Dawand Jones falls into 'stock down' group following NFL Combine performance

Dawand Jones joined Ohio State as a raw but impressive physical prospect during the 2019 recruiting class. After wrapping up his career with the Buckeyes, Jones headed to Indianapolis to try and boost his draft stock at the NFL Combine.

Jones remains an elite physical specimen for the next level after checking in at 6-foot-8 and 374 pounds in Indianapolis. His 5.35 time in the 40-yard dash was also noteworthy for a player of his size.

Unfortunately, NFL.com’s Chad Reuter pointed toward Jones’ decision to avoid the short-area quickness tests at the combine as a disappointing part of the week:

He ran an adequate 40 time (5.35 seconds) for his size but did not participate in short-area quickness tests, where he could have set aside the narrative that he possesses limited short-area agility. He will likely be a Day 2 pick, but I don’t anticipate his stock seeing a boost coming out of the combine.

Can Jones crack Round 1 in April?

During the college football season, Jones was an intermittent selection as a first-round pick on various mock drafts. Unfortunately, it sounds like Jones will not be near the same level as teammate Paris Johnson Jr. and Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski when it comes to offensive tackles in this year’s draft.

At the end of the day, all it takes is one team to fall in love with Jones’ size and potential to fill a need. Still, it looks like he will be likely to come off the board on Day 2 which puts Jones in the realm of being a Round 2 or Round 3 pick.