Matt Jones IS the best player in the draft, an once-in-a-lifetime athlete
 

This is getting ridiculous. Denver needs to get him with our first round pick. He will not last after that.
Note: This article was written before Matt Jones 2nd pro day yesterday when he was dazzling scouts with his route running and catching abilities.

Former QB expected to play WR/H-back
By Chris Mortensen, ESPN Insider
Chris Mortensen Archive

Editor's note: Chris Mortensen's son, Alex, is a redshirt freshman quarterback at Arkansas in competition for Matt Jones' vacant position.

Steve Young, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer, has long told me that one of these days there will be a football player so unique, so gifted and so different that he will cause some consternation among the NFL types who judge and coach the most talented football players in the world.

"And it's going to be up to those people, especially some offensive coordinator, to think outside the box and figure out what to do with a guy like that," Young said.

He didn't know it at the time, but Young was talking about someone available in the 2005 NFL draft -- a guy I believe is the best player in the draft.

Matt Jones is that player. Yes, the Arkansas quarterback NFL evaluators have been struggling to figure out.

Some have called him the most "intriguing" player in the draft. Or, as one personnel director asked me last week, "How's The Freak?"

Jones is a freak. Let's just remind you of his measurables again, as now officially recorded from his scouting combine and pro day workouts.

Height: 6-6¼
Weight: 242
40 time (hand-timed): 4.37 and 4.39
40 time (electronic): 4.40
Vertical jump: 39.5 inches
Standing broad jump: 10 feet, 9 inches

Let me explain how to translate some of these numbers because Jones, for the most part, is being projected as a receiver/H-back instead of a quarterback.


Based on watching Jones perform during Senior Bowl week, when he unabashedly exposed himself to playing receiver, scouts wondered about one or two things: Was he quick and explosive enough to play outside? Honestly, if Jones was not as quick as they wanted that week, it was attributed to the fact that he was playing a new position.

Give him four months to work on nothing but receiver, and you'll see plenty of quickness. Trust me.

That's what the vertical and broad jump measure: Explosiveness. Jones was among the very top athletes. He is quick. He is explosive. He also had one of the fastest 10-yard times while running his 40. His short cone drills and shuttles were just as impressive.

His hands? I think he has the best hands in the draft. He's a basketball player, gifted enough after his junior football season at Arkansas to earn a starting spot on the basketball team within two weeks of his late arrival.

"We charted every pass thrown to him during the Senior Bowl week, and [he] caught all but one," one personnel director said.

So, as a receiver, he's bigger than Southern California's Mike Williams, he's faster, he's more explosive and he might have better hands.

Some NFL teams have tried to peg him as a tight end or H-back because of his size. Jones has been truthful with NFL teams that have spoken with him. He's reluctant to play tight end.

"You know, it's funny," one AFC head coach told me last week. "We asked [Jones] about putting on some weight and playing tight end, and he made it clear that he thought it was foolish. He said, 'So you want me to put on 20 pounds and be a 4.57 guy instead of a 4.37 guy?' When you put that into context, you have to admit he makes sense. Match up a 6-6 guy who is that fast and athletic with great hands on any corner – even the tall ones – and how do you stop him?"

It was evident during the NFL meetings last week in Hawaii that Jones is perhaps the fastest riser in the draft. Because of his position switch, he had been labeled as a second-day pick, probably a fourth-round selection.

He's not going on the second day. He's a better bet to go in the top half of the second round, and he could slip into the bottom third of the first round.

"How do you ignore him?" one AFC general manager said. "He's the best athlete in the draft. It may not even be close. Honestly, he's the most mesmerizing player I've ever evaluated."

I laughed when all the official numbers came in. Selfishly, they made me look good. When I spoke with a personnel man last fall about Jones, I asked him, "What are you going to do when he runs 4.4 at the combine?"

The personnel man replied, "Well, he's not going to do that." Yeah, go ahead, just keep doubting him.

As far as anyone knows, there's never been a 6-6 guy or a 242-pounder who ran 4.37 in the 40. Jones is both 6-6 and 242 pounds.

