2011 NFL Draft Projections - Greg Jones

If you're a steady reader of this blog you should be familiar with Greg Jones's strengths and weaknesses.  He has great instincts, finds ways to shed blocks at the line, and is a sure tackler.  On the other hand he's not as strong in pass coverage, and doesn't have the size and speed of typical NFL linebackers.  The following is a compendium of mock drafts from around the web and where Greg Jones ranks in each of them.

SB Nation -- not in the first two rounds Based on what I've heard the past few weeks I didn't expect Jones to go in the first two rounds.  Here's how SB Nation site Mocking the Draft evaluated Jones:

Jones is the opposite of flashy. He's not big or overly athletic. In fact, his size will probably scare some teams off completely. What he is, though, is the kind of player a team should be able to plug in and rely on for years. He's technically sounds in all aspects of the game and plays with a high motor. No one will be excited by Jones, but his dependability is immense.

I'd concur heavily with that.

ESPN -- not in the first three rounds  The mocks are Insider only, so there's no point in me linking to them.  Just know that Jones isn't listed as one of Mel Kiper's top five inside linebackers, but his picture is right next to the five who are.  Go figure.

SI.com -- not in the first round Even though he's not on Sports Illustrated's mock, Jones is rated as their second-highest inside linebacker, just behind Kelvin Sheppard of LSU.

CBSSports.com -- not in the first two rounds  All four (four!!) of CBS Sports' NFL Experts have Jones outside of the first two rounds.  A trend, it is here.

The Sporting News -- 3rd Round, 18th pick to the New York Giants  WE FOUND HIM GUYS!! WE FOUND HIM!!  At 6'0" and 240 pounds Jones's size would fit in well with the Giants' corps of linebackers.

DraftCountdown.com -- not in the first two rounds Once again Jones misses the cut, but he's ranked third in DraftCountdown.com's ratings of inside linebackers, behind Martez Wilson and Quan Sturdivant.

That's the long and short of it.  For what's it worth I think Jones goes in the third round -- I'm an optimist, and I hope Jones's production in college is too much to slip to the third day.  What do y'all think?