Patrick
Jones II.
Patrick
Jones II.
Pittsburgh· 6'4"· 261 lb· 4.85s 40
"A Pittsburgh edge with a 9-sack senior season and plus bend but average base-end tools — a Round-3 sub-package projection with growth room."Pre-draft read
Plays as a base 4-3 strong-side defensive end who can convert to a stand-up 3-4 rush linebacker in sub-packages. He demonstrates heavy hands, functional length, and a squared, downhill temperament. Jones is primarily a long-arm/chop-club rusher, landing an initial punch, working a two-hand swipe or arm-over, and closing with a controlled dip.
He plays behind his eyes against the run, extends to lock out tight ends and pulling tackles, and sets a firm edge on gap-scheme runs, earning TFLs through hand-fighting and diagnosis. As a pass rusher he wins with plan and hand replacement, converting speed to power on the tackle's outside pad when the set is soft. He is effective on twist games, as a looper on simulated pressures, and as a wide-9 end where his run-first identity is an asset.
Best fit in a one-gap 4-3 penetrating front that asks its defensive ends to set a hard edge and win with hand technique and power.
Year 1 rotational base end with sub-package rush value on twists, with a ceiling as a reliable, high-floor run-defending starter who can get 7-8 sacks per year with a plan.
A Fangio-style two-high defense that prioritizes athletic bend and burst in its edge rushers, or a coverage-heavy 3-4 scheme that consistently asks outside linebackers to drop into coverage.
Jones is a high-floor, average-ceiling prospect who fits best as a power-first, run-defending end in schemes that maximize his hand usage and allow him to play into the backfield.
Patrick Jones II 2020 Regular Season Highlights | Pittsburgh DL
Full senior-year cutup — long-arm, chop-club and TFL production that anchored his consensus All-American case.
Pittsburgh DL Patrick Jones II | 2019 Top Regular Season Plays
Redshirt junior season — 8.5-sack breakout with the hand-fighting and edge-setting reps that lifted him onto day-two boards.
Pittsburgh DE Patrick Jones II Highlights
Career cutup showing the long-arm/chop-club sequence, twist looper reps and run-defense finishes NFL scouts flagged pre-draft.
Jones was evaluated as a clean day-two edge prospect, offering a productive strong-side end with functional length, effective hand usage, and a high floor as a run defender. His 34-inch arms and consistent technique made him a reliable force against the run and a versatile sub-package rusher, despite lacking elite explosive traits.
He was a five-year contributor at Pittsburgh with notable production in his junior and senior seasons, accumulating 17.5 sacks across those two years. As a consensus All-American in his senior season, he demonstrated consistency against Power-5 competition, indicating a player whose performance held up in significant matchups.
Evaluators consistently noted his above-average but not elite athleticism and a reliance on scheme, effort, and hand plans for sack production, rather than exceptional first-step quickness or bend. This placed him in the late second to mid-third round range, with the #90 overall pick fitting into that consensus bracket as a sensible value and scheme fit for a base end with sub-package rush capabilities.
- 01
Functional Length
Functional length and hand usage were key, with a repeatable long-arm/chop-club sequence allowing him to win inside.
- 02
Strong Run Defender
Provided a strong run-defense floor, consistently setting a firm edge and making tackles for loss through diagnosis.
- 03
Pass Rush Plan
Displayed a clear plan and counter moves as a pass rusher, rarely rushing the same way twice, mixing moves effectively.
- 04
Effective on Twists
Showed immediate value on twists and stunts as a looper, with the body control to redirect in simulated pressure packages.
- 05
Productive vs Competition
Achieved significant production against top competition, including a Consensus All-American season with 9.0 sacks.
- 01
Limited Bend
Average bend at the top of the arc limited his ability to consistently flatten to the quarterback against NFL tackles.
- 02
Average Burst
His first-step and burst were not in the premium tier, indicating he needed to win with plan rather than pure speed.
- 03
Lacks Interior Mass
The length-to-mass ratio at 264 pounds limited his projection as a full-time 3-tech, narrowing his interior rush package.
- 04
Power Conversion
Relied more on scripted hand plans than natural power, with inconsistent conversion of speed-to-power against square-set tackles.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.85sp50
- Vertical
- 31.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 107inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- 22repp50
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Pittsburgh | 10 | 7 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Pittsburgh | 14 | 19 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | Pittsburgh | 13 | 42 | 8.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | Pittsburgh | 11 | 42 | 8.5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Career | — | 48 | 110 | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Rotational EDGE who lives on 30–45% of defensive snaps, contributes on special teams and posts 3–5 sacks a year as a designated pass-rush and run-support piece — the day-two floor Jones has actually cashed in Minnesota and Carolina.
Length-first strong-side end who wins with hand plan and run-defense floor rather than bend — Hubbard's career as a durable, plus-run 4-3 SDE with 5–8 sack seasons is the realistic upside if Jones had landed as a full-time starter.
Journeyman edge whose value is defined by special teams and 4th-DE roster spots rather than defensive production; the outcome if the hand plan had not developed and Jones had washed out of the Vikings' rotation earlier.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Solid rotational hit. 3-4 sacks per year, plus special-teams core role. Signed with Kansas City as depth in 2024. Not a starter, but a durable rotational piece with core-teams value. Round-3 value at the modest end.
**Pre-draft context.** Patrick Jones II arrived at the 2021 NFL Draft as a four-year Pittsburgh contributor who broke out during a five-year college career in a pro-style front. A 6'4", 264-pound redshirt senior with 34-inch arms and a 4.84 forty at his pro day, Jones stacked 8.5 sacks as a redshirt junior (second-team All-ACC) and then delivered a consensus All-American senior season with 44 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, nine sacks and a fumble recovery over a shortened 2020 slate. Boards graded him as a clean day-two evaluation without an obvious ceiling: a productive strong-side end with functional length, real hand usage and a run-defense floor, but limited bend and only average burst off the ball. NFL.com, PFF and The Athletic all bracketed him in the late-second to mid-third range and framed the projection as a base 4-3 defensive end with sub-package rush value rather than a stand-up EDGE1.
**NFL fit — Minnesota Vikings.** The Minnesota Vikings took Jones at #90 out of Baltimore's compensatory pick, betting on a rotational piece behind Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen and later Za'Darius Smith. The fit was schematic: a 4-3 wide-nine defensive scheme wanted a heavy end who could set the edge on early downs and win a two-way go on obvious pass. In a 3-4 hybrid in 2022 Jones stood up more, and in a multiple-alignment defensive scheme in 2023–2024 he was cycled through various roles as a designated pass-rush specialist. He never became a starter over four Vikings seasons, but he was reliable on special teams, developed a workable long-arm/chop combination and posted his best year in 2024 with 5.0 sacks on ~35% of the defensive snaps.
**Retrospective.** After four years and 79 appearances in Minnesota, Jones signed with Carolina in 2025 and was moved to a stand-up outside-linebacker role in a 3-4 defensive system. He is a rotational, phase-one contributor rather than a starter — 114 career tackles and 13.0 sacks through his fifth season — but the pick has held its value at #90 as a functional five-year pro on a modest second contract. Not a hit at the level of the round's top outcomes (Creed Humphrey went 63, Elijah Moore 34, Amon-Ra St. Brown 112), but a solid enough return that the Vikings can point to a durable, coachable EDGE they got in the compensatory range.