Some have warned of "workout" warriors, citing Mike Mamula of Boston College as one who fooled everyone about his NFL potential with gaudy workout numbers.

Mamula is a bad example to bring up when talking about Jones, though. For one, I would hardly classify Jones as a workout warrior. He could get out of bed and run 4.4.

Better than that, he was one of the most productive players in the history of the Southeastern Conference and basically was even-steven with Young, the BYU flash, as a player with one of the highest yards-per-play average in NCAA history.

For the past four years, SEC coaches and defenders have marveled at Jones' freakish ability to make plays – his 2,545 rushing yards set an SEC career mark for quarterbacks.

"He was the best player in the SEC the past two years," said Ron Zook, the ex-Florida coach now at Illinois. "Now that's a mouthful. Think about the guys who have played in the SEC the past couple of years."

Quickly, the names of Auburn's Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams, among so many others, leaped into my mind. The SEC is loaded with NFL-caliber players.

LSU coach Nick Saban said, "Matt Jones single-handedly won more games than any player in the SEC."

South Carolina coach Lou Holtz called Jones the "MVP" of the SEC.

Mississippi State coach Sylvester Croom said, "I'm pretty sure I never have seen one like him, and I coached in [the NFL] for a lot of years. I'd take him, and … real high."

Zook added, "Here's the thing about Matt Jones that people seem to forget because he is such a freak. He is one of the most productive players I've ever seen. It's all about productivity, and the bottom line is, this guy always makes plays and he makes' em when it counts and he makes 'em against everybody else's best players. He's a winner, he's productive and he's a freak. Our guys at Florida will tell you they never saw anything like him before and probably never will again."

Florida linebacker Channing Crowder, who should be a first-rounder next month, called Jones "a blazer, unbelievably fast," and nose guard Tommy Jackson said watching film of Jones and then stepping on the field against him was a lifetime experience.

"It's amazing that a guy that big, that strong and that fast is all in one person," Jackson said. "It's not fair."

Georgia coach Mark Richt called Jones the most deceptively fast player he had ever seen.

"On any given day, he could be the most dangerous player on the field, " Richt said. "You try to take good angles on the guy, and he's still past you."

Back to production. Arkansas quarterback coach Roy Wittke provided statistics that show Jones had 88 planned runs of 10 yards or more, 10 that were 50-plus yards. That didn't even count his 2004 stats, in which he had 33 scrambles on broken pass plays for 377 yards, an 11.4-yard average per carry.

When Saban said Jones "single-handedly" won more games than any player in the SEC, he also might have meant that Jones made almost every game competitive, even the defeats. He was the only returning starter on the Arkansas offense in 2004. The Razorbacks were just 5-6, the first losing season for coach Houston Nutt. But Jones kept the team alive in near misses against Texas, Georgia and Florida.

"This guy can make a play on you when you're doing as good as you can do," Alabama defensive coordinator Joe Kines said. "Texas had some pretty good people on the field, and they never laid a glove on him."

In fact, when legendary ABC play-by-play man Keith Jackson marveled over Vince Young's splendid performance in Texas' Rose Bowl win over Michigan, he wondered what planet Young was from and whether he had ever seen anybody like him. I chuckled. I had seen Jones, who was bigger, faster, more athletic and had a better arm than Young in their meeting when Texas squeaked out a 22-20 win over Arkansas early in the season. That night, Jones was again the best player on a field that included Young, not to mention Cedric Benson and Derrick Johnson, two Longhorns projected to go in the top 12 of next month's draft.

Jones was even more productive running the ball from the quarterback spot than Michael Vick was at Virginia Tech. Yet, even though Jones is more than a half-foot taller than Vick with almost identical 40 times (Vick ran a hand-timed 4.37 at his first mini-camp with the Falcons), NFL scouts have all but dismissed Jones as a quarterback prospect because he is unorthodox while Vick obviously throws lasers.

I think I'm OK with that thinking. Jones has a troubled right shoulder, which was hurt in his freshman year shortly after basketball season. The shoulder never allowed Jones to work at high volume at quarterback during practice, and it might have limited the team's passing game. But he still was pretty effective throwing the ball: He threw for almost 6,000 yards and 53 touchdowns in his career.

