Texas Football: 5 best former Longhorns in the 2020 NFL Draft

2. Brandon Jones, Safety

To shake that tag of he’ll just be an “average” strong safety in the NFL is why former Texas football standout defensive back Brandon Jones needs to have a huge scouting process. Jones has yet to compete in any of the major events in the NFL Combine, but he needs to show off the physical tools that made him the nation’s top safety recruit during the 2016 cycle in the coming weeks.

This isn’t the deepest safety draft class ever, so Jones could work his way up draft boards with a strong NFL Combine outing. Even though he originally had an invitation that he seemed to accept, Jones didn’t play in the Senior Bowl back in January. The combine will be his first real chance to show off what he can do away from the Longhorns to pro scouts.

There aren’t really any negative reviews out on Jones as an NFL prospect. He does carry a lot of versatility as someone who can shadow the line of scrimmage and effectively drop back into pass coverage. Most NFL scouts should know by now that Jones isn’t likely to excel in pass coverage right away, but he can be a steady force heading up the secondary.

Jones was the backbone of the Texas defense over the last two seasons. He did have a decent breakthrough during his junior campaign. Jones registered his best numbers in college in the last two years on the Forty Acres. In the last two seasons combined, Jones racked up a whopping 156 total tackles, 10.0 tackles for loss, one sack, five pass deflections, three interceptions, one forced fumble, and three fumble recoveries. His numbers are pretty well spread across the board.