NFL Draft Rewind: No. 14 Broderick Jones
The NFL Draft kicks off with its opening round on April 27 in Kansas City, so Rivals is taking a look back at its projected first-round picks when they were high school prospects. We move on to our projected No. 14 – Georgia OT Broderick Jones – who was the top-rated offensive tackle in the 2020 class.
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NFL DRAFT REWIND: No. 1 Bryce Young | No. 2 CJ Stroud | No. 3 Will Anderson | No. 4 Will Levis | No. 5 Tyree Wilson | No. 6 Jalen Carter | No. 7 Anthony Richardson | No. 8 Nolan Smith | No. 9 Peter Skoronski | No. 10 Christian Gonzalez | No. 11 Darnell Wright | No. 12 Jaxon Smith-Njigba | No. 13 Paris Johnson Jr.
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No. 14: OT Broderick Jones, Georgia
Where they were ranked: A five-star prospect in the 2020 class, Jones was the top-rated offensive tackle and fifth overall, with Bryan Bresee, Bryce Young, DJ Uiagalelei and Myles Murphy ahead of him.
Recruitment: Georgia, LSU, Alabama, Clemson and Louisville were the top five for the Lithonia, Ga., five-star offensive tackle, and he decided to pick the Bulldogs in the spring before his junior season. Over the course of the next two cycles Auburn, Miami, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee and others made a run at Jones but he decided to stick with Georgia despite an especially focused run by Auburn late in the game.
Biggest draft question: One of the only questions when it comes to Jones is experience, since he started only 19 games in his college career. Strength against NFL rush ends might be something to watch, but that could be overcome as well.
Memories: What we remember about Jones in high school is that he was an athletic specimen who had a frame where he could even add more weight and actually seemed a little lean at the Under Armour Game in his senior year.
The five-star offensive tackle looked bigger at Future 50 the year before and then came to Under Armour weighing 284 pounds. He certainly had the frame to add significant weight, and he certainly has – checking in at 311 at the combine – but his weight was a concern late in his high school years.
There was never any questioning his footwork. His basketball background absolutely helped him play offensive tackle and he was amazingly athletic for someone his size.
My opinion is that Jones could end up being the best offensive tackle in this draft class. He has the athleticism, is much bigger than his high school days and he performed exceptionally well at the highest level of college football.