Texas A&M beats three others for four-star LB Marco Jones
Texas A&M is staying hot on the recruiting trail.
After landing three-star defensive tackle Chace Sims earlier on Tuesday, the Aggies added four-star linebacker Marco Jones later in the day as they beat out Michigan, Texas and USC for the Danville (Calif.) San Ramon Valley.
Just days ago, Texas A&M beat out USC and Oregon for four-star linebacker Noah Mikhail from La Verne (Calif.) Bonita.
Jones is one of the more versatile - and interesting - prospects in the West region if not nationally.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound prospect plays a lot of inside linebacker at Danville San Ramon Valley where he can step in front of passes, blitz up the middle or cover from sideline to sideline.
Last season, Jones totaled 166 tackles, three forced fumbles and three interceptions. That type of production and versatility will be welcomed by Texas A&M’s new coaching staff which has blown away Jones during their meetings in College Station and elsewhere.
But there is some question about where Jones will play in college since he could definitely stay at linebacker but at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds or so he could have a future blitzing off the edge.
Jones showed some of that ability at the Under Armour Camp in Los Angeles this offseason but how that translates to the SEC is still worthy of debate.
There is no question that Jones is a big get for the new staff in College Station.
Michigan is coming off a national championship and the four-star has raved about his time in Ann Arbor. The new USC defensive coaching staff has drawn very positive reviews from numerous prospects on that side of the ball. After a recent visit to Texas, things seemed to be trending well for the Longhorns as well.
But Texas A&M won out for Jones as baseball was also a major consideration here which doubly complicated his recruitment.
As fate would have it, Texas A&M’s old baseball coach, Jim Schlossnagle, left College Station for Austin right after the College World Series in controversial fashion and since then the Aggies hired hitting coach Michael Early to take over.