Explosiveness: Jones isn’t overly quick or explosive. He’s not a sudden or twitched-up athlete capable of overwhelming offensive lineman right off the snap. I will give him credit for being decently quick in short spaces, especially given his size.
Pad Level/ Leverage: Jones does well to keep leverage despite his size. He rarely if ever pops up out of his stance at the snap and does a great job staying low to leverage offensive lineman out of their gaps.
Pass Rush Plan: Jones is a great pocket pusher with legitimate power and a potent bull rush. He’s got an arm-over move and club move he’s starting to develop, but they aren’t quite there yet. He’s not going to win a ton with speed or bend as a pass rusher, but he checks the box for the type of player he is.
Run Defense: Jones is an NFL-ready run defender, who checks every box in this area you could possibly ask for. He’s got grown-man strength, a great anchor, a consistent ability to disengage, and he’s very smart with how he eats blocks. He’s willing to split and hold two gaps to keep his linebackers clean too.
Versatility: Jones isn’t going to offer much outside of playing as a nose tackle or as a one-tech at the next level. He’s plug and play there, to be fair.
Strength/Power: Jones more than checks the box in this area. He’s incredibly strong at the point of attack. He frequently resets the line of scrimmage in the running game and collapses the pocket as a pass rusher. His strength held up against good competition at the Senior Bowl, too.
Block Shedding: Jones does a great job stacking and shedding blocks. He uses his functional strength and length to bench press offensive lineman off his chest. He’s a smart player who understands how to peek and then shed with good timing. He’s also willing to just eat up blocks when needed.
Hand Usage: Jones gets good initial placement inside the chest plate on pretty much every rep. He’s got great pop in his hands when he’s engaged too. He’ll need to get a little more accurate with his placement when using hand counters as a pass rusher.
Flexibility: Look, Jones is 330 pounds. There are some natural limitations to his game. With that said, I wouldn’t describe him as stiff. Jones can change directions fairly well and is somewhat quick in tight spaces.
Gap Shooting/ Lateral Ability: This isn’t really Jones’ game. He’s a stack and shed player, who will see most of his reps as a nose tackle in the NFL. He did have a couple of nice gap shooting plays against Army.
Summary: Travis Jones is an easy projection to the NFL. He’s a stalwart run defender with impressive functional strength, size, football IQ, and ability to collapse the pocket. He’ll be high on the board of any team that misses out on Jordan Davis or is looking for a two-gapper to bolster its run defense in the middle rounds.
Filed By: Dante Collinelli, Director of Scouting
Twitter: @DanteCollinelli