There is one other part of Jones that bothers some scouts. It's his somewhat lackadaisical body language. "Nonchalant" is what I've heard. Does he really love the game? Does it really matter to him?

Well, go back to that Texas game. Jones fumbled inside the Texas 20-yard line on an extra effort scramble in the final minutes. Arkansas probably wins the game if he doesn't fumble. He cried hard in a closed locker room after the game. His heart was broken.

A few weeks later, Arkansas got throttled by undefeated Auburn 38-20. It wasn't an upset, but when a few Arkansas players were a little too jovial on Jones' bus after the game, he snapped at them. Doesn't care? This is also a guy who passed up basketball – a game he truly loves – in his senior year to get ready for the NFL.

True, Jones is different. But that gene, or whatever it is, that projects this "nonchalance" is the same one that allowed him as a child to sleep through a tornado that ravaged his house in Fort Smith, Ark., according to his dad, Steve, who also was Matt's high school coach. It's the same calming gene that allowed Jones to thrive under pressure as a collegiate player.

“ How do you ignore him? He's the best athlete in the draft. It may not even be close. Honestly, he's the most mesmerizing player I've ever evaluated.”
—A general manager from an AFC club

Nutt, who admits Jones' personality tested him at times, loves to tell how Jones almost put him over the edge in the final minute of Arkansas' SEC West championship game against LSU in 2002. LSU led 20-13 with less than a minute to play. LSU was about to punt as Nutt sought out his quarterback.

"There he was, sitting back alone by the Gatorade, towel over his head, and as I get closer to him, Matt's singing to himself, or humming, 'do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do,'" Nutt says, recalling the hilarity of the moment. "I tell Matt, 'Come on, Matt, a little urgency here. We've got 37 seconds left, we gotta get the plays called, get in and out of the huddle, and get it done.'"

Jones looked at Nutt.

"No problem, coach," Jones said. "I got it."

Jones, who at that point was 2-of-13 passing against Saban's talented, tenacious defense, got the ball at his own 20. In three plays, including two perfectly thrown passes -- the latter a 31-yarder to Decori Birmingham with nine seconds left -- Jones led Arkansas for 80 yards in a stunning 21-20 victory that propelled the Razorbacks to the SEC title game.

"Darndest thing I ever saw," Nutt said.

Some athletes are just more graceful than others. Joe DiMaggio made baseball look easy. Pete Rose made it look like work. Jones is more DiMaggio than Rose.

Back to Steve Young's precept that it will take an offensive coordinator with the brains and brawn to use the gifts of a once-in-a-lifetime athlete best.

The red zone, whether you put the ball in Jones' hands as a receiver or a quarterback, would seem to be one obvious frontier.

Arkansas led the SEC in red zone scoring with 87.5 percent efficiency in 2004, and most of those scores were touchdowns.

The Razorbacks also had uncanny success and drama playing overtime games. In fact, Jones arrived on the national scene as a true freshman when he locked horns with Eli Manning in a classic seven-overtime game in which Arkansas beat Ole Miss 58-56. As a junior he led the Razorbacks to another seven-overtime win, 71-63 over Kentucky.

College overtimes are basically red zone games. The ball is given to each team at the opponents' 25.

"I just know this," Nutt said. "You put the ball [in] the kid's hands in those situations and he's going to find a way to win the game at any level. Red zone, or whatever. On any given play, he can run or pass for 80 yards."

Matt Jones won't be among the top 10 players selected in the April 23-24 draft, but I will venture to say that he'll play in more Pro Bowls than almost any of those guys.

And I will laugh, knowing I told you so.

It would not shock me to see Shanny take him at 25 either. I sure a faster taller stronger Eddie Mac would appeal to him very much.

Shanny would also see this as an opportunity to carry only 2 QBs with Jones as the emergency. He loves having that extra roster spot.

I agree and wish the broncos would take him in the first round, because i watched matt jones all four years and got to see him play numorus times live and his speed is unbelivalble and when u see him in person. I dont think it will take him much time to adjust to the nfl.

Might have better hands than Mike Williams?!? Hilarious! Hilarious!

