A scouts look at Justin Jones

Justin Jones missed his senior season at East Carolina after being placed on the academically ineligible list, and he missed a majority of his sophomore season due to injuries. He is a raw player, but has the natural size and athleticism that makes him an intriguing prospect.

Physical Build:

At 6'8" Justin Jones is visually intriguing as a player. He has tight hips, which is expected for a player his size, but has decent speed once allowed to get going. He has solid length and body control, allowing for him to have a gigantic catch radius and become a quarterbacks best friend. He has a typical power forwards body and has the athleticism to be a factor at the position for the Patriots.

Route Running:

Jones is better out of a three point stance that the traditional two point stance for a receiver, he tends to have false steps out of a two point stance, allowing him to get off to a slow start off the line. While he does not the acceleration that top end TE's have, he has decent straight line speed to make plays up the seam. Most big receivers have trouble getting off of press coverage due to their lack of speed and burst, but Jones bends pretty well and is able to beat press coverages. His natural size and athleticism allow him the advantage against smaller players, but his route running skills will need to improve if he wants to have an impact in the NFL.

Open Field Ability:

As a big receiver you do not expect him to be able to do much in the open field. As primarily a possession receiver, he will earn his reputation as solid hands, as he will not be able to make many plays after the catch. The only after the catch yards he will gain will be on missed tackles due to his size.

Hands:

While you will see him make some spectacular catches, he is also known as a fairly inconsistent pass catcher. He will drop passes that he shouldn't, and catch passes that he shouldn't. He is an average pass catcher. His biggest advantage is that he has huge hands and a giant wingspan. So he is open even when covered. If he can solidify his pass catching abilities, he can become virtually indefensible.

Blocking

Blocking is where he will make the team, and where his size will pay the biggest dividends. The biggest problem with bigger players is that they have a tough time staying low against the players they are blocking. He has a tendency to be too high on his blocks at times. He does show good effort and he shows good energy and ability in run blocking. Jones looks solid in pass blocking as well, and could find a good role as an in line blocker that stays in to protect while Gronk releases.

Overall, his size and raw natural ability makes him an extremely interesting prospect. It will be interesting to see how the Patriots use him in the remainder of camp and whether he shows the soft hands and blocking ability that warrants a roster spot. Worst case scenario look for him to be added to the practice squad and have his name come up again at next years training camp, or if Gronk goes down again.

At the very least he can be a Hail Mary threat right?




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