Zay Jones

Isaiah Avery "Zay" Jones (born March 30, 1995) is an American football wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at East Carolina. Jones is the all-time NCAA Division I career receptions leader with 399 as well as the all-time NCAA Division I single-season receptions leader with 158.

Zay Jones
refer to caption
Jones with the Oakland Raiders in 2019
No. 7 – Jacksonville Jaguars
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1995-03-30) March 30, 1995
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school:Stephen F. Austin
(Austin, Texas)
College:East Carolina (2013–2016)
NFL Draft:2017 / Round: 2 / Pick: 37
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2022
Receptions:253
Receiving yards:2,707
Receiving average:10.7
Receiving touchdowns:16
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early years

Jones was born on March 30, 1995, in Dallas, Texas, the son of Robert Jones, a former football player who spent ten years in the NFL, and Maneesha Jones.[1] He has two brothers, Cayleb and Levi, and his uncle is Jeff Blake.[2][3] Jones attended Stephen F. Austin High School in Austin, Texas.[4] He committed to East Carolina University to play college football.[5]

College career

Jones played in 13 games and made eight starts as a true freshman at East Carolina in 2013. He finished second on the team with 62 receptions for 604 yards and five touchdowns.[6] As a sophomore, he had 81 receptions for 830 yards and five touchdowns. As a junior, he recorded 98 receptions for 1,099 yards and five touchdowns.[7] During his senior season in 2016, he set a school record for receptions in a game with 22, breaking the previous record of 17 held by Justin Hardy[8] and then went on to break the school record for receptions in a season, also held by Hardy, nine games into the season. Subsequently, Jones became the NCAA Division I football all-time single season leader in receptions with 158 for the 2016 season, breaking the previous record of 155 set by wide receiver Freddie Barnes of Bowling Green in 2009.[9][10] Additionally, Jones became the NCAA Division I football career leader in receptions with 399, breaking the all-time NCAA record of 387 held by his former ECU Pirate teammate and future NFL receiver Justin Hardy.[11] Jones was also named as one of three finalists for the 2016 Biletnikoff Award, which is given annually to the nation's best receiver in college football.[12]

College statistics
Zay Jones
SeasonTeamGPRecYdsTD
2013ECU 12626045
2014ECU 13818305
2015ECU 12981,0995
2016ECU 121581,7468
Total493994,27923

Professional career

Jones received an invitation to the Senior Bowl and had practiced well during the week leading up to the game. He led both teams and greatly improved his draft stock after making six receptions for 68 receiving yards and a touchdown for the North, who lost 16–15 to the South.[13] He also attended the NFL Combine and completed all the combine and positional drills. Jones also participated at East Carolina's Pro Day, but opted to only run positional drills for team representatives and scouts. The majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected Jones to be selected in the second round. He was ranked the fourth best wide receiver in the draft by NFL media analyst Mike Mayock, the fifth best wide receiver by ESPN, and was ranked the sixth best wide receiver by Sports Illustrated and NFLDraftScout.com.[14][15][16]

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 2+1⁄8 in
(1.88 m)		 201 lb
(91 kg)		 32+1⁄2 in
(0.83 m)		 9 in
(0.23 m)		4.45 s1.55 s2.61 s4.01 s6.79 s36.5 in
(0.93 m)		11 ft 1 in
(3.38 m)		15 reps
All values from NFL Combine[17][18][19]

2017

The Buffalo Bills selected Jones in the second round with the 37th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.[20] On May 18, the Bills signed Jones to a four-year, $6.77 million contract with $3.84 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $3.07 million.[21]

On September 10, 2017, Jones made his NFL debut. He had one reception for 21 yards in the 21–12 victory over the New York Jets.[22] On September 17, 2017, in Week 2, he barely missed on a potential game-winning pass from quarterback Tyrod Taylor on fourth down late in the game of a 9–3 loss to the Carolina Panthers.[23] In Week 9, against the New York Jets, he recorded six receptions for 53 yards and his first career receiving touchdown.[24] In 15 games (10 starts) of his rookie year in 2017, Jones finished with 316 receiving yards and two touchdowns.[25][26]

Jones during the 2018 preseason

2018

Following his rookie season, Jones revealed he had played much of the year with a torn labrum in the shoulder, which required offseason surgery. Jones missed much of OTA's during the 2018 offseason due to another injury stemming from an offseason incident and started training camp on the non-football injury list.[27]

Jones showed improvement early in the season as his catch percentage rose significantly from his rookie season despite a low-volume passing offense. He caught a 57-yard pass from rookie quarterback Josh Allen in Week 2 against the Los Angeles Chargers that was his new personal record for his longest reception. The pass traveled 63.8 yards in the air, which was also the second longest air distance for a completed pass ever recorded by NFL NextGen Stats since its inception.[28] Jones recorded his first touchdown of the season against the Houston Texans, a 16-yard pass from Nathan Peterman (who entered the game after Allen was injured), that briefly gave the Bills the lead.[29][30]

Against the New York Jets in Week 10, Jones caught another touchdown to go with 93 receiving yards, a new career high.[31] He recorded his first game with multiple receiving touchdowns two games later, catching two scores in a 21–17 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 13.[32]

Jones finished the 2018 season as Buffalo's leading receiver.[33] He caught 56 receptions for 652 yards and seven touchdowns.[34]

2019 season

On October 7, 2019, Jones was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a 2021 fifth-round pick.[35] In the 2019 season, he appeared in 15 games and started nine. He finished with 27 receptions for 216 receiving yards.[36]

