Recruiting 2013: Shane Jones

Back in April, the Spartans received a verbal commitment from Ohio linebacker Shane Jones.  He was the second linebacker taken and likely the last for the class of 2013.

Jones is a 3-star recruit to Scout and 247, but he's viewed as a 4-star by Rivals and ESPN (who has him rated as the top Spartan commit, up to this point).  Jones is 6' 1" and 215 lbs, so he's on the smaller side of linebackers, but the Spartan coaches seem to like that height for their linebackers (see roster).  There's no stats on his athleticism, so let's turn to his video:

Jones doesn't look particularly fast, but then he's probably about as fast as Max Bullough was in high school - and of course, we all know how Bullough has turned out.  He also shows good field awareness (seems to quickly see where the play is going) and strength (he drives back running backs a couple of times).  These attributes help him in stopping the run and in dropping back in pass coverage.

Upshot: Jones is a highly regarded prospect and who has earned rave reviews at various football camps, but I personally don't have enough information on him to get too excited.  In my experience, guys often look considerably more athletic in their senior year videos, so maybe I'll wait 'til that comes out before I say much more about him.