Cory Jones
Position: OLB
Hometown (School): Washington, DC (Archbishop Carroll)
Height/Weight: 6'3" 220 lbs
Committed to Virginia: 01/26/14
Lead Recruiter:
Jones was committed to Toledo before a couple of visits to Charlottesville. First, he took an unofficial visit and came away impressed. Later that same week, he took an official visit and was convinced to join up by some other members of this class.
Jones only started playing football this year. His game had been basketball. He was a power forward. A 6'3" power forward. In case you aren't a basketball fan, 6'3" isn't a PF in DI. Or DII, to be honest. So, Jones switched over to the gridiron and played DE. He racked up over 20 sacks as a senior.
Here is a highlight film from his senior season:
The video quality is poor, and there's nothing highlighting which player Jones is, so you're left guessing on many plays. He's #9, if that helps at all. What you see is an athletic guy who is in the backfield over and over again. Obviously, this is a highlight reel, so you wouldn't expect to see plays where he gets stonewalled by an OL. But Jones seems adept at getting past blockers and making plays once he gets there.
He's being recruited by the Hoos to play OLB, as he's well undersized for a DE. He's actually undersized for an OLB as well, but that will be changed by a redshirt year spent in the gym. Jones has the athleticism for the position, and will be tutored by Jon Tenuta during his redshirt season to pick up the nuances of playing LB. He'll be used in a role similar to Max Valles' role this past year.
At least early on, he'll be situational, used as an edge pass rusher. His quickness and speed will make him difficult for a TE or RB to pick up one-on-one, which means the offense will have to assign an OL to him, and that opens up pass rushing lanes for others. If he develops the skills necessary to play OLB fulltime, he could step into the role currently occupied by DaQuan Romero in a couple of years.
Link to VirginiaSports.com Profile | VSTV.com Video
