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Mississippi State Football: Pro Football Focus Continues To Love Chris Jones

By Cole Patterson

Oct 23, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95) is introduced prior to a game against the New Orleans Saints at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 27-21. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95) is introduced prior to a game against the New Orleans Saints at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 27-21. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports /
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Pro Football Focus names former Mississippi State defensive lineman as one of the best defensive players under 25 in the NFL.

From State To Sundays.

This has been the slogan the Mississippi State football program has ran with under Dan Mullen.

Mullen, entering his ninth season in Starkville, is building quite the track record of developing raw and overlooked talent into NFL quality players. All of the hype has been with Dak Prescott, Fletcher Cox, and Darius Slay, but Chris Jones gained some recognition from Pro Football Focus recently.

Pro Football Focus listed the former star Mississippi State lineman as the best 3-technique under the age of 25 in the NFL.

Here is what PFF has to say about the Houston, Mississippi native:

"3-techniqueChris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs (85.1)A favorite of the PFF grading in college, Chris Jones was an immediate impact player for the Chiefs as a rookie. Another player whose production far surpassed his sack totals, Jones tallied 43 total QB pressures despite only picking up a pair of sacks, and in more than one game he was a very disruptive factor, including against some of the league’s better offensive lines (Oakland, Tennessee).Honorable Mention: Malcom Brown, New England Patriots (77.2)"

Jones became an instant success for the Chiefs last season. The athletic freak of nature was able to wreck havoc for one of the better defensive units in the league. It’s also worth noting he outperformed the second-best eligible player by eight points.

Pro Football has been high on Chris Jones since his days in Starkville. In his scouting report, PFF was adamant in saying Jones was undervalued. PFF’s Mike Renner believed the former Bulldog was worthy of a top five selection.

"To some degree I believe a team can motivate a guy to bring effort on a more consistent basis, but it’s still a big red flag. What’s crazy, however, is even with a handful of poor plays he still graded out so dominantly. If he puts it all together, Jones’ ceiling is as high as anyone in this class, and the scary thing is he’s barely scratching the surface right now.Where does that kind of potential fit in the NFL draft? I’m on record in the PFF offices saying I’d take him in the top five picks, but more realistically, with the risk he presents I’d say once he slips past pick No. 10 the value is too good to pass up."

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PFF continued to love Chris Jones during the course of his rookie season with the Chiefs. After Week 17, Jones was ranked as the seventh best rookie in the league. The Bulldogs joined Ohio State as the only two programs with multiple players in the top ten.

"7. Chris Jones, DT, Kansas City ChiefsNo player came on stronger over the second half of the season than the Chiefs’ second-rounder. From Week 9 and on, only Rams DT Aaron Donald earned a higher pass-rushing grade than Jones among interior players. For the season, his 9.4 pass-rushing productivity mark was fifth-best among starters on the interior. Jones is also the poster boy for why stats don’t tell the whole story—he only had two sacks and 22 tackles all season long, but his down-to-down disruption is already superb."

Bulldogs fans everywhere are looking forward to watching one of their own continue to develop into one of the league’s best at his position.

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