Scouting The Draft, Chad Jones, S, LSU

By David Wyatt Hupton Feb 7, 2010, 2:23pm EST

via <a href="http://media.al.com/press-register-sports/photo/chad-jonesjpg-0e2d364280ab4c95_large.jpg">media.al.com</a> — via media.al.com

That's right, were going for the double here on GGN today, and bringing you two reports on the same day. That's how good we are to you. As a LSU baseball fan, let me just get this out of the way straight away, Chad Jones was part of the 2009 NCAA College World Series winning LSU Tigers, so I already think of him pretty fondly as a an athlete, will try and stay impartial on the football scouting though, even though I'm high on his game anyway.

Firstly I will say that it is going to be near impossible to keep Taylor Mays talk out of this thread, but we have gone over him 3-4 times already, people know how I feel about him, and I know how others do, so if we can, let's keep the focus on Chad Jones in the comment section.

SEC seems to be the preferred college football conference to show over here, so it has given me a good chance to really get a look at him on every down to see his positioning, how he reads the game, and his movement even when he is not in on the play. Although I do wish the camera angle would be a little wider so you can pick up all the players, but that's a 'grinds my gears' that we can hold for another occasion.

When Chad decided to leave school for the NFL, it was devastating news to two head coaches, Les Miles of the football team and Paul Mainieri of the baseball team:

"My attitude has always been that a young person has to do what they think is best for their own life," Mainieri said. "I feel very grateful that he was a part of our program for two years. He helped us win a national championship last year. And I loved coaching him. He’s a wonderful young man. I’m sorry that we’re not going to have him any longer."

Career Stats

2007- 14 games played, 34 tackles, 4 passes broken up, 2 sacks, 1 interception

2008- 13 games played, 50 tackles, 6 passes broken up, 0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interceptions

2009- 13 games played, 74 tackles, 6 passes broken up, 1 forced fumble, 3 interceptions

Career Achievements & Awards

2009 Second Team All SEC (AP)

2009 Second Team All SEC (Coaches)

Walter Camp, National Defensive Player of the Week (September 2009)

2009 NCAA College World Series Champion

More after the jump:

So what does Chad Jones do well?

Has excellent size and strength, stands at 6'3 and weighs 231lb's. Is a big game player, some of his best games have come on the biggest stage against some of the better teams. Knocked down the final pass against Florida to win the game for LSU, Sacked and forced a fumble v Alabama in 2007 to set up the game winning drive. Is excellent in coverage which likely comes as a result of him playing corner for LSU in 2007. Will hit like a ton of bricks, and players will think twice about coming over the middle. Also goes up and contests passes. Can be used up at the line like a linebacker, and either stay up and play the run or drop and play coverage and teams won't miss a beat. Is a very controlled safety who wraps up his tackles in the open field. Has versatility on defence, he can play zone, man up with a tight end, rush the passer or play the spy on players coming out of the backfield. Takes good routes to the ball.Comes from a defensive system with LSU.

So what does Chad Jones need to improve on?

Only has two years worth of starts at the safety position, even though he is a three year starter. Takes good routes to the ball but there is room for improvement. His back-pedal is suspect and needs to be less physical down the field or might get in penalty trouble at the next level. Doesn't have the best speed, and has to play his coverage spot on as doesn't necessarily have the 'elite' range for the free safety position. Could make more plays on the ball, needs to continue to improve this like he did between 2008 and 2009.

Final Word

Safety is not really a position of need for us, much like Dan Williams. If he fell to us in the second round, I would find it hard to criticise the pick as best player available, as he has first round talent. I like his athleticism, and he generally has a good skill set for the safety position. I'm thinking that if he has a good combine and pro day like I expect he will, he could creep into the very late stages of the first or more likely the early second round area. Whoever does pick him up is getting a great athlete, who plays his heart out every snap, and is dedicated to getting better. Wish him the best of luck, just don't think we need to go to that position with early selections. If he did happen to somehow fall to us in the 2nd and we took him, you wouldn't hear any complaints from me.

Highlights:

Was hitting hard in High School