2020 season

During the Raiders' first home game in Allegiant Stadium upon relocating to Las Vegas, Jones caught his first touchdown since 2018 in a 34–24 Raiders win over the New Orleans Saints.[37] Jones was fined US$15,000 by the NFL on October 5, 2020, for attending a maskless charity event hosted by teammate Darren Waller during the COVID-19 pandemic in violation of the NFL's COVID-19 protocols for the 2020 season.[38] Jones appeared in 16 games, of which he started two, in the 2020 season. He finished with 14 receptions for 154 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.[39]

2021 season

On March 19, 2021, Jones re-signed with the Raiders on a one-year contract.[40] Against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1, Jones recorded a 31-yard touchdown to end the game as the Raiders won 33–27 in overtime.[41] He played in all 17 games, of which he started nine. He finished with 47 receptions for 546 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown.[42]

Jacksonville Jaguars
Jones playing against the Washington Commanders in 2022.

On March 16, 2022, Jones signed a three-year, $24 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.[43] In Week 15 against the Dallas Cowboys, Jones recorded 109 receiving yards and three touchdowns in the 40–34 victory.[44] In the 2022 season, Jones appeared in 16 games and recorded 82 receptions for 823 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns.[45] In the Wild Card Round against the Los Angeles Chargers, he had eight receptions for 74 receiving yards and one touchdown in the 31–30 victory.[46]

NFL career statistics

Regular season
Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2017BUF 15102731611.733200
2018BUF 16155665211.657710
2019BUF 527699.923000
OAK 107201477.416000
2020LV 1621415411.037100
2021LV 1794754611.643111
2022 JAX 16 15 82 823 10.0 59 5 0 0
Career95602532,70710.7591621

Playoffs
Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GPGSRecYdsAvgLngTDFumLost
2017BUF 1022010.015000
2021LV 1156112.217100
2022 JAX 2 2 13 157 12.1 39 1 0 0
Career432023811.939200

On March 21, 2018, Jones was arrested in Los Angeles for suspicion of felony vandalism. Jones was involved in an altercation with his older brother, NFL player Cayleb Jones, on the 30th floor of an apartment building. Zay Jones allegedly smashed a window, resulting in cuts on his foot and blood all along the walls, and tried to jump out the 30th floor window, but Cayleb and police prevented it.[47]

References
  1. "Robert Jones Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  2. Murschel, Matt (March 31, 2016). "ECU receiver Isaiah Jones says football-focused family fuels his success". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  3. Graham, Josh (October 17, 2014). "Keeping Up With The Joneses". 247Sports. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  4. Wagner, Bill. "Overlooked out of high school, Jones on verge of major milestone". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  5. Olson, Max (August 6, 2012). "Isaiah Jones picks ECU". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  6. "2013 East Carolina Pirates Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  7. "2014 East Carolina Pirates Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  8. "ECU's Jones 'phenomenal' in record-setting receiving effort". NSJ Online. September 18, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  9. "With another record, ECU's Zay Jones is NCAA's most prolific receiver". Yahoo! Sports.
  10. D'Andrea, Christian (April 28, 2017). "Zay Jones gives Bills much-needed WR help". SBNation.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  11. Uthman, Daniel (November 21, 2016). "Five-way WR: How ECU's Zay Jones became the all-time receptions leader". USAToday.com. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  12. Igoe, Stephen (November 21, 2016). "Zay Jones named one of three finalists for Biletnikoff Award". HoistTheColours. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  13. Goodbread, Chase (January 28, 2017). "What we learned from Senior Bowl: Zay Jones boosts draft stock". NFL.com. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  14. Burke, Chris (April 25, 2017). "2017 NFL Draft Rankings: Top Prospects by Position". SI.com. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
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  16. Mayock, Mike (April 12, 2017). "Mike Mayock's 2017 NFL Draft position rankings 3.0". NFL.com. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
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  19. "Zay Jones 2017 NFL Draft Profile". insider.espn.com. Retrieved August 27, 2022.
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  23. "Buffalo Bills at Carolina Panthers – September 17th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
  24. "Buffalo Bills at New York Jets – November 2nd, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
  25. Roth, Leo (July 25, 2018). "Bills place receiver Zay Jones on active/non-football injury list on eve of camp". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  26. "Zay Jones 2017 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  27. Roth, Leo (July 25, 2018). "Bills place receiver Zay Jones on active/non-football injury list on eve of camp". Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  28. Rodak, Mike (September 16, 2018). "Josh Allen can't save Bills in loss to Chargers". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  29. "Buffalo Bills at Houston Texans - October 14th, 2018". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  30. Miller, Ryan C. (October 14, 2018). "Josh Allen injures elbow and Buffalo turns to Nathan Peterman, who throws pick-six in loss". Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  31. Brooks, Clint (November 13, 2018). "PFF pegs Zay Jones among offensive standouts in Week 10". Bills Wire. USA Today Sports. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  32. "Bills' Zay Jones: Thrives in narrow road loss". CBS Sports. December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
  33. "2018 Buffalo Bills Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
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  35. Scott, Jelani (October 7, 2019). "Bills deal WR Zay Jones to Raiders for 2021 pick". NFL.com. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
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  37. White, Marcus (September 21, 2020). "Jones' hand sanitizer celebration epitomizes absurdity of 2020". RSN. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  38. Dubow, Josh (October 5, 2020). "AP source: 10 Raiders players fined for COVID-19 violations". APNews.com. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
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  43. Oehser, John (March 16, 2022). "Official: Jones agrees to terms". Jaguars.com. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
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  46. "Wild Card - Los Angeles Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars - January 14th, 2023". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
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