2023 Draft

[theJ]

Jones did gain something like 20 lbs between the end of the season, and the combine.  Unless his playing weight was underreported, in which case OSU helped to torpedo their player.

But it's not just that with Jones.  His individual interviews must have went really poorly, because a 20 lb weight gain alone would not have made a fringe 1st rounder turn into a late second day pick.

[SmittyBacall]

1 hour ago, theJ said:

because a 20 lb weight gain alone would not have made a fringe 1st rounder turn into a late second day pick.

How do we know he was ever considered a fringe first rounder?

[theJ]

31 minutes ago, SmittyBacall said:

How do we know he was ever considered a fringe first rounder?

It's hard to say how teams do their evals.  I suppose it's more accurate to say he has the physical tools for a first rounder, but teams obviously had major concerns over his mental makeup.  Did they ever have him rated as a first rounder?  idk, who can say whether they do preliminary rankings and then adjust them, or just compile them at the end?

[sparky151]

The lead analyst for one of the NFL's broadcast partners had Jones going 11th overall to Tennessee in his mock the day before the draft. He talks to lots of teams so there may have been some who had Jones rated as a first round talent. It's not like he had bad film. 

The whole narrative that he was fat and lazy is belied by the fact he played 75 snaps vs Michigan and 70 vs Georgia. Smitty is seizing on a rumor but there are lots of rumors at draft time. Don't believe them. 

 

[theJ]

4 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

The lead analyst for one of the NFL's broadcast partners had Jones going 11th overall to Tennessee in his mock the day before the draft. He talks to lots of teams so there may have been some who had Jones rated as a first round talent. It's not like he had bad film. 

The whole narrative that he was fat and lazy is belied by the fact he played 75 snaps vs Michigan and 70 vs Georgia. Smitty is seizing on a rumor but there are lots of rumors at draft time. Don't believe them. 

 

If there was a team that had him as a first rounder, wouldn't they have picked him sometime in the first 3 rounds?  All 32 teams passed 2-4 times on him.  I won't buy the argument that there were 50 first rounders or something crazy and they always had someone higher.

You can keep arguing that he was a first round talent, and i'd agree.  But the fact is that 32 NFL teams passed over him for mental makeup reasons.  Several times.  There is no other explanation.

[SmittyBacall]

13 hours ago, theJ said:

If there was a team that had him as a first rounder, wouldn't they have picked him sometime in the first 3 rounds?  All 32 teams passed 2-4 times on him.  I won't buy the argument that there were 50 first rounders or something crazy and they always had someone higher.

You can keep arguing that he was a first round talent, and i'd agree.  But the fact is that 32 NFL teams passed over him for mental makeup reasons.  Several times.  There is no other explanation.

Not to mention, the guy didn’t test at all, which is another huge red flag. One can only assume it’s because he would have tested terribly. To think a “rumor” that he gained 20 lbs is solely to blame for his “slide” is naive. 

[SmittyBacall]

 

[sparky151]

19 hours ago, theJ said:

If there was a team that had him as a first rounder, wouldn't they have picked him sometime in the first 3 rounds?  All 32 teams passed 2-4 times on him.  I won't buy the argument that there were 50 first rounders or something crazy and they always had someone higher.

You can keep arguing that he was a first round talent, and i'd agree.  But the fact is that 32 NFL teams passed over him for mental makeup reasons.  Several times.  There is no other explanation.

It depends on their needs and who else was available. Lots of teams had Will Levis rated as a first rounder but he fell out of it. 

 

22 minutes ago, SmittyBacall said:

 

Thanks for posting this.

My view is that teams that ignored his tape and passed on him because he said his dream job was in the NBA made a basic mistake and deserve to be punished for it. It's about as meaningful a question as asking what kind of tree or animal they would be. 

 

[theJ]

I think i'm done talking about a fourth round pick. 

lol

[INbengalfan]

6 hours ago, theJ said:

I think i'm done talking about a fourth round pick. 

lol

And one that our in-state rivals took, not us

[sparky151]

For what it's worth, Jones was interviewed in Cleveland and says it's not true he told a team he wanted to play in the NBA. 

[Beck Bristow]

On 5/3/2023 at 12:46 PM, SmittyBacall said:

 

Ohio State media always talked about Dawand being a basketball player primarily late into high school and how that was always his dream. So this isn't a new thing. I'm guessing this is just that this is a big guy who moves well, needs refinement and they want to know he's in love with football so they trust him to do the work.

[sparky151]

Yes, he came to football relatively late. It's why he was pretty unpolished and a 3 star recruit. OSU saw the potential and signed him and he worked his butt off to become a starter. A couple years ago, people were projecting other players as OSU's starting RT. Jones won the job and continue to develop, making several all American teams last year. 

 

To hear people talk about him, you'd think he was out of shape and getting gassed and having to tap out of games. But that wasn't the case for Jones, more so for Jalen Carter.