Legacy to uphold
Quarterback arrives with stature, but not size
Eleventh in a series highlighting newcomers to the Arkansas Razorbacks football team
FAYETTEVILLE — Don’t let John Stephen Jones’ stature as a sub 6-foot quarterback fool you, say those who best know the Arkansas Razorbacks’ freshman from Highland Park in Dallas.
He’s a gamer.
“We’ve had some great quarterbacks at Highland Park in my 20 years,” Coach Randy Allen said. “He’s the only one that won back-to-back state championships. Matthew Stafford won one, and John Stephen won two.”
Stafford starred at Georgia and became the No. 1 pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions.
“He’s a playmaker,” Allen
said of Jones. “He’s a guy that’s a great leader and a tough, physical type of player. Plays with pain. I say he’s magic because he can scramble and find the open receiver.”
Jones, a 5-11, 194-pounder, has been around football all of his life, and the legacy signee — he’s the son of Stephen Jones and grandson of Jerry Jones of Razorbacks and Dallas Cowboys fame — acts like it. With nearly 8,000 career passing yards, 90 touchdowns, 65 percent completion percentage and a series of high-pressure playoff victories, he consistently has proven wrong those who doubt his atypical quarterback frame.
“I believe I can make a lot of throws in the pocket as well, but one of my best factors … is being able to escape pressure,” Jones said. “If there isn’t a play there, making a play and getting out of the pocket and finding someone downfield or tucking it and running.”
Jones has heard the critiques about his size.
“A quarterback coach I worked with for a short period of time once told me that if you’re good enough, if you’re smart enough … then you’re good enough to play the game at any level and I believe that fully,” Jones said. “So I don’t care what anyone says about my size. I’ll just go on the field and show them differently.”
Stephen Jones, executive vice president and director of player personnel for the Cowboys, analyzed his son’s skills on a radio appearance on KTCK-FM in Dallas earlier this year.
“I do think he has the skill to play,” said Stephen Jones, who played linebacker for the Razorbacks. “You look around our league now, and there’s a lot of people leading the charge, because his No. 1 question mark is obviously his size. He’s not a prototypical-sized quarterback … but there’s guys like that who are making their mark now in our league. Whether it’s Russell Wilson or Case Keenum or Drew Brees or Baker Mayfield, there’s guys who have success.
“He’s certainly accurate with the ball. He has plenty of arm strength, and he’s able to make the throws. His No. 1 thing is that he’s a great teammate and he understands none of this happens without his teammates.”
Allen agreed, saying: “He’s always encouraging his teammates, always competing to put his team in the best place to win the game.”
Allen said Jones is not overly impressive at practice.
“Where he’s going to impress you is when he gets into a game situation, the way he moves the football team and the confidence his teammates have in him,” he said.
Allen was so impressed with Jones as an eighth-grader that he cut out and sent a picture of Johnny Manziel — another sub 6-footer who was sizzling at Texas A&M at the time — to the young Jones for inspiration.
Jones obviously knew about the offensive style of Chad Morris during his high school heyday, as Morris was the head coach at nearby SMU from 2015-17 and Morris’ son Chandler was Jones’ understudy at Highland Park last year.
But it was Texas Tech Coach Kliff Kingsbury, who also runs an uptempo Spread attack, who made the first scholarship offer to Jones.
But the legacy factor and Morris’ hiring as head coach at Arkansas in December made Jones’ decision to sign with the Razorbacks much easier.
“Me and Coach Kingsbury had a great relationship,” he said. “He was my first offer and the first to show he really believed in me. So that actually meant a lot to me.
“Coach Morris, me and him had a relationship. Once
it came down to it, it was really close. But I always wanted to be a Razorback, so that was the deciding factor.”
Jones enters a crowded position group, with junior Ty Storey and sophomore Cole Kelley having a full spring under Morris. Fellow freshman Connor Noland also comes in with solid credentials.
“My goal is to just come in here and learn the offense as best I can and then give it my best, whether it’s working out or in practice,” Jones said. “Wherever that takes me, I’m happy with it.”
Jones sees the same vision for Arkansas football that Morris is selling.
“Coach Morris always talks about coming to be a part of something that’s gonna be great,” he said. “I’m just really excited about being a part of the process of getting it there. Whether it’s this year or whether it’s next, I’m happy to be here.”
The transition to college has been an eye opener for Jones since his arrival May 27.
“In high school, we didn’t really wake up that early,” he said in early July. “We’re waking up at 5 every morning and have to start running at
6. That’s pretty different. I’m starting to get used to it.”
Jones said rooming with fellow quarterback Noland, and freshman linemen Silas Robinson and Ryan Winkel, has been fun.
“It’s like a sleepover every night with your buddies, so sometimes you don’t get as much sleep as you’d like, because you’re always having fun, talking and stuff,” he said.
Jones said he’s been to many Razorback games over the years, but one of his favorite University of Arkansas, Fayetteville memories was a Thanksgiving weekend with the family when Casey Dick threw a 4th-and-short 24-yard touchdown to London Crawford with 22 seconds left for a 31-30 victory over LSU in 2008 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
The newest Razorback in the Jones family would like to carve out his own legacy in the cardinal and white.
“I love my family to death,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I’m doing my own thing now. Whatever they’ve done in the past is great but it’s not going to help me. I’ve got to go out here and make a name for myself.”
“My goal is to just come in here and learn the offense as best I can and then give it my best, whether it’s working out or in practice. Wherever that takes me, I’m happy with it.” — John Stephen Jones