Five-star Jones signs his papers
Five star linebacker Keandre Jones, one of Ohio State's final additions to the 2016 class, signed his letter of intent on Wednesday. The big-time athlete at linebacker will be a dynamic force on the outside for the Buckeyes.
Keandre Jones represented one of the biggest recruiting wins for Urban Meyer and company in his tenure at Ohio State. A five-star linebacker out of Olney (Md.) Good Counsel, Jones joined quarterback Dwayne Haskins in flipping to the Buckeyes from the hometown Maryland Terrapins.
13 months of being committed to Maryland for the five-star linebacker were erased by a combination of the wavering of Haskins' pledge, the work put in by Ohio State's co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Luke Fickell and Maryland area recruiter /defensive line coach Larry Johnson, and a January 15th official visit to Columbus. All in all, they were enough to overpower the commitment that Jones had held strong to Maryland on for months upon months.
All that work put in to try and flip the five-star linebacker appears to be well worth it. Jones is an outside linebacker in the mold of recent Ohio State standouts Darron Lee and Ryan Shazier. The latter was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft and the former looks to be headed for that distinction as well, and neither had Jones' pedigree coming out of the high school ranks.
"Jones is an explosive athlete that can get sideline-to-sideline in a hurry but he brings a lot more to the table than just speed. Jones' film shows an aggressive, attacking style of linebacker that can deliver violent hits and also make plays coming off the edge as a blitzer," said BuckeyeGrove.com recruiting analyst Marc Givler. "While he is known for his speed and athleticism, there is enough on tape to show that he is also capable of being strong at the point of attack and making plays inside the tackle box."
Part of the reason Jones has the capability to play inside the tackle box is his robust frame. Jones checks in at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds and will have plenty of room to add on to that in a college weight lifting program, as he's still relatively slight at 210.
Jones is the top player in the state of Maryland, a five-star prospect, and 30th overall in the country among all recruits. He also checks in at 6th among all outside linebackers. In addition to holding offers from Ohio State and Maryland, schools like Florida, Penn State, and LSU were among those recruiting him the hardest.