2012 NFL Draft: Wayne State University Safety Jeremy Jones Is a Playmaker

Jeremy Jones is a smart, play-making safety from Wayne State University.  At the combine in late February he measured in at 5’9 and 1/2” and 194 lbs.  He only ran the 40 yard dash and did position drills at the combine but his 40 time was 4.56 seconds.  Jones is a ball hawk playing at the safety position as he intercepted nine passes in his senior season; a season in which he led his team to the Division II national championship game.

Jones comes from a small school but is a talented player in the secondary.  I was happy to get to talk to him about his thoughts on football, his experience during the draft process and his thoughts going forward.  It was obvious in talking to him that he is a student of the game, and he has passion for it.

I asked him what his favorite thing to do on the football field was.  He said “I love to play the pass.  I love getting interceptions, I love it.  I love when that ball is in the air, that's my favorite thing to do is play the ball in the air.”

Following up with that thought I asked what he thought the strength of his game was.  He said “I understand the scheme of football.  My defensive coordinator in college, John Hauser, he helped me understand the game of football in the back seven.” 

He said “I understand coverages and why we want to design coverages to stop certain routes and certain formations, downs and distances.  You really have to understand the scheme of defense.”  Jones clearly studies a lot of film and was able to talk in great depth about playing defense in the secondary.

I asked him if he had been compared to any player other NFL player or if he thought his game resembled anyone in particular.  “I really don't because I don't like comparing like myself to other football players because when I play football I want to play Jeremy Jones' type of football.”  He said that each player has his own style of how they play and that is what makes them unique as players.

Jones is known as a team-first guy and when I asked him what his favorite moment was as a college athlete he went right to the team and the team’s accomplishments.  He said his favorite moment was “the night before the national championship game I sat down in my room and I really realized that this senior class has really put Wayne State on the map.”  He takes an immense sense of pride in being a part of the Wayne State football team over the past few years.

He told me that it was crucial to have fun while playing the game and that was a key to football.  He told me “If you are not having fun then you will not succeed.”

I asked him to describe a play that was successful for him, a play that stood out to him.  He said "There was a play in my junior year against Northern Michigan, I was running seam to the boundary and the receiver ran a hitch on the outside and the back ran a bubble to the boundary and for some reason I read the bubble and I came up and I made a diving interception."  He told me that was the first time he said to himself "that was awesome."

After his description of the play I immediately asked for a translation into english and he laughed.  It was clear that he knows coverages and schemes and is able to freely talk about them.  He comes across as a student of the game and an incredibly vibrant person.

It is a time of great unknown for these young men who will be getting drafted in late April.  There is so much at stake for them as they go through the draft process.  I asked what the combine was like for him.  He said that it was surreal for him and “it showed the business side of football to me more than anything.”

He talked about how much more depth there was to it. “It's a much larger scheme behind the scene going on with the interviews, the meetings and all of the player and coach interaction on the side” and he mentioned that it was exhausting.  “You are up from 6:00 a.m. until 11:00 at night almost every day and you are running low on fuel.”

I asked him what he expected from year number one in the NFL.  He told me that he was a guy who took things day by day.  He also said that he expects there to be a much bigger workload, going to the professional level.  He said that he knows he needs to play football “smart and fast.”

We talked about his future in the NFL and he said that he was willing to do whatever it took to win.  He said he would play special teams and help out in the return game if necessary.  He is a smart football player and his football intelligence will help him.

Jones talked about his mother being a positive force in his life and that she was the biggest fan in the world.  He told me that she was the reason that he was at this point in his life and that “she’s been through it and he wanted to do something good for her.”

Jeremy Jones is a big time playmaker for a small school.  If you go to the Detroit area and you mention Jeremy Jones’ name you will find out that he has already done some very special things.  During the draft when his name is called, I will think about his Mom and how proud she will be.