2015 NFL mock draft: Patriots select Byron Jones

With the 32nd pick in Pride Of Detroit's 2015 NFL mock draft, the New England Patriots select Connecticut cornerback Byron Jones. TjwGOblue is serving as the Patriots' general manager, and his reasoning for the pick is below.

The term "rebuild" is not in Bill Belichick’s vocabulary, but rather "reload." The Patriots have wasted little time and have already begun shedding their Super Bowl-winning roster. The Patriots did not bring back either of their corners who started in the Super Bowl, and after the run on cornerbacks in the first round, I decided to go with Byron Jones out of UConn.

A relatively unknown prospect, Jones missed the second half of his senior season due to an injured shoulder. He was invited to the combine but was not expected to participate. Not only did Jones partake in the Pajama Olympics, he set a world record in the broad jump. The rest of his combine results were equally impressive, and he followed it up with a 4.40 40-yard dash at his pro day.

Various online scouting reports have contradicting reviews on him, but all unanimously agree that Jones has all the tools to be a shutdown corner. College Football Focus did give me one stat that gave me a Jim Schwartz-like tingle:

Quarterbacks throwing into his coverage this season had an NFL passer rating of just 26.3, the best mark in the FBS for all corners.

Sold.

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Check out the 2015 POD Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.