When the Chicago Bears drafted Velus Jones in the 3rd round last April, it was one of the happiest days of his life. As well it should’ve been. It was the culmination of six years of relentless work in college to reach that moment. He’d had his best year in 2021 and looked so good at the Senior Bowl and scouting combine. Yet all people could talk about after the pick happened was one thing: his age. Jones would turn 25 years old before the arrival of summer.
It is a well-established thing that NFL teams often prefer drafting players that are younger. It offers the hope that they’ll get the biggest possible return regarding career longevity. When a player arrives at such an advanced age, they immediately think he’ll never give them the return they want. Never mind that Pro Bowlers like Terence Newman, Jason Babin, Ezekiel Ansah, Cliff Branch, and Dallas Clark were all 24 or older the day they were drafted. Nobody is complaining about their careers.
Of course, this hasn’t stopped fans from finding ways to make fun of Jones in the months since his arrival. The memes were plentiful, mean, and admittedly funny.
I’m all in. from CHIBears
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Distraught over his role in the Treaty of Versailles, Velus Jones Jr was eager to make things right from CHIBears
Velus Jones Jr at another critical juncture in history from CHIBears
velus jones trying to make it his background pic.twitter.com/eq0acWLDf9
— Permanent Elijah Moore Stan (@sonnythreever) July 14, 2022
Velus Jones doesn’t care much about the noise.
In his mind, the extra time spent in college wasn’t wasted. He earned two degrees and matured as a more complete receiver by the time he left Tennessee. Route running had been his biggest weakness during his first four years. That started changing by 2020. At last, he became the focal point of the Volunteers’ passing game last season, and it was fun to watch. Unlike most rookies, he feels far better prepared for the transition to the NFL.
He’s not wrong. Velus Jones isn’t a kid anymore. He is a true adult—a grown man. Several players he will line up against this season will be younger than him. It is easy to lose the fear of the NFL from such a perspective. The truth is that if he produces on offense right away, nobody will even mention his age. That is how fickle fans are.
My man’s had to REALLY REACH to find the players his age. Geez
He was a reach on draft day and is still a reach today. 6 years in college and only one not that great season YIKES!!!
Some of that is really funny!! But my man gone surprise a lot of people.
I’ll never get the 5 minutes of my life back it took for me to check out this trash article.