Evaluation from ESPN:

Jones is not an overly flashy back, but he is the type of strong, downhill runner who can carry the load and wear down a defense by the fourth quarter. He is tall with a very compact, thickly-built frame. For a taller back, he really runs with great leverage and body lean. He does not show great urgency out of his stance or quickness attacking the hole, but he will consistently square up his shoulder pads and get downhill. Jones displays deceptively light feet for his size, picking and darting through traffic while staying square and slicing through the cutback lanes. For Jones’ size, he jump-cuts and sidesteps traffic well. Displays good body control aided by his low center of gravity and good base. He flashes great strength, particularly through his lower-body, and excellent balance and lean bouncing off initial contact. Jones does not stop his thick legs from churning when wrapped up, and he consistently finishes runs and breaks out of the pile. However, he is more of a one-speed back with better-than-adequate top-end speed. He is not going to separate from faster defensive backs at the next level. He lacks some suddenness and burst out of his cuts between the tackles, but Jones is the type of runner who will get stronger with more carries and wear you down. His recruiting stock is raised with the ability he flashes at linebacker. His range, shedding strength, good athleticism and ball skills in coverage may get him some looks on the defensive side of the ball at linebacker. Especially if he continues to physically develop once he arrives on campus.

Notes
2008: Carried 149 times for 1,504 yards (10.1 average) and 26 touchdowns. Caught 20 passes for 340 yards (17 average) and six more scores. LA Daily News Offensive Player of the Year… 2007: Carried 236 times for 2,025 yards (8.6 average) and 25 touchdowns. Caught 14 passes for 290 yards (20.7 average) and four touchdowns. Brother of current USC Trojan Marshall Jones. Also interested in: USC, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Arizona, Oregon, LSU, Georgia, Florida, Texas…

Great news!!!!!

Yet another example of how our program is moving upward with CRN at the helm.

This kid has the ability to become a great linebacker or tailback. I’ve read that he prefers tailback, but I would not be surprised if he ends up at linebacker.

…the other big development here is the continued efforts on behalf of CRN to open and keep open the recruiting pipelines to schools like Oaks Christian and Mission Viejo. These schools were considered the personal playground of Cheatey Petey and Charlie Weis until the previous regime opened the door a crack (Moline brothers) and now CRN has kicked it down.

The importance of UCLA keeping these pipelines flowing cannot be underestimated and will go a long ways towards leveling the playing field with $uc and other national powers.

which seems to be more of a need position for us, given our depth at RB.

Orange County is a hot bed for football and other sports. I am glad that Rick is recruiting here in the OC. He will find many great players here. HOORAY for UCLA!!!! I wish we could get Montana – but someone said he was going to Washington. Keep up the good work!!!!!

Uh, last time I checked, Westlake Village borders on Ventura County…

So his brother went to $uc, makes me even smile more… great grab.

as Jones is a really, really good runner. However, I did want to bring something up……just to make all us Bruins feel even better about recruiting. We all know that the scouting services are all different, and in this post it was mentioned that Jones is our first 5-star pickup. Well, according to ESPN’s top 150, Jones is now our second. Tony Jefferson from Chula Vista is blowing up so much this season, that he is now the #9 ranked player in the country (regardless of position) and a current 5-star pick. ESPN lists Jones as the #71 overall player in the country. While getting Jones is a very big step and a great get for the Bruins, I think having Jefferson on board might even be more important. He has the ability to play LB, which is going to be a huge need for us next year, or play safety and make our secondary even more dangerous. Can you imagine him filling the spot next to Moore next year? I have seen Jefferson play one time in person, and the guy is a stud!! He reminds me of one of my favorite all-time Bruins, Don Rogers. The guy is an animal and has the same instincts and hitting ability as Rogers. Now we have a 5-star offensive player in Jones, and since he is so high profile, that will really help us in the next few months of recruiting with the rest of the 5-star guys. That makes us legit in the eyes of alot of High School players. Having another 5-star guy on the defensive end makes it even better. I am actually going to be excited this year for the Under Armour game and the Army game………..I will now have more than a few reasons to watch!! Go Bruins!! If you want to see the ESPN 150, go to this link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting/tracker/espnu150?&season=2010