Draft Profile: Charlie Jones
Purdue by way of Iowa by way of Buffalo
Photo: AP Photo/Andy Manis
Details:
1x First Team All-Big 10 Receiver (‘22); 2x First Team All-Big 10 Returner (‘20, ‘21); 1x Honorable Mention All-American Returner (‘20)
Listed at 6’ 188lbs
Born 10/29/1998 (24 in rookie year)
Career Stats (46 GM): 149 CTH - 2079 YDS - 14.0 AVG - 18 TD
2022 Stats (13 GM): 110 CTH - 1361 YDS - 12.4 AVG - 12 TD
Charlie Jones, somewhat surprisingly, has been one of the most requested receivers in this year’s NFL Draft class.
But, when looking at his sudden rise in production and his his apparent play style, I can absolutely see why he’s so highly requested. But there is one thing I have to mention before we talk about anything else: his age.
Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, Charlie Jones is going to finish his rookie year in the NFL at 25 years old. This means that the only season where he had >400 yards in his 6 year college career came when he was a 23 year old playing in a pretty pass happy offense. That’s a huge knock on Jones before we even get to the tape. History tells us that receivers who stay through their senior year are not as likely to be stars as those who leave as juniors. There’s a good article on that link.
So not only did Jones not declare as a RS Sophomore, or RS Junior and he didn’t even declare as a RS Senior. That concerns me and it should concern you if you’re looking for your team to draft him.
Athletically, he’s pretty solid. Expecting somewhere in the mid 8s on his RAS Score. Jones brings a long history of added value in the return game as well, which helps his case to be drafted quite a lot; he’s got a career average of 8.1 YPR on punts on 77 attempts.
So the nuts and bolts of Jones’ profile: A late, late bloomer with athletic upside and return prowess. But, as always, let’s take a closer look at the film though to decipher exactly what kind of player Jones projects to be in the NFL.
As previously noted, Jones is going to immediately compete for a spot as the starting return man for an NFL team looking for a spark. Jones career 8.1 yards per punt return and 22.3 yards per kick return tell me he can contribute in two phases.
What I love about these two examples is how when he decides what lane on his return he’s going to take he sticks to it. It’s a hard thing to do when people are running at your head, completely goes against natural instincts.
I also really like that his ability to find space and react quickly translates to his receiver game - it doesn’t always. He has a good natural feel for the flow of defenders and how to manipulate both their angle of pursuit and the space that becomes available in their absence. Good, translatable skill that will save his job in the NFL.
Nice little rep here against Cover 2 with a pressed up corner. Does a nice job getting his shoulders turned and reducing his contact area as he releases upfield. What I don’t love is his initial step, it doesn’t carry any forward momentum and doesn’t hold any speed. He’s pretty lucky that corner was head up/shading slightly outside. Just my opinion.
Another press rep, I think this is sort of a poor effort by the DB at the line of scrimmage but I think Jones does a nice job capitalizing on it, call it a wash. Also, running his comeback he lets the DB beat him vertical which gives him access to the underneath which is what he wants anyway, love it. What doesn’t thrill me here is he completely changes his stride length and posture around the 32 yard line. Big indicator that he’s going to break and a better DB should be all over that. His second step on his break also overstrides which causes him to slip a little. Small technical issues that pop up for him.
This is Jones at his best, super smooth strider who has enough speed to threaten safeties vertically and he shows an ability to be tough when going up for the ball. This is pretty much all over his film - Jones caught an astounding 52% of his contested targets (n = 42). That’ll be important for him as his size (6’ 188lbs) leaves him in a tweener spot.
Here’s where it starts to fall off for me.
Jones doesn’t have a ton of savvy when it comes to route running. He tries to get the DB to jump to the inside on that little jab step to the inside, but by not continuing to threaten the inside hip of the DB it just allows the DB to jump the rep and end the route - especially when Jones isn’t exceptionally talented at getting in and out of his breaks that far down the field. Additionally, the DB never comes out of his pedal - even deep into the route. Jones’ long speed against outside corners is lacking, reducing his overall effectiveness.
Another clip of two things here - first, he gets completely washed out here. Within 5 yards of him getting downfield he’s already on the bottom of the numbers, reducing the QB’s throwing window by 50%. By the time the QB throws the ball, Jones is practically on the sideline. Awful, awful, awful. He consistently shows no effort to maintain his line down the field and gets washed to the sideline, again reducing his effectiveness as an outside receiver. Secondly, he just does not scare that DB with his speed at all, which pops on his film in a bad way a few times.
Last play, this is just kind of a bummer to watch. He’s trying to take an outside release and turn the DB’s eyes away from the play but he’s gotta be able to figure out that against off coverage that isn’t super effective. Poor effort.
The Grade
Despite his somewhat obvious limitations, Charlie Jones has a place in the league.
His strengths are that he has some pretty good change of direction ability in open space and he has a nice ability to make plays with the ball in his hands both on screens and in the return game. He has reliable hands and is a surprisingly good contested catch player despite his size and complete lack of physicality mid-route. Excels on routes 14 yards and under. Again, really enjoy watching him play with the ball in his hands.
His weaknesses are unfortunately clear as well. He lacks deep speed and his deficiency in this category causes outside corners to not respect any routes down the field. Jones sees his routes get jumped a fair amount on the outside. Lacks physicality in route and gets washed off his landmarks very easily. Lack of consistent production over his career raises several red flags. Extremely unrefined technically, especially as someone who has been in college for 6 years.
I do think Jones has enough tools and versatility to make a career in the NFL, but he seriously needs to figure some shit out and fast. He’s too old to be making the technical errors he does, a sixth year senior should be physically dominant and technically refined at the least. He’s going to need to make his bones as a returner and work his way into a rotation in the NFL. I like what he can be, but his age and consistent issues worry me, if he gets more physical it solves like 80% of my problems with him!!!
For these reasons, I am going to grade Jones at a 5.4
His best fit: A team who needs a good and consistent return man who can add depth to the receiving room
Player Comparison: Danny Amendola (5’11” 188) with a touch more juice.
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