Keep an eye on University of Connecticut cornerback Byron Jones during the NFL Draft.
It’s likely that he’ll be picked sometime in the first or second round, and the Vikings might be interested considering head coach Mike Zimmer was working one-on-one with the 6-foot-1 player on Tuesday.
According to Viking Update, Zimmer was working with Jones on his technique. The Hartford Courant reports that Zimmer was at the pro day to specifically work with Jones.
“He was trying to change my back-pedal and be more relaxed in the upper body, instead of getting down too low, stay up a little more,” Jones said of Zimmer. “I’m a 6-foot-1 corner so use that to my advantage. It’s stuff I have to work on, and if I’m going to be on his team, then I have no problem working that technique.”
Mike Zimmer coaching Byron Jones in DB drills, giving him instructions. #Jaguars representative also coaching him up. pic.twitter.com/h6qFTyfWEz
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) March 31, 2015
So who is Jones and what’s he all about?
For starters, Jones owns the world record broad jump. At the NFL Combine in February, Jones set the record with a jump of 12-feet, 3 inches. CBS Sports notes that Jones wasn’t even supposed to do any physical activity at the combine because he was still recovering from shoulder surgery.
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Jones added a 44.5-inch vertical leap at the combine, which fell just a half-inch shy of a world record.
Apparently @Byron16Jump has an appropriate Twitter handle. Just broad jumped 12-3 at #NFLCombine: https://t.co/kJ472HP0eJ
— USATF (@usatf) February 23, 2015
And his stock went up even more on Tuesday when he ran a blazing-fast 4.36-second 40-yard dash and set a personal best 18 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press.
NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah ranks Jones the No. 38 prospect in the draft.
