Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel annually posts his evaluations of the draft's top players based on comments and input from anonymous scouts. Yes, the infamous anonymous scout. These reviews are very honest because the scouts are anonymous so they have no fear of offending anyone or losing their job. We'll find out in a couple years if their analysis is honest and accurate.
Now that the Chiefs picked Chris Jones in the second round, I wanted to review what those anonymous scouts said about him in McGlynn's evaluations before the draft. Let's go through this line by line....
Quintessential underachiever. "Boom or bust," said one scout. "Yeah, he's talented as hell, but his whole makeup is very, very limited. He shows everything you want in flashes, but it's just so hit or miss. Our area guy hates him, but I bet him someone will take him in the first."
I feel like "underachiever" is often applied to defensive linemen. Feels very much like an effort position. The Chiefs said they would have taken him in the first if they hadn't traded down. They got him in the early second.
Tied for the longest arms (34 ½) and biggest hands (10 ¾) of any DT. "He's got talent but he's a mess as a kid," said another scout. "He really flashes but has character concerns." Started 16 of 39 games as a third-year junior, finishing with 102 tackles (18 for loss) and 8 ½ sacks.
Chiefs GM John Dorsey loves those measurables. I'm not surprised at all that he has the longest arms and biggest hands. Dorsey is a hand size savant that can name you the hand size of a bunch of players in the league (yes, football is a weird sport). The ever-changing "character concerns" pops up here.
"He's 6-6, he's gonna be 320, he's got really good feet," a third scout said. "But he's got two things going against him: he's a junior from Mississippi State, and he's not too smart (Wonderlic of 15). He's country. He's a bad (expletive) but he has to be more consistent." From Houston, Miss.
Uhh, yeah, tell us what you really think. But the Wonderlic point ... ehhh. Players with lower Wonderlics than that have gone on to succeed. There is a difference between sitting down at the Combine and taking a Wonderlic test and having the mental makeup to play defense.. See: Alvin Mack in The Program.
Added a fourth scout: "How much dog does he have in him I guess is the old phrase. They're the same questions about Albert (Haynesworth) when he came out. At some point you figure the maturity will kick in and he'll say, ‘You know what, this is what I want to do for a living.' If he can get the right (coach) in his ear he can do whatever he wants to do."
Granted I don't know much about Chris Jones but he certainly seems to have a positive attitude. That seems important. i'd rather him have an attitude like that than not.