Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/156066
Jones is Notre Dame's undisputed go-to guy, having hauled in 111 career receptions for 1,321 yards and 10 touchdowns compared to a combined 40 catches for 593 yards and no scores for the other nine scholarship wide receivers on the depth chart. photo by bill panzica summer for Blue & Gold Illustrated's 160-page 2013 Football Preview. "He'll be a first-round route runner. Now does he have [Michael] Floyd or [Tyler] Eifert's size? No. But his ability to catch the ball is also first-round ability. He's not a first-rounder, but he has some high-end skill sets." Head coach Brian Kelly sur risingly p took it a step further when speaking about the 5-11, 195-pound Jones. "[It] wouldn't surprise me if he's a first-round draft pick," Kelly said. "He's that good. Sometimes he doesn't get enough of the accolades." Maybe the most underrated member of the 12-1 team last season, Jones tied first-round pick Eifert for the team lead in receptions (50) while improving his yards per catch from a pedestrian 9.6 in 2011 to 13.0 in 2012. His 111 career receptions are 80 more than anyone else on the team (junior DaVaris Daniels is a distant second with 31), and he is the lone wideout on the roster with a scoring reception (10). The caveat is that in 2013 he can no longer just be the complementary figure to Floyd and Eifert as he was in the past. "I don't know if it's pressure, or at least it's not pressure for me," Jones said of the high expectations the staff has for him. "It's more motivation. If I know that my coaches have that faith in me and I have that faith in myself, then that's just going to allow us to better work together and for me to be able to push myself harder to attain that goal that he thinks I can achieve." This year Jones could become the sixth Notre Dame receiver to nab 150 career passes. As the receiving corps leader, though, Jones wants to see people such as Daniels, sophomores