South Carolina Gamecocks have a trio of defensive players who go to the NFL this year. Although the group is headed by cornerback Jaycee Horn, don’t ignore South Carolina junior linebacker Ernest Jones this 2021 NFL Draft class.
Ernest Jones NFL Draft Profile
- Position: Linebacker
- School: South Carolina
- Current year: Junior
- Height: 6’2 ″
- Weight: 230 lbs
Tony Pauline’s Ernest Jones Scouting Report
Positives: Race linebacker and slightly less chase that stands out in the defense of the race. It exhibits an excellent head for the ball and flows well laterally towards the flanks. Feisty, plays with an unpleasant attitude and attacks the ball handlers. It breaks well, uses its hands to protect itself and redirects well to action. He remains with his duties and has an excellent head in defense against running.
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Negatives: Not smooth or fast on your hips falling into cover. Hesitant about assignments when the ball is in the air. It is not strong in the blitz and is easily retarded by blocks.
Analyze: Jones is a tough defender who shows great speed in his game and plays well injured. He is a bit one-dimensional as a running defender, but it would look great inside a 3-4 line-up.
Ernest Jones Player Profile
A highly productive linebacker at Ware County High School, Ernest Jones made comparisons with Jarrad Davis from the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, leaving high school. Despite the team’s lack of success, he won First Team honors in all states as a senior. These honors followed a season in which he accumulated 112 tackles, 6 loss tackles, 2 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.
An aggressive physical presence, he attracted national attention. Offers came from Tennessee, Auburn, Ole Miss, Oregon and LSU, among others. A three-star recruit, he was the 62nd ranked external linebacker in the class. As the 85th ranked player in the state of Georgia, there was also pressure on him to commit to Georgia Tech following an offer from the Yellow Jackets.
Although Georgia Tech was one of the four finalists, Jones had other plans than to follow the crowd. He narrowed his options to GT, Florida, South Carolina and Duke.
Although Duke recruited him a lot during the process, he committed to playing as a linebacker in South Carolina. This made him the first player in Ware County to play for the Gamecocks. In the meantime, it allowed him to create his own legacy instead of following others to Georgia Tech.
Ernest Jones’ career in college football in South Carolina
The South Carolina linebacker gave Gamecocks fans a taste of his physical football brand as a freshman. During his debut against Coastal Carolina, Ernest Jones made his first tackle in his career. Then he went on with his first forced fumble against Chattanooga. Not content to show off his skills against “Group of 5” opponents, he recorded a high in the season in tackles against Clemson.
In the next two years, he would become the leader of the defense. A vocal as well as a physicist, he led the team in tackles as a second and junior.
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During his second season, he started 12 games and scored 97 tackles. In addition, he demonstrated his ability to stop the opposition with 5.5 loss tackles, 1 sack and a forced fumble. Jones also demonstrated decent hedging capacity. At the opening of the season against North Carolina, he broke two passes. In addition, he secured interceptions against Kentucky and the Appalachian State.
As a junior in 2020, Jones reached 11 tackles from his second year performance in three games less. He had four games with double-digit tackle numbers. Included in those games was a career record of 19 tackles against LSU. In addition, an exceptional performance against Vanderbilt caused him to accumulate 3 tackles per defeat.
After the 2020 college football season, South Carolina linebacker Ernest Jones declared for the NFL’s 2021 Draft.
Ernest Jones’ best tweaks in the NFL’s 2021 Draft
South Carolina linebacker Ernest Jones offers value to a team in the NFL’s 2021 Draft. After receiving the honors of Most Improved Player as a contributor to special teams, his experience in this area gives him excellent versatility. Even if he doesn’t get a full-time role as a starter in the linebacker, there is every reason to believe that he can be a full-time collaborator on special teams.
With regard to its positional projection, however, it would fit better as a weak side LB in a 4-3 system. As a result, some team and needs adjustments include Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions.
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Oliver Hodgkinson is a writer for the Pro Football Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @ojhodgkinson.