Austin

Jones

Jones (5'10/201) was the no. 7 running back of his 2019 recruiting class, but has not seen a whole lot of playing time since joining the Cardinal in 2019. During his three seasons at Stanford, Jones rushed 277 times for 1,163 yards and 12 touchdowns, struggled in 2021, when he rushed for 106-386-2 and averaged 3.6 yards per carry. New USC head coach Lincoln Riley continues to build his 2022 recruiting class that currently ranks 60th in the nation and ninth in the Pac-12, but does consist of five-star players like Domani Jackson and Raleek Brown, along with a handful of four-star studs.

Jones (5'10/201) was a four-star prospect from the 2019 recruiting class, and was the no. 7 running back of his class according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. Despite being one of the best running back recruits in the nation back in 2019, Jones has played in largely a supportive role for the Cardinal, having rushed just 277 times in the last three season for 1,163 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 2021, Jones posted a rushing line of 106-386-2 while averaging a career-low 3.6 yards per carry and coughing up the football twice according to Pro Football Focus. An Oakland, California native, Jones had several offers from high-profile schools during his initial recruiting process, which included offers from Arizona State, Boise State, Cal, Florida, Notre Dame and Oregon, among others.

Jones (5'10/201) led the team in rushing yards with 80 in their 41-23 win over Vanderbilt before missing last week’s 35-24 loss to UCLA. He’ll be great to have in that backfield rotating with Nathaniel Peat. They’ll need both runners to excel and much more if they want a chance to pull off the upset against number three Oregon.

Jones (5'10/191) topped the Cardinal charts with the 80 rushing yards, but Nathaniel Peat and E.J. Smith were the tailbacks to find the end zone with their feet. Four Cardinal backs had at least four carries in a committee-type game. Still, Jones had an eye-popping 11.4 yards per carry, helped out by a 61-yard scamper in the first quarter to set up the team’s first score. Next up the Cardinal face UCLA in another stern test Saturday.

Jones was a touchdown machine in his brief time with Stanford this year, and this is his third multi-touchdown game in four tries. The former four-star recruit doesn’t make many big plays -- outside of finding paydirt, of course -- but he churns out yardage and keeps the chains moving. This was the finale for Stanford as they won’t accept a bowl invitation, but Jones (5'10/191) is definitely a name to look out for in the 2021 season.

Jones (5'10/191) continue to be the bellcow for Stanford, as this is his fourth game in five that he has over 20 carries. It’s also the third time in five attempts that the former four-star tailback has gone over 100 yards, and while he didn’t score, he set up several drives that ended with points for the Cardinal. Jones looks legit, and there’s a good chance we see him add to his totals in a bowl game in a week or two.

Jones was the bellcow for Stanford, and is the most responsible player -- if it can be just one -- for pulling off the upset. He scored both of his touchdown in the first quarter from short yardage, and helped the Cardinal build a 14-0 lead that lead to a 24-3 cushion at the end of the second quarter. Jones (5'10/191) doesn’t make many big plays down the field, but he’s able to churn out yardage and keep the chains moving. The former four-star recruit will look to do it again next Saturday against Oregon State.

Jones had exactly four yards per carry. Nothing more, nothing less. Seeing as his longest gain was just eight yards, almost all of his overall yardage came via constant two, three, and four yard carries. Though unspectacular, this is at least a step up from his performance in the last game, where he earned nine carries for exactly nine yards. At some point, Jones is going to need to rip off some explosives to really balance out his low-efficiency, grind-it-out style.

Jones was easily the most effective offensive player for Stanford on Saturday, and while that’s not saying much considering how much the Cardinal passing game struggled, it’s not faint praise, either. The 2019 four-star prospect opened the scoring with a four-yard run for six points, and he found paydirt again from two-yards out in the fourth. Jones appears to be the bellcow for Stanford, and he should have plenty of touches next Saturday against Colorado.

“He was in contention for the RB MVP at The Opening Oakland and made a compelling case for it but settled for being on the all-Underclass Team,” Huffman writes. Jones (5'11/190) ranks as Scout.com’s No. 20 overall prospect for the 2019 cycle and the No. 1 running back in the West region. Pac-12 outfits such as Oregon, UCLA, Cal and Washington have already tossed the California native offers. Those programs figure to see a fair bit of competition for Jones’ pledge as the 2019 cycle plays out over the next year-and-a-half.