Landry Jones: 5 Things You Need to Know About the Oklahoma Quarterback

Landry Jones started 50 games in his time at Oklahoma and is one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the NFL draft. With good size, arm strength and accuracy, he has the necessary tools to eventually compete for a starting job in the NFL.

However, he's not a great athlete and will need time to grow comfortable in an NFL offense. His ability to handle pressure on the biggest stages and biggest moments remains suspect, and his chances to prove otherwise will be limited in the pros.

Jones has a lot of upside and has impressed scouts with his athleticism throughout the draft process. He could be selected far sooner than anyone might expect.

Here's a closer look at Landry Jones. 

Background

Full Name: Landry Jones

Birthday: April 4, 2989

Hometown: Artesia, New Mexico

High School: Artesia High School

Major: General Management

Year: 2012

Jones led his high school team to two consecutive Class 4A state championships, throwing for a combined 7,013 yards and 89 touchdowns.

Statistics

2008 (Redshirted)

2009: 10 games, 449 attempts, 3,198 yards, 7.1 YPA, 26 TD, 14 INT

2010: 14 games, 617 attempts, 4,718 yards, 7.6 YPA, 38 TD, 12 INT

2011: 13 games, 562 attempts, 4,463 yards, 7.9 YPA, 29 TD, 15 INT

2012: 13 games, 555 attempts, 4,267 yards, 7.7 YPA, 30 TD, 11 INT

Perhaps most remarkable about Jones is his consistency as clearly reflected in the impressive stats that he put up over the course of his career. His yardage per attempt never deviated more than .8 yards over the course of his career, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio remained consistent as well, throwing a career-low 11 interceptions as a senior.

His stats might not be as explosive or have improved dramatically enough over the course of his career for some NFL team's liking, but there's no denying Jones is a polished prospect who has played a lot of football and performed well for four straight seasons.

As a redshirt freshman, he was thrust into the lineup when Sam Bradford suffered a shoulder injury. Bradford was eventually shut down for the year and Landry went on to start 10 games, saving his best performance for the 2009 Sun Bowl, where he threw for 418 yards and three touchdowns.

Jones would go on to start every game in his remaining three years at Oklahoma, going 32-8, including a 2-1 record in bowl games. He ended his career with 16,646 passing yards and 123 touchdowns.

Draft Process

Measurables

Height: 6'4"

Weight: 225 pounds

Arm Length: 33 inches

Hand Size: 9 1/8 inches

Combine Results 

40-yard dash: 5.11 seconds

Broad jump: 115.0 inches (fifth-best QB)

Vertical jump: 31.0 inches (fourth-best QB)

3-cone Drill: 7.12 seconds (fifth-best QB)

20-yard Shuttle: 4.30 seconds (tied fifth-best QB)

All eyes were on Jones at his pro day (via Ryan Aber, newsok.com)

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After a rough start that included a wobbly deep ball, Jones settled in to his throwing session. “That first ball didn’t come out necessarily the way I wanted to but sometimes it happens on that deep ball stuff,” Jones said. “We got a good laugh out of it and once that was over, played ball and threw it well.

“I think it might’ve been just a little nerves. I tried to overthrow it.”

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Jones has ideal size for the traditional throwing quarterback that he is, and his athleticism, with four top-five finishes in combine events. While his hand size might be a little small for some of the cold weather teams, there are no other red flags in his measurables.

All stats courtesy of NFL.com.

Interesting Facts

Jones completed 66 of 70 throws at his pro day, where the Bills showed interest in him, as well as hosting him on a private workout.

Jones is the fourth-ranked quarterback on respected analyst Gil Brandt's big board.

Jones was one of the quarterbacks featured on Jon Gruden's Quarterback Camp. Gruden said he thought Jones grew "complacent and bored" at Oklahoma.

Quarterback guru George Whitfield, Jr., who has trained with Jones, thinks that he is a first-rounder.

Observations

Landry Jones is the kind of prospect who has the experience and the tools to potentially excel at the next level, but will have to hone his decision-making, pocket presence and accuracy to truly become an impact quarterback at the NFL level.

Here's what some of the scouting reports had to say about him:

NFL.com: Prototypical pocket passer with NFL size. Extremely productive. Can stretch the field with his arm and shows good zip on passes to all parts of the field when his feet are set.  Really struggles when under duress. Feels pressure when it isn't there. Not an elite athlete, takes time to get to hand-off spot from under center. Can move out of the pocket to escape pressure, but is usually caught up in traffic and is brought down too easily in the backfield.

CBSSports.com: Already owns a very strong arm, could become elite over the next few years. Displays serious juice on throws to either sideline and stretch the field vertically. Ball comes out of his hand nicely, with a fairly tight spiral to aid velocity and accuracy. Relatively quiet player off the field who has increased his leadership role over the past two years. Usually even-tempered on the field but is willing to let receivers know when they run the wrong route or fail to help him on extended plays. Solid character, strong in his faith. 

Matt Miller/Bleacher Report: Landry Jones does a great job throwing the ball to where it’s catchable for his receivers. The best attribute I've seen from Jones in the two years and change watching him has been his accuracy. It’s top notch to all levels of the field. I was particularly impressed with Jones’ accuracy when throwing the deep fade. He puts the ball up against the sideline without throwing out of bounds. This, more than any other throw, shows off his ability to put the ball where he wants on a consistent basis. One negative here: Jones has a tendency to throw too high when going to crossing routes over the middle. That will get receivers destroyed in the NFL.