I was always perplexed why teams couldn’t stop him. Now I know why. He ran under 4.4 at the combine and is 6-6 to 6-7. I am not sure the NFL will know what to do with him. I am sure a 6 foot tall db will be be doing anything he can do not to be embarassed. It is very unusual to have someone this tall, this heavy, and of course white to put up these numbers. I wonder why we do not see more of this as well as what he did to help himself. The odd thing is, he is calmer than anyone in the game, including in the stands and watching at home. He could be interesting or of course get hit hard and quit the NFL altogether.
I don’t think he’ll ever be a star. He has all the skills to be a good football player but without experience and a positional know how which he doesn’t have for whatever position he will play in the NFL, he will fail.
For what its worth, in spring ball before Matt’s senior year, the Arkansas coaches put him at wide receiver just to try him out there. He ended up being the best wideout they had on the team. Only problem was that they had no one else to play qb, so he ended up back at qb. If he’s willing to learn the position, he’s got all the skills to be a good player at the next level.
If he can learn to be an adequate blocker and be somewhat physical, he would be scary as a TE/H-back.
I was at the Arkansas-UT Game in 2003 when Arkansas upset UT. That dude is unbelievable and his talent will come through to the NFL. He’s also a good enough athlete to play on the Arkansas basketball team. Does everyone remember what Antonio Gates did last year? It could be a similar situation.
Probably the most impressive guy I have seen at the combine in a long time…Archuletta was the last one. Just pure raw athletic talent. When he took off on the 40 , everyone on the field and on the stands, was dazed that a guy that big could be that fast.
You can do alot with athleticism like his.How comfortable he gets at a new position in the NFL will be great factor…he’s not playing college ball anymore.
Its no secret that he seems to favor basketball like Charlie Ward did a few years back.
I believe Archuleta was trained to be that fast by Jay Shraoder (sic) I am not sure about Jones. Jones just seems so mellow that I almost have a hard time seeing him go all out in the weight room, in drills, on the track, etc. I know we have discussed Archuleta on here before, or at least when their was a different format.
Jones is really more like a 4.6 guy who went to Parisi speed school for 2 months and got his time under 4.4. What I mean by that (his times) is he has great top speed but when you watch him play receiver he does not play as fast as the 4.4 to 4.3 corners who are defending him because he’s not as quick and doesn’t accelerate and decelerate as well. He appears heavy footed and slow at receiver. At tight end though he’ll be able to run down the field past linebackers and should make a killing.
I don’t see Matt on ttp://www.parisischool.com/clients.html but he did a good enough job and maybe they put too much emphasis on the 40. However, Matt had the best 0-10 yard time of anyone which is better in that no one is running straight routes untouched for half the field most of the time. He is deceptive, and he looks slower than he is. I know, it looks like Luke Longley decided to play football. However, he makes all these quick little dudes inthe SEC look inept.
The NFL has tons of speed. What it does not have, is height. This is where Jones will cause problems. If someone can catch a ball thrown 11 feet in the air there is no way a CB will defend that.
However, Matt had the best 0-10 yard time of anyone which is better in that no one is running straight routes untouched for half the field most of the time.
I know all about Matt I live within easy driving distance of U of A and watched every game he ever played. His combine times are manufactured times. I saw him (Jones) at the Sr. bowl and there are multiple clips of him out there going against corners. He wasn’t quick enough to get around the “slower” guys defending him. I say the only time he plays WR is in goal line situations.
The combine is a joke. It means nothing to on field performance. Think about this… Do they have a skating speed test for athletes being drafted into the NHL? or is there a shooting test for athletes being drafted into the NBA? Obviously not, because it would be completely pointless! The combine is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen in sports… so pointless and such a deciding factor for draftees.
You could throw any caveman out on the field of the combine and with a fluke reaction time runs .2 seconds faster than is capable. And what does bench press have to do with anything? A guy with shorter levers is obviously going to have a huge advantage over somebody with long arms… So, now teams are gonna think lessor of somebody with long arms and a lower bench??
TOO FUNNY!
I’m sure this Jones guy is a pretty good athlete for his size but there is no way he can compete with the quickness of a guy that is 5’9" - 5’10". The reactivity and quickness of a shorter guy is obviously going to be alot faster just based on lever length. Don’t associate 40 yard times with quickness or the ability to react to the ball or defenders.
