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Opinion divided on where LSU safety Chad Jones will be drafted
http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/04/opinion_divided_on_where_lsu_s.html
By James Varney, The Times-Picayune
April 19, 2010, 8:01AM
When Chad Jones arrived on campus at LSU as a celebrated two-sport athlete he declared his first love was baseball. Later this week, Jones will learn where he will ply his trade as a professional in football.
Susan Poag/The Times-PicayuneLSU safety Chad Jones Jones, to the surprise of some, declared for the NFL draft after his junior year with the Tigers, the first in which he started the entire season at free safety. That announcement came several months after Jones, in the new role of relief pitcher, helped LSU win the College World Series.
There isn't any question, then, about Jones' contributions to LSU athletics. The question many are asking is if he wouldn't have been better off spending another year in college, honing his game and perhaps giving himself a clearer picture of where his best future lay.
After all, Jones already has some draft experience: as a senior coming out of high school, the Houston Astros selected him in the 13th round of the major league baseball draft.
"As of right now I believe I've wrapped my baseball career up," he said at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. "I've had a good run at LSU. I loved it. I wouldn't have done it any different. But it's now time for me to pursue my real love, which is football."
Like many players who enter the draft with more talent than experience, opinion is divided on where Jones will go in the draft, which begins Thursday night. Draft guru Mel Kiper believes Jones has the skill set to play in the NFL and may go in the third round; other analysts have been less charitable.
The sour mood on Jones is traceable primarily to the combine, where Jones startled some teams by bench-pressing weight only nine times. That low output - the safeties expected to go in the first round pumped out 20 or more reps - even became the butt of jokes on ESPN radio.
"Ever since the combine I think some air has come out of his sails," Pro Football Weekly draft analyst Nolan Nawrocki said. "I think there are some real issues there as well about the overall character and determination, and his overall makeup. Teams that interviewed him at the combine - they're allowed 60 interviews - and one team said it was the worst interview they had of their 60."
Nawrocki predicted Jones would be a fourth-round pick because he does not see him as a starter, at least in the near future.
But Nawrocki's vague knocks on Jones character do not jibe with the Jones who has unquestionably matured at LSU. As a freshman, particularly after he failed to earn a starting job on the baseball team, Jones sometimes seemed disinterested and baseball coach Paul Mainieri grew exasperated with the heralded recruit.
But sometime between the end of his freshman year and now that changed, as Mainieri was the first to acknowledge. Well before the Tigers went to Omaha and claimed the College World Series, Mainieri spoke about how Jones had "grown up," and football coach Les Miles praised Jones, too, when camp opened last summer and Jones earned the starting role long expected of him.
Off the field, too, Jones became more comfortable with his situation and media attention. He is a father who comes from a solid home - his father, Alfred, was captain of the football team at Tulane University - and his brother, Rahim Alem, is also hoping to be drafted this weekend. In short, the notion Jones is trouble is false.
In addition, while his 4.57 time in the 40 failed to create a positive buzz, there was no denying his fluid movement and good hands during position drills at LSU's Pro Day. He remains a guy with proven capabilities in pressure situations, who can make an electrifying play on special teams (see his punt return for a touchdown in Starkville last year) or defense (his hit at the goal line that broke up a potential fourth-quarter score against Arkansas, a game LSU won in overtime).
"I'm that guy that fires up the team, makes the big plays, makes the big turnovers," Jones said. "I'm that guy that's going to be in the middle of the field making the calls, making the checks and getting everybody lined up."
It probably also doesn't help Jones that the 2010 draft also features a safety, Eric Berry of Tennessee, who perhaps more than any other is the consensus best at a position. Berry, a three-time All-American with 10 career interceptions, appears a lock to be the first safety taken Thursday night, even though his statistics as a junior in the Southeastern Conference were not noticeably superior to Jones'.
Right behind Berry are Earl Thomas of Texas and Taylor Mays of USC, players who saw their draft stock move in opposite directions during the 2009 season. Thomas had a huge, breakout year as a sophomore, while Mays, a certain first-round choice in the 2009 draft, instead chose to return to the Trojans for his senior year. That did not go as well as he hoped, and some analysts wonder if he remains a first-round selection.
The safety position is deeper in this draft than cornerback, which underscores the value of an elite cover man. Florida's Joe Haden, an underclassman but three-year starter for the Gators, is regarded as the best cornerback in the draft, but there are questions about his speed. Still, he and Boise State's Kyle Wilson seem likely to go in the first round.
