Saturday, May 4, 2013

Don Jones

With Miami having traded away their pick in the sixth round, they made their final selection of 2013 in the seventh round. The final Dolphin to be added to the roster was the athletic corner/safety from Arkansas State, Don Jones. Despite possessing rare athleticism, Jones will most likely struggle to make the roster, needing to really shine on special teams if he wants to stick around. Let's take a look at the last man in our recap of the draft.

What he does well: When you watch any tape on Jones (and, being from Arkansas State, there isn't much), two things stand out to me right away. His athleticism and his aggressiveness. At his pro day, Jones exhibited his athletic ability, running the 40 yard dash in 4.41 seconds, putting up a mark of 10' 7" in the broad jump and leaping 42" in the vertical jump. This athleticism, along with his size (5'11" 190lbs) showcases the fact that Jones, despite being from a relatively unknown school, has the physical tools to play his position at the next level. When watching his tape, you see that Jones makes decisions quickly and doesn't over-think situations. He sees what he sees and attacks. He's very aggressive in both the pass game and the run game, and is not afraid to stick his nose in there and hit someone.

What he needs to improve: Along with the aggressiveness comes the possibility of being out of position. From the little film that I've watched on the guy, he seems to be out of position quite often. He's aggressive almost to a fault, running past the ball carrier or right into where the blocker wants him to go, completely taking himself out of position to make a play.

Where he fits: If Jones is going to make the team this season, it's most likely going to be as a special teams player, most likely in the gunner position on punts. Miami has drafted several DB's as well as already having several on the roster and it is very unlikely that a seventh round pick from the Sun Belt conference is going to be able to unseat one of those veterans in his rookie season. If Jones is able to showcase his abilities in the special teams game, he should be able to stick around, possibly long enough to further learn the safety position and potentially make the team in the future not only as a special teamer, but as a full blown safety.

Highlight video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpIk4xUTRA0

Well, that's it folks, my look into the Miami Dolphins draft class has come to an end. All in all, it was a very successful draft for us, despite almost completely ignoring our biggest problem area. The need for a left tackle to protect Tannehill's blindside is still something that needs to be addressed, and the fact that they didn't do so in the draft is the reason that I can't give Miami any higher grade than a B on this draft class. Though you never really know about a draft class until three to four years after, so this may turn out to be a much better draft than we initially thought.

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