Cyrus Jones Is Alabama's Biggest Surprise so Far in 2014

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Cyrus Jones wouldn’t say one way or the other whether or not he grabbed I’tavius Mathers’ facemask on his strip-fumble returned for a touchdown.

“I mean, you could argue it both ways,” Jones said in a Tuesday media session. “I didn't even realize that I hit him in the facemask when I was going, it happened so fast, and I looked at it, you could have called it. Because I didn't really grab it, I just hit it and knocked my hand down. But I didn't get it, thankfully.”

Afterwards, Jones stood up and smiled, shaking his head saying, “I knew that question was coming.”

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Whether Jones should have been flagged on the play or not is up for debate, but it’s that kind of instinct that has made him Alabama’s best cornerback this season.

The 5’10” Jones faced some adversity last season, getting thrown into the fire at times at cornerback. But he’s grown from it and now gone toe to toe with some of the best wide receivers in the country.

And his play has made him Alabama’s biggest surprise so far in 2014.

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“Cyrus has been our most consistent corner, in my opinion,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “He's a lot more confident. He knows what to do. He's got a lot better discipline in terms of eye control and because of the experience he got playing last year, I think he's a lot more mature about how he approaches playing because he understands what it takes to play well.”

Jones, a junior, was credited with two pass break-ups against Ole Miss on Saturday. The official play by play only lists him in coverage for two completed passes, which went for a combined 28 yards.

One of those was a second-quarter, 16-yard completion to Laquon Treadwell, one of the SEC’s best wide receivers, that Jones was actually called for pass interference on. It was just a great play by Treadwell.

Later in the fourth quarter, Jones broke up a pass intended for Treadwell to get even.

Jones’ emergence at cornerback has been a welcome consistency, along with safety Landon Collins, in a secondary that has otherwise mixed and matched for various reasons all year. Jones and Collins are the only defensive backs who have started all five games so far for Alabama.

Saturday, when he held his own against Treadwell, may have been Jones’ best game of the season.

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I think I definitely proved something, not really to myself, but a lot of people. Just because he's one of the better receivers we have in our conference. I know that the DBs on our team, we get kind of ridiculed a lot, so it was good to come out and play well against one of the best receivers in our conference and make plays. I was glad that I played well against him, but I'm definitely not satisfied because I know I can get better and we all can get better.

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Jones initially played wide receiver when he came to Alabama. His freshman year (2012), he played receiver in garbage time and returned a few kicks and punts. Then he made the switch to cornerback as a sophomore.

His first major action was against Texas A&M, where he grabbed an interception in the end zone and had his ups and downs facing Mike Evans and Johnny Manziel. Jones ended up starting five games that year as Alabama struggled to find a No. 2 cornerback and Jones couldn’t really catch on either.

But this season, Jones is easily Alabama’s best cornerback. He plays in front of two fan favorites, Eddie Jackson and Tony Brown. When Brown came into his own and Jackson got healthy, most fans expected Jones to get bumped out of the starting rotation, but he got the start against Ole Miss and excelled.

He’s taken what he learned in his trial by fire and been better off for it in the end.

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“How you prepare for a game, how you study the receivers, how you understand our game plan, understand what patterns and blocking schemes they're going to run in certain formations—all those things that we try to teach guys, they don't first of all have maybe sometimes the kind of appreciation or see the importance in it,” Saban said.

“But after they play some, they actually see where this could be very beneficial and I think it's just called competitive maturity. Cyrus has really played well, has been very consistent, he's a really good athlete, he's got good ball skills, can tackle well, he's tough and he's done a pretty good job of covering for the most part.”

Jones should start there the rest of the season, barring an injury. It’s been an unexpected emergence in a secondary that desperately needed one.

And the most pleasant surprise of 2014.

Marc Torrence is the Alabama lead writer for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow on Twitter @marctorrence.