Ja’Von Rolland-Jones: The most underrated pass rusher in the draft
2018 NFL Draft: Arkansas State pass rusher Ja’Von Rolland-Jones just might be the most underrated sack artist in this year’s draft class…
2018 NFL Draft hopeful Ja’Von Rolland-Jones knows a thing or two about sacking the quarterback. He’s racked up 42 over the past four years.
After a successful high school career, Rolland-Jones was lightly recruited and ended up getting an offer from Arkansas State, where he finished his career just two sacks shy of Terrell Suggs FBS record of 44 in a career.
What’s it like to sack the quarterback?
“It’s unexplainable,” Rolland-Jones said in an exclusive interview with NFL Mocks.
“It’s like a touchdown for a defensive lineman without scoring,” Rolland-Jones said. “It’s similar when an offensive guy scores a touchdown.”
If that’s the case, then this guy was like a touchdown machine for the Arkansas State defense. Not only did Rolland-Jones rack up a bunch of sacks, but he posted some huge numbers in general. Take a look at this career:
In his four years with Arkansas State, Rolland-Jones racked up 179 total tackles, 63 tackles for loss, 42 sacks, and a whopping 10 forced fumbles.
That’s natural pass rushing and playmaking ability.
Rolland-Jones was compensated for his efforts the past four seasons with an invitation to the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, but unfortunately, that didn’t go according to plan.
“The good comes with the bad,” Rolland-Jones recalled. “I strained my oblique on my first 40-rep, so I wasn’t able to work out. The time before that, it was great just being around those guys, joking around with those guys. That guy from N.C. State (Bradley Chubb) I got to joke around with him he’s a pretty cool dude.”
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Making friends with other star athletes at the Combine wasn’t the only perk…
“Also — the free gear. It’s crazy the stuff I got at the Combine. I actually came to the Combine with a backpack and a small duffle bag, and I left with five bags. They hooked us up, they gave us shoes, a jumpsuit, a bomber jacket, three bags — a lot of gear, man.”
From the way Rolland-Jones described it, it sounds like the athletes at the Scouting Combine are very well taken care of, and I told him I was a little envious of the jackets all the players received. I can’t lie, those were pretty awesome.
Unfortunately for Rolland-Jones, he wasn’t able to showcase himself on a national stage, but he will get perhaps some special treatment at the Arkansas State pro day on April 5th, which he says he will be fully ready to go for.
Teams will want to see if he can provide them the entire package as an edge player.
“They want to see me drop into coverage. They want to see how versatile and how I move in space. I think I can get out there and do that stuff, no doubt. I’ve been training in my drops and stuff like that. I definitely think I’ll raise some eyebrows at the pro day.”
What is Rolland Jones looking forward to the most about being an NFL player?
It’s simple.
“Sacking the quarterback. I want to get in there and learn. Be legendary. I want to sack all of them. But the most? Probably get Tom Brady one time.”