Not all Alabama products were meant to be early picks in the NFL draft. Cyrus Jones has some things working for him despite the low projections, which is why the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers & Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been showing interest.
He has worked out or will do that with each one of these teams in a busy pre-draft period for Jones. Often players teams aren’t quite sure what they can get out of get these kind of invitations, unlike higher-projections with very little doubt about who’ll take them and when.
So what’s the story with Jones? He’s another receiver turned defensive back, who did very well at cornerback for Alabama during his last two seasons on the team, especially in 2015. He’s also a fantastic punt returner with four touchdowns last season on 42 attempts, making him more than just a defensive player to look at. He also had two interceptions last season, and is always a potential to turn one of those into a pick six.
However, Jones isn’t tall (5’10) and isn’t fast the way NFL teams love to see from their cornerbacks. He’s good in press coverages, but in longer man to man situation might get beaten often by his man in the NFL, not to mention it’ll be a problem for him handling big receivers. He seems to get drawn into stupid Twitter fights with fans who easily irk him, but that might provide fuel for the fire that drives him. Teams might be slightly concerned about a domestic violence charge that was dropped against him last spring.
So Jones isn’t going to be better than a late second round pick in terms of the draft. In the NFL? While he has some things working for him, he’ll probably start off as someone used as the nickel back and not one of the two cover corners, while his special teams credentials can initially give him some touches in punt situations.