Feb 25, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; UCLA Bruins defensive lineman Datone Jones participates in a defensive drill during the NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Height: 6’4″

Weight: 283 pounds

Position Rank:

Drafted By: Green Bay Packers (1st round, 26th overall)

40 Yard Dash:  4.80

Bench Press:  29

Vertical Jump:  31.5″

Broad Jump:  112″

2012 Statistics

Career Highlights (via UCLA athletic site)

UCLA - Talented player who possesses the ability to be a disruptive force in opposing backfields … Has played both end and tackle … Completed his Bruin career with 43 starts, including his final 28 straight games.

2012 - Starter in all 14 games and was selected second-team all-conference by the league coaches … Ranked fifth on the team in tackles, first among the defensive linemen with 62 stops … Second on the team with 19.0 tackles for loss, which ranked fifth in the Pac-12 (1.36/g) … His 6.5 sacks ranked third on the team and 18th in the Pac-12 (0.46/g) … Blocked two kicks … Caught a touchdown pass against Houston while playing offense in a short-yardage situation … Credited with forcing a safety versus Nebraska … Made six tackles in the opener at Rice, including 2.0 sacks … Had 3.0 tackles for loss against both Nebraska and Houston … Made a career-best nine tackles in win at Arizona State … Had 1.5 tackles for loss at Washington State and blocked a kick … Registered 2.0 tackles for loss in each contest against Stanford … Made 1.5 tackles for loss in the Holiday Bowl against Baylor … Earned the Kenneth S. Washington Award for Outstanding Senior of the Year on Defense and the Captain Don Brown Award for Most Improved Player at the annual team awards banquet … Named to the Chuck Bednarik Award watch list … Selected to play in the Senior Bowl collegiate all-star game.

2011 - Started all 14 games … Topped the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks … Led all linemen with 41 tackles … Named to Hendricks Award watch list … Had two tackles at Houston … Three stops vs. San Jose State … Notched one tackle for loss against Texas … Four stops, including one sack, vs. Washington State … Five tackles, 0.5 for loss, at Arizona … Matched his career-best with six tackles versus Cal and added a career-high two sacks … Had three tackles at Utah and vs. Arizona State … Three stops, 1.0 for loss, vs. Colorado … Tallied three tackles at USC … Had six tackles at Oregon, 1.0 for loss … Two tackles against Illinois.

2010 - Sidelined by a fractured right foot during Fall Camp (Aug. 10) … Sat out the entire season … Was listed on the pre-season Watch List for the Hendricks Award.

2009 - Starter in all 13 games … Third on team with 4.0 sacks and T-22nd in Pac-10 and fourth on team with his 11.0 tackles for loss (12th in Pac-10) … Earned Sophomore All-America honorable mention from collegefootballnews.com … Had one tackle assist and broke up two passes against SDSU … Three stops at Tennessee, 1.0 for loss … Four tackles, a sack and a second tackle for loss, against Kansas St. … Credited with three tackles, including a sack on which he forced a fumble at Stanford … Two tackles, 0.5 for loss, versus Oregon … Registered two tackle assists, both for loss (1.0 total) against Cal … Three tackles at Arizona, one for loss … Forced and recovered a fumble on the first play of the second half … Three tackles, 0.5 for loss, at Oregon St. … Two tackles, including a five-yard sack, against Washington … Three tackles at Washington State, one for loss … One tackle for loss against Arizona St. … Credited with three tackles, including a seven-yard sack, in bowl win over Temple.

2008 - Appeared in 10 games with two starts (Cal, Oregon St.) … Finished with 15 tackles … Two tackles versus Stanford … Made first career start at Cal and was credited with six tackles, four solos … Started against Oregon St. and made four stops … Had one tackle off bench at Washington … One tackle against USC … Named to rivals.com All-Pac-10 Freshman team.

Scouting Report/Player Notes

Emerging as a potential first round selection in his senior season, Datone Jones is a guy we are pretty high on. He is a big and powerful defensive line prospect who was used all over the field in UCLA’s defense. Team’s really value versatility, especially with their defensive linemen, and Jones has it in spades. He can line up at either end position in a 3-4 or 4-3, and can play tackle in a 4-man front. He has the upper body strength to get leverage and blow offensive linemen back off their feet. Very productive senior season has scouts raving about his potential in the NFL. Racked up a ton of tackles for loss as a senior, and it’s easy to see why. Jones explodes off the ball and has a great instinct of where the ball is going to wind up. He doesn’t have great sack numbers yet, but he can create opportunities for his teammates with his explosiveness and ability to attract double teams. I think he’s a legit top 32 selection.

Video Highlights (via YouTube)

Whitney Mercilus DE Illinois is having a huge season, will his draft slot correspond?

Today the fighting Illni will take on the UCLA Bruins in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. There are a fair amount of prospects to watch for in this game.

Illinois

The Top prospect in this game is the Fighting Illni’s DE Whitney Mercilus. Mercilus has had an insanely productive season this year and could see himself drafted into the first round. The question is whether or not Mercilus is as good a pro prospect as he has been a College Football player this year, and to that I’m not convinced. Whitney has a great motor and makes a lot of plays, but he lacks elite athletic ability and should be considered a DE only in the N.F.L. I think teams looking to make him in a 34 OLB will be disappointed.

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Datone Jones DL UCLA

This is our framework for our Datone Jones scouting report. Jones is a talented, but inconsistent and not quite productive enough DL for the UCLA Bruins. It’s likely he’ll return for another season of College Football in 2012, but be on the lookout for him. If he puts it together he could go pretty high.

For all of our other scouting reports go to our scouting report page.

Measurables

6’5 275 pounds

(combine numbers to be posted when they become available)

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