Hey guys, I created this account just to come by and tell you about this player named Brandon Jones.
Brandon was a highly touted recruit coming out of HS. In fact, he was the #1 Safety in the country, an easy 5 Star. I haven't missed a Texas game in years, therefore I haven't missed a single snap that Brandon Jones has played in so I know him quite well.
I want to be honest about him because that's what I would want if some random person came in to tell me info about a player so I will not let my fandom and support for BJ get in the way of an honest assessment. For the record, I am a Cowboys fan but I also grew up a long time Dolphins fan because of Dan Marino (the GOAT) and because of Ricky Williams of course (Hook'em as well \../).
I'll start with who he is off the field.
Brandon Jones is an A+++ character. This is literally his best trait but this is also arguably the most important trait to have for success. Our own head coach even stated that this kid is the type of kid you want to marry your daughter. That's the nice, caring, educated, focused, determined BJ everyone knows. This kid has his head on straight and goes to work. In fact, if you weren't already aware, he was injured during the NFL combine. So, since he couldn't participate in the combine, he spend the months leading up by watching 4 games of film of every defense in the ENTIRE NFL. He prepared over 100 pages of information and could explain to every single team how they ran their defense, what he could bring to the team, and why they should draft him. Nothing like that has ever been done before and it shows his work ethic, determination, and maturity. You can't help but absolutely love this kid. He was one of a handful voted as a team leader on the Texas roster as voted by the teammates. This shows his leadership capabilities and respect among his peers which is vital in a successful locker room.
I'll move on to who he is on the field.
First, his weaknesses. Brandon has all the physical talent in the world to be a star, including in the NFL. He needs to be molded and his teammates and coaches need to find a way to make everything click in his mind. For whatever reason, he seems to play indecisive when the play is a pass a lot of the time. He doesn't show natural ball hawk tendencies nor is his ball skills high. He isn't going to make one handed picks nor does he often even go for the pick - he prefers the big hit and punishing the defender. Maybe because he lacks confidence in his ball skill ability. However, It's a good thing he is a hard worker and naturally athlete so he has a chance to really improve his ball skills with practice practice and his ball hawk ability (playing the ball/WR as the ball is in the air) through gains more experience and continuing to be a student of the game.
Last, BJ finished off the final season or two being a little injury prone. He has ELITE level toughness and will play through it without a second thought. But his small injuries would not seem to go away, whether a new one came along or an old one reappeared. I think with some healing time as he sits back and learns, he should be fully good to go when needed. In fact to my knowledge, he should be good to go for training camp. I also think we never got to see the true BJ because I really feel like he played injured the entire time so it really held him back whether mentally or physically.
Now, his strengths. BJ has three things that really stand out when you watch him. His closing speed is that of a freaking missile, he's an absolute thumper, and finally his sure tackling.
Toughness. As mentioned above, this kid will play through broken bones and whatever else is hard but possible to play through. BJ is ELITE in this category.
Tackling. I will say - teams in the Big 12 are built to put the ball in space and all skill players have speed, so it's very hard to be a good tackler. Everyone gets embarrassed at times. It's just the norm in the Big 12 honestly, however, that rarely happened to BJ. With the tighter hash marks and higher IQ players, there is less space for a defender to make such a move and I think BJ will excel in these situations as if he wasn't good already. BJ could be one of the best tacklers in all the NFL if trained correctly, his ceiling is that high. BJ is very good in this category with potential to be ELITE.
Thumper. BJ is not scared to hit. He loves to use his ELITE closing speed and just rock whoever is in his path. This may need to be controlled but BJ is smart and I'm sure the coaches will do a good job of teaching him when and how to use and control it. Regardless, it really brings momentum to the team when someone is putting out that kind of effort. BJ is very good in this category.
Closing speed. I can match his highlights to any player in this draft when it comes to closing speed. This kid is a rocket and I would consider his closing speed ELITE. (just one example on a crucial 4th down)
Experience. He started 3 years for us and played his freshman year as well. Led our team in tackles and has competed against many of the best skill players in the NFL. Hard to beat 3+ year starter, elite for a rookie.
Versatile. Not only did BJ play Safety for us, he also played NickelBack and was quite often sent on a blitz or to cover the slot (most safeties cant cover slot man to man). This is very valuable in the Big 12 and NFL, and will be for the Fins.
Fast and Athletic. When you watch BJ play, you will see he moves and runs like a CB. He is one of the most coordinated, quick, fast, loose hip players on the field. This will allow him to do everything down to covering the TE down to the speed WR in the slot. He needs more practice at it to be good at it in the NFL but he is much further along than majority of Safeties who wouldn't even dare try to cover a slot WR 1on1. BJ did it often. Often covering players like CeeDee Lamb, Denzel Mims, Jalen Reagar, and others of past years in the Big 12. Nobody truly knows his 40 time and how fast he is, but we know he always runs with everyone on the field and has the best closing speed. It's assumed he runs in the 4.4 range with a possibility in the 4.3s. BJ Athleticism is borderline ELITE.
Overall, this kid admittedly underachieved for his capabilities at Texas (IMO although he led the team in tackles for at least this final senior season and not really a fault of his own but on the coaches), but he still has all the intangibles and necessary physical capabilities. IMO his end result is very wide between a backup to a perennial Pro Bowler if he correctly develops. I'm really hoping the Dolphins find a way to unleash BJ's potential.