I can understand somebody trying to PR their guy, and alot of that is dead on, BUT with some of that stuff, that guy should try to stay somewhere within the realm of reality, or somewhere somewhat close.

Back on the old Denver Post message board I used to warn folks in Denver about Matt Jones being the next Elway back when he was still a freshman. Look, the guy is the real deal. His shoulder probably won't allow him to play qb, and that is too bad, because had the guy been able to throw all week in practice he would have been a modern Roger Staubach.

As it is, he will make somebody a gamebreaking wr or redzone qb. I don't know if he will get to the second round, if he does, it is a great deal for whoever drafts him. This is going to be a situation like NBA gm's face - you want to not draft only on potential but you also don't want to be the guy who passed on a guy who turns into a great player with everyone ripping you for not pulling the trigger.

Whoever gets Matt will get a guy with NO character problems (Shan likes problem children sometimes), relatively injury free and with absolute ice water in his veins, to the point of driving his coach crazy. I was at that game Mortensen is talking about with LSU - not only was Matt nonchalant, the story goes, he kept singing the same goofy song as he was running down the field to snap the ball with less than 20 seconds left in the game.

Hard to say if he does or doesnt he hasnt got a chance to prove anything yet. I am more curious on how his routes are. But with us filling alot of needs on the DL I would like him at #25 may take him a year to get used to it but I realy think it will pay off for whoever does select him.

Matt Jones is not going to be drafted in the first round. Regardless of his athletic prowess, he's still a project. You want immediate results with a first round pick, not 2 - 3 years down the road.

well I hate to tell you this but the but the Steelrs have done just fine in this areia...that and Arziona is kings in this department because they got there QB\WR in the 2nd round !!!!!!!!

oh and with that logic no NFL team would draft WR's because most take 3 years for the lights to turn on lol

i THINK THAT IS WHAT THE FANS WOULD LIKE TO SEE BUT SHANNY DOES HAVE A HISTORY of not player 1st round picks so the can develope. DJ was an execption to this.

I would not want to see the raiders take him in the 2nd with thier pick. I would be happy with him in the first although I know I will have to while he developes.

I wonder if he can return KO or PR?

Matt did some punt returning and long snapping during senior bowl week. He played some safety in High School. Jack-of-all-trades.

Shanny love guys who can play more than one postion & if Matt can do KR & PR PLay WR & be a QB in a pinch. I think we might have found out who he will pick very early in this draft.

The Steelers drafted Antwaan Randle El in the 2nd round of the 2002 draft and Hines Ward in the 3rd round of the 1998 draft. In 2002 Pittsburgh drafted Kendall Simmons in the 1st round, and in 1998's 1st round they drafted Alan Faneca, who has been an All Pro since 2001. Both players cornerstones of their OLine, and (because they were 1st round picks) were expected to be such.

Randle El was the punt returner and 3rd WR for the Steelers in his rookie season. He was not expected to produce like he did, but because he played in the slot didn't have to have precise routs.

Ward played QB in college only briefly, then in 1996 (I believe) switched to WR. He had 2 years to hone his craft before being drafted, and then it took him about 4 years in the pros to become an elite receiver.

The Steelers are a bad example because they consistantly draft well. They don't reach for players, and they develop them into solid, if not great, players.

The Cardinals, however, don't draft well.. In fact, I might go so far as to say they are horrible at drafting. Before Denny Green arrived, their past three 1st rounders have been:
2003: Bryant Johnson
2002: Wendell Bryant
2001: Leonard Davis

Johnson is in danger of becoming the teams #3 WR. Boldin is the clear #1 and Fitzgerald will probably take over at #2. Wendell Bryant is too undersized to play DT. In his career he has 1.5 sacks. Look it up. That's not what you want from a 1st rounder. Leonard Davis has been a solid player. He could actually turn into something good. But all in all, the Cards are not a favorable sandard to compare anyone to.

Mobley started all 16 games his rookie season, Lelie was the #3 WR, Al Wilson started the last 12 games (playing in all 16)... get the point? The only 1st rounders that Shanahan sat were Trev Pryce and Marcus Nash. Pryce sat and learned because the team was a the Super Bowl Champ, and had lots of depth on the D Line. Nash sat because he sucked.

