Three-star Cypress, Texas, running back CJ Jones hasn’t played as much this season as he had hoped.

Fighting off a bruised collarbone, he’s been trying to make a return to the field by the end of the season, but pain from contact has kept him sidelined.

That hasn’t sidelined his recruitment. Although he hasn’t picked up any recent offers, he’s beginning to consider which of those already in the mix may be in-line for official visits. The two teams that top that list at the moment are Arizona State and Vanderbilt.

“I’m just looking to get a feel for the environment - see how the coaches are,” he said. “I just want to experience what it would be like out there because I have to remember that wherever I choose it’s going to be four years that I am going to be out there.”

Jones is looking to take those visits by early January, but he said schools like Texas-San Antonio, Tulane and Tulsa are still in the picture as well.

On Vanderbilt

“I feel like they are a team on the rise,” he said. “They’re starting to get better players. They are in the SEC, so sometimes it’s kind of hard to adjust to some of those other teams, but I think they’re getting recruits and they just got a big win over Georgia, so I feel like momentum is starting to come their way.”

“I was just watching how they played as a unit,” he said. “It was a close game against a tough team like Georgia with Kirby Smart as a head coach, I feel like the way they game-planned, came in and played as a unit was good to see.”

On Arizona State

“I would say their offense fits me,” he said. “That’s why I am looking into them a lot I feel like the sort of offense we run here at Cy-Woods they do a lot of at Arizona State with a lot more spread concepts.”

Unfortunately, it seems as though the momentum in Jones’ recruitment has been stalled by his collarbone issue. When he’s on the field, he’s an explosive playmaker as a plug-and-play running back that can make tracks when he gets the ball with a little bit of room in front of him. Arizona State already has one Texas running back committed in 2017 with Trelon Smith and while Smith is more of a traditional back, there are similarities between the two. Vanderbilt is still looking for a more bona fide offensive playmaker in its recruiting class and has had some success recruiting Texas as well.

At this point, Jones is likely biding some time to see how some other things shake out with the schools he’s considering and which visits he’ll end up taking.