Staff writer Jim Kleinpeter contributed to this report James Varney can be reached at [email protected] or at 504.717.1156
http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/04/opinion_divided_on_where_lsu_s.html
By James Varney, The Times-Picayune
April 19, 2010, 8:01AM
When Chad Jones arrived on campus at LSU as a celebrated two-sport athlete he declared his first love was baseball. Later this week, Jones will learn where he will ply his trade as a professional in football.
Susan Poag/The Times-PicayuneLSU safety Chad Jones Jones, to the surprise of some, declared for the NFL draft after his junior year with the Tigers, the first in which he started the entire season at free safety. That announcement came several months after Jones, in the new role of relief pitcher, helped LSU win the College World Series.
There isn't any question, then, about Jones' contributions to LSU athletics. The question many are asking is if he wouldn't have been better off spending another year in college, honing his game and perhaps giving himself a clearer picture of where his best future lay.
After all, Jones already has some draft experience: as a senior coming out of high school, the Houston Astros selected him in the 13th round of the major league baseball draft.
"As of right now I believe I've wrapped my baseball career up," he said at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. "I've had a good run at LSU. I loved it. I wouldn't have done it any different. But it's now time for me to pursue my real love, which is football."
Like many players who enter the draft with more talent than experience, opinion is divided on where Jones will go in the draft, which begins Thursday night. Draft guru Mel Kiper believes Jones has the skill set to play in the NFL and may go in the third round; other analysts have been less charitable.
The sour mood on Jones is traceable primarily to the combine, where Jones startled some teams by bench-pressing weight only nine times. That low output - the safeties expected to go in the first round pumped out 20 or more reps - even became the butt of jokes on ESPN radio.
"Ever since the combine I think some air has come out of his sails," Pro Football Weekly draft analyst Nolan Nawrocki said. "I think there are some real issues there as well about the overall character and determination, and his overall makeup. Teams that interviewed him at the combine - they're allowed 60 interviews - and one team said it was the worst interview they had of their 60."
Nawrocki predicted Jones would be a fourth-round pick because he does not see him as a starter, at least in the near future.
But Nawrocki's vague knocks on Jones character do not jibe with the Jones who has unquestionably matured at LSU. As a freshman, particularly after he failed to earn a starting job on the baseball team, Jones sometimes seemed disinterested and baseball coach Paul Mainieri grew exasperated with the heralded recruit.
But sometime between the end of his freshman year and now that changed, as Mainieri was the first to acknowledge. Well before the Tigers went to Omaha and claimed the College World Series, Mainieri spoke about how Jones had "grown up," and football coach Les Miles praised Jones, too, when camp opened last summer and Jones earned the starting role long expected of him.
Off the field, too, Jones became more comfortable with his situation and media attention. He is a father who comes from a solid home - his father, Alfred, was captain of the football team at Tulane University - and his brother, Rahim Alem, is also hoping to be drafted this weekend. In short, the notion Jones is trouble is false.
In addition, while his 4.57 time in the 40 failed to create a positive buzz, there was no denying his fluid movement and good hands during position drills at LSU's Pro Day. He remains a guy with proven capabilities in pressure situations, who can make an electrifying play on special teams (see his punt return for a touchdown in Starkville last year) or defense (his hit at the goal line that broke up a potential fourth-quarter score against Arkansas, a game LSU won in overtime).
"I'm that guy that fires up the team, makes the big plays, makes the big turnovers," Jones said. "I'm that guy that's going to be in the middle of the field making the calls, making the checks and getting everybody lined up."
It probably also doesn't help Jones that the 2010 draft also features a safety, Eric Berry of Tennessee, who perhaps more than any other is the consensus best at a position. Berry, a three-time All-American with 10 career interceptions, appears a lock to be the first safety taken Thursday night, even though his statistics as a junior in the Southeastern Conference were not noticeably superior to Jones'.
Right behind Berry are Earl Thomas of Texas and Taylor Mays of USC, players who saw their draft stock move in opposite directions during the 2009 season. Thomas had a huge, breakout year as a sophomore, while Mays, a certain first-round choice in the 2009 draft, instead chose to return to the Trojans for his senior year. That did not go as well as he hoped, and some analysts wonder if he remains a first-round selection.
The safety position is deeper in this draft than cornerback, which underscores the value of an elite cover man. Florida's Joe Haden, an underclassman but three-year starter for the Gators, is regarded as the best cornerback in the draft, but there are questions about his speed. Still, he and Boise State's Kyle Wilson seem likely to go in the first round.
Staff writer Jim Kleinpeter contributed to this report James Varney can be reached at [email protected] or at 504.717.1156
DAL @ GB
