

There's a picture on Twitter of a shirtless Byron Jones at Connecticut's pro day, and he's surrounded by the Eagles' brain trust of evaluators.

There's a picture on Twitter of a shirtless Byron Jones at Connecticut's pro day, and he's surrounded by the Eagles' brain trust of evaluators.

Chip Kelly is there, as are vice president of player personnel Ed Marynowitz, defensive coordinator Bill Davis, and senior consultant Tom Donahoe. Putting aside the likely awkwardness of the encounter, the photograph was just another clue that the Eagles have great interest in the cornerback from Connecticut.

A week after that March 31 meeting, the Eagles expended one of their 30 predraft visits on Jones. And even as late as Friday, a contingent of assistant coaches was in Storrs, Conn., to work out the freakishly athletic corner one last time.

As proven in the two previous drafts, the Eagles under Kelly don't waste time on prospects they don't have more than a passing interest in. As Marynowitz said last week, "We're not into going just to go. We're not into smokescreens."

The attention is just one reason Jones could be the guy the Eagles select in the first round when the NFL draft begins Thursday. He checks off nearly every requirement Kelly has for prospects, and further for cornerbacks.

Jones is long. He's 6-foot-1, 199 pounds, and has 32-inch arms. He's fast. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.36 seconds at his pro day. He can jump out of the building. Jones set a combine record with a 147-inch broad jump. He followed that up with a combine-best 441/2-inch vertical leap.

His performance had some calling Jones just an "underwear Olympics superstar," as NFL Network analyst and former Eagles scout Daniel Jeremiah noted. But the tape, Jeremiah said, backs up the hype. He had Jones ranked in his top 50 before the combine and currently 38th overall.

"He's a good player when you study him on tape," Jeremiah said. "The year before, you go back and watch him against Michigan and watch the plays he makes in that game as a press corner, can locate the ball down the field, he's physical. And then this year you saw him play in the boundary, [he] had a bad shoulder so he missed tackles, but he has good feet."

The Eagles want physical corners with long arms who can play man-press defense. Jones missed seven games last season with a shoulder injury, however, which could explain why some scouts have him as a second-day selection.

"His is a little bit of an incomplete half of a grade because he missed a little bit of the season," Marynowitz said. "So you go back to 2013 film and watch him there as well. . . . But his combine performance was obviously very impressive, and you weigh that in. Obviously, he has certain athleticism and tools in his body that are unique and rare."

Some evaluators believe Jones could be just as effective as an NFL safety.

"If somebody is interested in him as a safety because there are no safeties in this draft, I guess I can kind of understand that. I think he could do it," Jeremiah said. "But to me, I look at the safety position when you're moving those guys because they can't play corner. I think this guy can play corner, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see him sneak into the first round."

The Eagles need help at safety, but they also need outside corners. Jones' versatility - he could always start at one position and move to another - should also intrigue Kelly. Add in the fact that he has no apparent character problems, and there's a strong possibility Roger Goodell announces Jones' name when the Eagles pick at No. 20.