You scoff at the generalizations made within a combine, but then proceed to blast an athlete that from your own post it looks like you don’t have any actual idea of what kind’ve athlete matt jones is. So shorter guys are quicker? Says who? What’s the comparison for? Shorter and taller athletes have strengths and weaknesses as I’m sure the NFL is aware. Now I’m not saying that matt jones is as quick as an NFL DB, but I am saying that matt jones put up serious numbers at arkansas against serious competition and if anyone can make the change from QB to WR/TE than it would be jones. Time will tell but I’m sick of the one-sidedness. And the NBA absolutely does put players through one-man workouts to determine shooting ability and overall skill level. Every major professional organization does have an evaluation that they put players through and through their past experience with these evaluations they determine where a player must do best at in order to have a better chance of being successful. It is the exception to the rule when a player doesn’t test well and still ends up being a prize. This argument gets re-invented every year and yet they still have the NFL combine every year and players still have to prepare themselves for it. You do better, you get drafted higher (see adam archuleta), you do bad, you get drafted lower (see maurice clarett). The bottom line is every athlete is unique and has to be evaluated accordingly.
And Jones doesn’t have to be quicker than a 5’9" or 5’10" guy, all they have to do is put the ball up in the air and no DB has a shot at getting higher than he does (at 6’6" and with a 39.5-inch vertical leap)
I agree with what you have said here. Manufactured speed? So I guess no one should even bother to train for it won’t be “really” be that person running but rather a new and improved version of that individual. I don’t get it. There were many examples of Jones absolutely leaving guys during the season from the qb position. Do I think he will definitely be a star at a new position? No, but he certainly has some serious potential to be very good, maybe even a great one down the road. The early help he gets from his position coach and possibly vets like Jimmy Smith could go a long way towards making or breaking him. At 242, if he has any of the strength you would associate with a guy that big, he should be able to out physical a number of corners in the league.
parisi school and others spend a lot of time perfecting technique for the specific combine events. in terms of the 40, they’ll (parisi, defranco, etc.) even tell you they can lower times in a few hours just by adjusting someone’s set-up and start…that is manufactured speed in terms of football game speed.
the bottom line is this guy is an exceptional athlete but he’s not a polished receiver right now. i haven’t seen that much of him but this could be a major reason he is not get seperation from cb’s and therefore is looking slower. i think with some schooling he’ll be at least a good player in the nfl.
True regarding Parisi(or any speed school for that matter) but with the current system of evaluating players depending heavily upon tangible numbers in order to estimate worth or value particularly for a player changing positions, it’s important for athletes to maximize these testable qualities. Will those numbers make him a can’t miss prospect? Of course not, again including in the position change difficulty. It sure can’t hurt being able to test off the charts. Some people act like this is some type of liability when you are an exceptional athlete. Remember also that the senior bowl footage came before he was probably able to attend Parisi since those college football all-star games were held immediately after the bowl season and it’s likelly he was faster at the combines then he was at the senior bowl. The footage that has been shown on the NFL network shows him achieving this separation and running some nice routes and making a spectacular one handed catch. Again, this does not guarantee he’ll be a star but it does indicate he has some serious athletic tools to make the transition easier. Again, I doubt that many speed schools say that they’ll be able to teach the nuances of being a reciever, that will certainly have to come from excellent position coaching and possibly help from veteran recievers. There is certainly more to being a reciever than running great 40’s and skying on a vertical but it sure can’t hurt unless the athlete overly relys on his athletic ability to get him through and does not learn the position. But on this site of all places, I think it’s a joke to talk about manufactured speed-should we all quit training? Football game speed and 40y speed- maybe they are not the same but for a guy who has played very limited time at reciever, besides the film, what else is there to go on?
i think you’re off base on this issue. no one’s claiming a prospect shouldn’t prepare for the combine, millions of dollars are at stake, of course they should. but preparing for the combine is not preparing for football. in regards to your senior bowl/parisi school before and after comment, do you really think he’s faster because he timed better? what kellyb is is saying, that in some cases, players can time better without actually getting any faster.
in addition, jones became a first round pick because of his impressive combine results…he should not have been the 21st pick of the draft. i’m not saying he won’t turn out to be a very good player, but this is a huge reach for the jaguars.
I think the combines give tremendous credence to the fact that athletic development can be greatly improved. Will this produce better football players? I believe it is, and when FB coaches and speed/strength coaches talk more, the synergy will be awesome. CF.com is an excellent example of that. There are some organizations and s&c coaches in the NFL that will never get this. As the commercial goes “priceless” or worthless in this case. Matt Jones may or may not be a good example of this, but there are many others. Look at the WR from the Pats who beat up on my Eagles. Deion Branch. Not just the Parisi School and Joe D., but many others. By the way, the Jaguars are a HIT program. I wonder how that will potentially adversely affect his career growth.