Deep Space Scouting: Trequan Jones, RB, Tulsa
By: The Devy Oracle
You probably saw this headline and went “Who?” Or you went “Tulsa? Why is this dude getting written up?” That my friends is why you follow The Devy Planet. With our new series, Deep Space Scouting, we are looking deep into the college prospect realm and finding players that have a glimmer of light to make their NFL dreams come true. Even I’ll admit though, this one requires me taking out my telescope, putting the magnification way up, and squinting to find a star way far off in the distance. With that said, Trequan Jones was a name that popped up when I was building my top 250 Devy Assets, and I was intrigued enough I wanted to dive in deep. After a dig into the numbers behind the numbers and the tape I do think this is a guy we should have on our radars going into deep Devy drafts. With that, let’s dive into the scouting profile.
Recruiting Profile:
Size: 5’9”, 180 lbs
High School: Bartow
Previous Colleges: Georgia Military College (JUCO), Old Dominion
Player Comparison: Keaton Mitchell
Draft Class: 2027
Consensus RB Devy Rank: Unranked; Devy Oracle Rank 161 Overall
Strengths:
Elite Breakaway Speed
Joystick Change of Direction
Patience and Vision
Surprising Contact Balance for Size Against Arm Tackles
Weaknesses:
Tiny Frame = No Power
Low Level of Competition Played
No Third Down Work
Path to the FBS
Trequan Jones did not immediately hit the field as an FBS running back. He began his career at Georgia Military College, a junior college. While there is very little information available as to what went into that decision, Jones was productive while he played there. Over 16 games he had 142 rushing attempts for 1071 yards (7.5 YPC), 14 total touchdowns as well as 16 catches for 189 yards and an additional 2 touchdowns. After two years there he transferred up to Old Dominion as a zero star recruit. Now as a transfer after a successful year one he finds himself at Tulsa as a 3 star transfer.
First Stop: Old Dominion
Before we go too far and skip what brought him to Tulsa, let’s first look at how he played this last year in his first shot at FBS competition. Unfortunately, Jones missed one of his P4 games as he essentially sat out week 1 against Indiana playing only 5 total snaps. He saw only 6 snaps in week 2 but he made them count and never looked back. On those 6 snaps he saw 4 carries and managed to turn that into 160 yards, 3 touchdowns, including a massive 93 yard rush. From then on he saw big carry totals in most games, with really good efficiency and production. By the number first, he finished with 95 carries for 721 yards (7.6 YPC), 5 touchdowns, a monster 455 yards after contact, 17 missed tackles forced (.18 MTF per rush), and a legit 45.6% of his yards coming on breakaway runs. Speed and Elusiveness. On the negative side of things he only managed 6 receptions on 8 targets for 20 yards including a drop. Cory Joseph, Old Dominion’s quarterback, was known much more for taking off when a play broke down than dumping the ball off, but nevertheless he did not see any usage there.
This was of course largely against Sun Belt competition... does the tape match the numbers, or was his stat line heavily inflated by playing against future accountants? I dove in to find out.
Lets start with the breakout game. Very few carries but two plays stand out:
First, this is his only run that doesn’t go for a touchdown. However, this was a very impressive run in terms of his ability to adjust on the fly when a play breaks down, change direction, and then accelerate through space to create more yards than he should have. With patience he turns an inside zone into a counter that gains a large chunk.
The next play is the big one. He displays good footwork and contact balance to get into the second level, then accelerates and pulls away from the defense with ease….
Want to finish reading about Trequan Jones, or find any of our other deep, deep, sleepers? Follow the Devy Planet across all of our platforms to get access to exclusive content, including our ever growing All-22 Film Library! Where else will you find full game tape on Trequan Jones? No where, except for here at the Devy Planet.