There will be a lot of dynamic pass-rushers drafted in the 2013 NFL Draft. Some of the prospects have really divided opinion amongst draft analysts. Others are consensus top ten picks. One of the more controversial guys is Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis Jones. If he’d declared last year, a lot of people thought he’d go in the top five picks. However, he chose to return to Georgia for his junior year. Was that a wise choice? Let’s take a look at what the film tells us about him as a player.
| Ht | Wt | Class | Ranking | Projection |
| 6'2" | 245 | Junior | 3rd | Mid-Late First |
Strengths
Pass Rush: Jones didn’t end up with 28 sacks in two years by being bad at rushing the passer. He’s quick off the snap and has the flexibility to bend the edge. Georgia often ran stunts with him circling inside a defensive tackle, and his closing burst is terrific. He has a good bull-rush that he was especially effective with when he preceded it with a quick punch to the chest of the blocker.
Strength: He’s stronger than you’d expect for a 245-pound outside linebacker. His punch to the chest and subsequent bull-rush often had tackles reeling on their heels. When he catches ballcarriers behind the line of scrimmage, he has the strength to stop them in their tracks and throw them to the ground. He’s also has powerful hands as he rips at the ball, evidenced by his nine forced fumbles over the last two years.
Persistence: While Jones did end up with an exceptional 44 tackles for a loss in the last two years, he’s not at his best with the play in front of him. He was routinely blocked out of plays when teams ran right at him, sometimes by only a tight end. He’s much more comfortable and effective chasing plays down from the side and behind. He can hit like a ton of bricks and forced some fumbles by the sheer force of his hits. Many of his sacks were of the relentless pursuit variety, rather than overpowering or speeding past a lineman. He has a motor that never slows.
Weaknesses
Size: He’s small--even by outside linebacker standards--and his arms look pretty short. On many occasions, he was overpowered and sealed out of the play by even just a good blocking tight end. He will consistently underwhelm in the NFL if he’s forced to always take on talented left tackles and double-teams.
Agility: The downside to that is that he’s not particularly agile in space. He doesn’t break down and redirect very quickly, and his balance is less than stellar. He often blew into the backfield, just to whiff on a running back because he couldn’t change direction quickly enough. He has excellent straight-line speed, but he doesn’t operate very well in a phone booth.
Technical Refinement: While he’s an explosive and accomplished pass-rusher, he doesn’t flash much technical ability. He occasionally uses strong, violent hands to attack and disengage a blocker as a pass-rusher, but when playing the run he tends to lower his shoulder and allow blockers into his body, easily eliminating himself from plays. He also runs himself out of plays by sprinting the edge really quickly and letting himself get pushed out behind the pocket. He uses a swim move to get through a gap, and he flashed a largely ineffective spin move on occasion, but he’ll need to learn a club and/or a rip move to really take it to the next level as a pass rusher.
Health: The biggest red flag on Jones’ docket is his health. He was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spine in his neck. While it may not be an immediate threat to his overall well-being, several players with the same condition have had to retire early. Marcus McNeill, an offensive tackle for the San Diego Chargers, is one of the most recent examples. It’s very possible that Jones will only be able to play until he’s 27 or 28.
Bottom Line
Jarvis Jones is a frustrating prospect, in my opinion. I can see his potential, and his production is certainly enticing. But he just doesn’t play at a high level consistently enough for me. Many people compare him to Von Miller, but he’s not nearly that strong, quick, or versatile as a pass-rusher. He’s pretty meh in pass coverage, so I’m not sure he’d be an effective Sam linebacker. He may be purely a 3-4 rush linebacker, like Ahmad Brooks. However, Brooks has almost twenty pounds on Jones, and Jones already has agility problems at 245.
He'd project pretty well as a LEO end in a scheme like Seattle's or Jacksonville's. He's not quite as fast as Bruce Irvin, or as strong as Miller, but if he could spend most of his time one-on-one situations with an offensive lineman, he could be a productive player, especially as he adds moves to his pass rush repertoire.
Without the health problems, I’d say he probably deserves a late first round grade, based mostly on production and potential. If he has a ticking time bomb in his neck and may only play for a half a dozen years, I wouldn’t want to spend a first round pick on him at all.
He'll likely end up being drafted in the mid to late first just because it's hard to pass up an intriguing prospect with 28 sacks, 44 tackles for a loss, and nine forced fumbles in two years.
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