Could Charlie Jones Turn Into A Stud For Purdue In 2022?
Shoutout to Southwest Airlines (not an ad, but we’d love to talk business) for having live TV on their flights. Flying back from Florida last night, I was able to watch a little college football, and the game they had on was Penn State vs. Purdue. I had quite a few takeaways from this game last night, firstly wondering if James Franklin realizes just how bad Sean Clifford is. But almost my biggest takeaway was how good former Iowa WR Charlie Jones looked last night. His number was called quite a bit, and this was the best showing of Jones’ career.
Here’s the line:
- 19 Targets
- 12 Catches
- 153 Yards
- 1 TD
Charlie Jones was a man possessed last night. Coming from Iowa, he never really had the chance to show his skills in the passing game. At Iowa last season, Jones only caught 21 catches. Now, with his childhood friend at QB and a pass-happy offense, those skills are finally being shown. I found myself always watching #15 when Purdue was on the field, and here’s what I found.
His route running skills are great. Really good feet and hips to turn in any direction and flip on a dime. Jones seems to love contact as well after the catch, always looking to drive forward for extra yards. Any time the ball touched his hands on a pass, he seemed to come down with it, very solid hands. I have read that speed was a concern coming into the year, but I had a hard time noticing a speed issue in this game. The Penn State DBs are long, fast, and very good (see Joey Porter Jr.) and Jones seemed to have his way for most of this game.
Charlie Jones out of Purdue just might be a dude. This Purdue team is going to be fun to watch regardless because of their Air-Raid-like offense, but I will have to keep an eye on this team for Jones. If Jones can keep up this level of performance throughout the year, we will be hearing his name a lot during the NFL Draft season. Add Jones to your prospects lists this season.