Go Fins and Hook'em \../
Brandon was a highly touted recruit coming out of HS. In fact, he was the #1 Safety in the country, an easy 5 Star. I haven't missed a Texas game in years, therefore I haven't missed a single snap that Brandon Jones has played in so I know him quite well.
I want to be honest about him because that's what I would want if some random person came in to tell me info about a player so I will not let my fandom and support for BJ get in the way of an honest assessment. For the record, I am a Cowboys fan but I also grew up a long time Dolphins fan because of Dan Marino (the GOAT) and because of Ricky Williams of course (Hook'em as well \../).
I'll start with who he is off the field.
Brandon Jones is an A+++ character. This is literally his best trait but this is also arguably the most important trait to have for success. Our own head coach even stated that this kid is the type of kid you want to marry your daughter. That's the nice, caring, educated, focused, determined BJ everyone knows. This kid has his head on straight and goes to work. In fact, if you weren't already aware, he was injured during the NFL combine. So, since he couldn't participate in the combine, he spend the months leading up by watching 4 games of film of every defense in the ENTIRE NFL. He prepared over 100 pages of information and could explain to every single team how they ran their defense, what he could bring to the team, and why they should draft him. Nothing like that has ever been done before and it shows his work ethic, determination, and maturity. You can't help but absolutely love this kid. He was one of a handful voted as a team leader on the Texas roster as voted by the teammates. This shows his leadership capabilities and respect among his peers which is vital in a successful locker room.
I'll move on to who he is on the field.
First, his weaknesses. Brandon has all the physical talent in the world to be a star, including in the NFL. He needs to be molded and his teammates and coaches need to find a way to make everything click in his mind. For whatever reason, he seems to play indecisive when the play is a pass a lot of the time. He doesn't show natural ball hawk tendencies nor is his ball skills high. He isn't going to make one handed picks nor does he often even go for the pick - he prefers the big hit and punishing the defender. Maybe because he lacks confidence in his ball skill ability. However, It's a good thing he is a hard worker and naturally athlete so he has a chance to really improve his ball skills with practice practice and his ball hawk ability (playing the ball/WR as the ball is in the air) through gains more experience and continuing to be a student of the game.
Last, BJ finished off the final season or two being a little injury prone. He has ELITE level toughness and will play through it without a second thought. But his small injuries would not seem to go away, whether a new one came along or an old one reappeared. I think with some healing time as he sits back and learns, he should be fully good to go when needed. In fact to my knowledge, he should be good to go for training camp. I also think we never got to see the true BJ because I really feel like he played injured the entire time so it really held him back whether mentally or physically.
Now, his strengths. BJ has three things that really stand out when you watch him. His closing speed is that of a freaking missile, he's an absolute thumper, and finally his sure tackling.
Toughness. As mentioned above, this kid will play through broken bones and whatever else is hard but possible to play through. BJ is ELITE in this category.
Tackling. I will say - teams in the Big 12 are built to put the ball in space and all skill players have speed, so it's very hard to be a good tackler. Everyone gets embarrassed at times. It's just the norm in the Big 12 honestly, however, that rarely happened to BJ. With the tighter hash marks and higher IQ players, there is less space for a defender to make such a move and I think BJ will excel in these situations as if he wasn't good already. BJ could be one of the best tacklers in all the NFL if trained correctly, his ceiling is that high. BJ is very good in this category with potential to be ELITE.
Thumper. BJ is not scared to hit. He loves to use his ELITE closing speed and just rock whoever is in his path. This may need to be controlled but BJ is smart and I'm sure the coaches will do a good job of teaching him when and how to use and control it. Regardless, it really brings momentum to the team when someone is putting out that kind of effort. BJ is very good in this category.
Closing speed. I can match his highlights to any player in this draft when it comes to closing speed. This kid is a rocket and I would consider his closing speed ELITE. (just one example on a crucial 4th down)
Experience. He started 3 years for us and played his freshman year as well. Led our team in tackles and has competed against many of the best skill players in the NFL. Hard to beat 3+ year starter, elite for a rookie.
Versatile. Not only did BJ play Safety for us, he also played NickelBack and was quite often sent on a blitz or to cover the slot (most safeties cant cover slot man to man). This is very valuable in the Big 12 and NFL, and will be for the Fins.
Fast and Athletic. When you watch BJ play, you will see he moves and runs like a CB. He is one of the most coordinated, quick, fast, loose hip players on the field. This will allow him to do everything down to covering the TE down to the speed WR in the slot. He needs more practice at it to be good at it in the NFL but he is much further along than majority of Safeties who wouldn't even dare try to cover a slot WR 1on1. BJ did it often. Often covering players like CeeDee Lamb, Denzel Mims, Jalen Reagar, and others of past years in the Big 12. Nobody truly knows his 40 time and how fast he is, but we know he always runs with everyone on the field and has the best closing speed. It's assumed he runs in the 4.4 range with a possibility in the 4.3s. BJ Athleticism is borderline ELITE.
Overall, this kid admittedly underachieved for his capabilities at Texas (IMO although he led the team in tackles for at least this final senior season and not really a fault of his own but on the coaches), but he still has all the intangibles and necessary physical capabilities. IMO his end result is very wide between a backup to a perennial Pro Bowler if he correctly develops. I'm really hoping the Dolphins find a way to unleash BJ's potential.
Go Fins and Hook'em \../
