Nacogdoches Safety Brandon Jones was selected in the 3rd round by the Miami Dolphins. He was the the 70th overall player and first Texas Longhorn selected in the 2020 draft.
Brandon Jones was a highly rated prospect coming out of Nacogdoches. He was the #1 ranked safety, according to the 247 composite, in the 2016 recruiting class. His commit to Texas was a big deal, due to the Longhorns lack of success during that time.
Jones was a very versatile player at Texas. He played both Strong Safety, Free Safety, Nickel, and even Todd Orlando’s Joker position in the secondary. His speed allowed him to cover a lot of ground and be a sideline to sideline player. His speed and physical play helped him succeed mostly when he was closer to the line of scrimmage. Some of his biggest moments came on blitzes and 3 or 4th down plays down in the redzone. His greatest strengths were his speed, tackling ability, and football IQ. Brandon was also on Special Teams as a Kick and Punt Returner.
Jones was also known to be a great leader at Texas. His Senior Year he was voted as a captain. As stated before he played multiple positions in the secondary. The 2019 season found the Longhorns plagued with injuries, which forced Brandon to play many roles in the defense. He rose to the challenge consistently and was productive at every position.
During the 2020 NFL combine, Brandon was recovering from a shoulder injury and couldn’t compete in drills. Shortly after, Covid 19 took away his opportunity to workout for his pro day. To help display his strengths, Brandon Jones broke down defensive film of all 32 NFL teams. When he had his video interviews with NFL teams, he would break down film to show teams his football IQ. He’s known to be a high character player, leader, and tough.
Draft experts had him going anywhere from the 2nd to 4th round. He wasn’t able to run a 40 but is said to have 4.4 speed, which film shows. Brandon Jones has the ability to be an impact player as a rookie, and should have a good NFL career.
