Gamecock tackles leader Ernest Jones headed west after being picked in NFL draft
Ernest Jones is off to Los Angeles.
A former linebacker for South Carolina football, Jones became the second ex-Gamecock to be selected in the 2021 NFL Draft late Friday night, going in the third round, No. 103 overall, to the L.A. Rams.
“He was the ringleader of the defense and set the tone,” ESPN analyst Mel Kiper said of Jones. “He was a tackling machine.”
Here are five other things to know about the 6-foot-2, 230-pounder.
1. Offer sheet
Coming out of high school, Jones was a three-star prospect in the 247 Sports composite ratings, but his list of offers was that of a top-end player — Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Auburn and Oregon were all major Power 5 programs that offered the Georgia native.
In the end, Jones’ decision came down to South Carolina, Florida, Georgia Tech and Duke. He went with Will Muschamp and the Gamecocks and enrolled early, but he was unexpectedly held out of spring practice when tests revealed he had a fractured bone in his back.
2. Burning a redshirt
Jones’ freshman year after that back injury took a little while to get going, but by the end of the regular season, he had appeared in four games and put up some nice numbers, recording a forced fumble, fumble recovery and 14 total tackles. He and the coaching staff then had a decision to make — would he play in the Belk Bowl and surrender an opportunity to redshirt and save a year of eligibility?
In the end, he played, recording two tackles and a QB hurry. Months later, he told reporters that the decision was a fairly easy one.
“I don’t think it was difficult choice for me because I came to play football,” Jones said. I didn’t come to sit out or do any of that. My injury made things difficult for me in the beginning, but once I figured out everything I knew, ‘OK, you can play here.’ Once those opportunities came I jumped on them and didn’t feel I needed to sit out in the bowl game just to redshirt. I didn’t feel the need to.”
3. Tackles machine
Coming off that freshman season, Jones took over the starting job at middle linebacker from T.J. Brunson, who moved to the weak side, and immediately made his mark. Seemingly all over the field while starting all 12 games in 2019, he led the team with 97 tackles. Then in 2020, he started nine games, missing the season finale due to injury, and once more led the team with 86 tackles to finish his career with 199 stops total.
In his final two seasons, Jones accounted for 12.3% of all of South Carolina’s tackles by himself. No other player accounted for more than 10%. And of Jones’ tackles in 2019 and 2020, 10.5 were for a loss, tied for second most on the team in that span.
4. Record performances
While Jones was prolific as a sophomore and came near the 100-tackle milestone in that season, it was his junior year in 2020, with an abbreviated 10-game schedule, where he put up some of his most incredible performances.
Against LSU, Jones recorded 19 tackles, the most by a Gamecock defender since 1987. He followed that up with an 18-tackle performance against Ole Miss and finished the year tied for ninth in the SEC in total stops. He was on a 12-game pace for 114 tackles, which would have been the most in program history since 2002. That was enough to make him a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation’s top linebacker.
5. Emotional, vocal leader
As the middle linebacker, Jones was responsible for communicating play calls to his teammates on the field. And off it, he quickly developed into an emotional leader as well. He was voted a permanent team captain and was quite vocal about taking ownership of the unit, and he backed that up with production and by taking on the hard questions after losses, of which there were many.
Jones’ persona as a tough, gritty player willing to speak on tough topics endeared him to much of the fan base and made him a favorite of the Gamecock faithful.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 11:42 PM with the headline "Gamecock tackles leader Ernest Jones headed west after being picked in NFL draft."
