Connecticut CB Byron Jones might just be the biggest wild card in this year’s NFL draft. He absolutely won this year’s NFL combine. Yes, that’s possible, and it’s simply indisputable in Jones’ case. While still rehabbing from an October shoulder dislocation (and subsequent shoulder labrum surgery), Byron Jones broke the stinking world record with his long jump at the combine! The world record of 12 feet, 2 inches has stood since 1968, and Jones topped that by one inch. Sure, it’s not a new official world record, but nobody is questioning how controlled and accurate the NFL combine testing is. If that wasn’t enough, Jones came up half an inch shy of tying the vertical jump NFL combine record as well. CBS Sports has some great video of both of those feats.
With all that upside, why isn’t Byron Jones a draft slam dunk? Well, remember I told you he was rehabbing from a shoulder injury at the combine? That makes things tricky. Jones had tons of potential in college and he played well. But he dislocated his shoulder in October of 2014 and missed the rest of the season. So, aside from the usual injury concerns, he also missed out on a ton of game tape. At 6’1″ and 196 lbs, Jones is big for a cornerback. In college, he started off as a safety before transitioning over to corner. NFL teams would’ve loved to see more film from Jones to get an idea of how effective he might be at either position should they draft him. Without that tape, he’s a very intriguing question mark.
But let’s get to the injury history, as I think I might have something useful to add here. Byron Jones had battled shoulder injuries throughout his college career, though I can’t find great details on that. In October of 2014, Jones dislocated his left shoulder, tearing his labrum in the process. The labrum is the ring of soft tissue and cartilage that helps to hold your arm inside the shoulder joint. Labrum damage is very typical during shoulder dislocations, and it almost always requires surgery to repair, as Jones had. The injury and surgery aren’t really so bad on their own. NFL defensive backs suffer this injury and tend to come back quickly. The trouble is, this is one of those injuries that can come up again. One of the frequent complications of dislocations (of any joint) is that they tend to make future dislocations more common. Once the structure of the joint has been damaged, it is more susceptible to future injury, even if it was repaired and rehabbed correctly. After the first dislocation, there is not a whole lot that a player can do to help prevent future dislocations, except to wear a protective harness that helps to stabilize the joint. Now pay attention, here’s where the plot thickens. According to TFY’s Draft Insider’s Tony Pauline, Byron Jones was already wearing a harness when he suffered this latest dislocation. So what we have here is a player with a history of shoulder injuries (again, exact details unclear) who dislocated his shoulder while wearing the only thing that might’ve prevented him from dislocating his shoulder. Just seems like that shoulder wanted to be hanging loose, right?
Even with that injury history, it sounds like Byron Jones might get taken in the first round. Aside from his amazing combine performance, he’s also a smart guy. He was a great student at Connecticut and very involved with extra curriculars. That might go a long way for his draft stock, as many of the other cornerback prospects in this draft have serious offfield concerns, as noted by Dan Pompei. The shoulder history makes me wonder about his durability and longevity in the NFL, but there’s no doubt that he has some amazing potential.