Oh hell move up and get him, anything to get that stiff Leach out :)

Best Athlete ive seen coming out of college in a long time.

With Smith still on the roster this might not be a bad move, Jones as the 4th reciever as rookie with little pressure on him to perform. Next year if Smith retires then Jones steps in as the over the middle reciever

Well, Jones is a great athlete and has alot of talent. I know he is fast, how does he run routes and what is his cutting ability like. I have seen some film on him, he looks like a glider, I have yet to see him make a real cut. Can he even make a double-move?

I just think alot of people are jumping to conclusions, about his ability to play WR. Especially in a system like ours, we ask alot of our WRs. He needs to have the ability to go inside and make start and stop moves. I have yet to see him do that yet.

I didn't see the senior bowl, could somebody give me the low-down on his performance in it?

BTW- The once-in-a-lifetime athlete is Mike Williams. Just you wait, he will make believers out of all of you, and I hope he does it for the Broncos!! :militia:

"There he was, sitting back alone by the Gatorade, towel over his head, and as I get closer to him, Matt's singing to himself, or humming, 'do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do,'" Nutt says, recalling the hilarity of the moment. "I tell Matt, 'Come on, Matt, a little urgency here. We've got 37 seconds left, we gotta get the plays called, get in and out of the huddle, and get it done.'"

Jones looked at Nutt.

"No problem, coach," Jones said. "I got it."
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In three plays, including two perfectly thrown passes -- the latter a 31-yarder to Decori Birmingham with nine seconds left -- Jones led Arkansas for 80 yards in a stunning 21-20 victory that propelled the Razorbacks to the SEC title game. (won the "Golden Boot" and the SEC West title.)

"Darndest thing I ever saw," Nutt said.

If your go back and look at mikes first round picks they might play but do not start those you listed are the exeption. Lelie did not start being the #3 WR. since our base ofense is our OL, TE, QB, FB,HB and 2wr. Now was there times that the first play of the game had a 3 WR set yes. but I do not think that the # 3 WR is a Starting position. And if you look at the depth chart there is no listing for a starting #3 WR.
Foster sat out most of if not all his rookie year. O'neal didn't start if I remember he was the nichol back. He might have started on speacel taem as a returner but not at his postion. Middlebrooks did not start (hurt), Bell did not start at the beginning of the season. in fact most of your example did not start untill well into the season and were not major contributors in their rookie years.

We basically agree... I don't consider a #3 receiver a "starter" either, but Lelie was an immediately productive pick. Foster got hurt in camp which set him back and cost him any playing time at all that year (he started the last game of the year his rookie year). Middlebrooks has been hurt every year he was here. O'Neal was, also, a "productive" rookie, having the KR & PR duties.

The point I was making was this: Even though he has sat some 1st round picks, calling it a "history", to me, is a misnomer. Here are the 1st round picks the last 10 years -- or since he took over as head coach:

1995: (none)
1996: Mobley
1997: Pryce
1998: Nash
1999: Wilson
2000: O'Neal
2001: Middlebrooks
2002: Lelief
2003: Foster
2004: Williams

Not counting injuries (Middlebrooks), of the nine 1st round picks he has made (damn that Wade Phillips!), only 2 played one or fewer games their rookie year -- Pryce & Foster. To say that he has a "history" of sitting the 1st round picks, when only 2 of 9 were actually sat, is a bit of a stretch.

Matt Jones videos
 

This is a video of a Matt Jones bootleg versus Texas. It's almost as good as the one in my sig.

MJ Bootleg

And since he's such a fun athlete to watch, I've provided a basketball video of Matt stealing the ball, passing it on the break, getting it back, and dunking.

MJ Slammajamma

Bosko... great posts. No doubt, the most incredible and single-handedly productive athlete I've ever seen. There is no rush to develop him at any one position... just get him the ball.

We need to find a clip of the play where he threw a frozen rope 60 yard pass off his back foot while falling backwards at Texas. It hit his reciever (I forgot who) right in the hands, and the dude droped it... for anyone that doubts his arm...