2022 Baton Rouge Prospect Emery Jones Talks Importance of Receiving an Offer from LSU Football
For about a week in the middle of May, every time 2022 offensive tackle recruit Emery Jones picked up the phone, he was told of another college program that wanted to speak with him. In the span of one afternoon, May 14, Jones picked up offers from LSU, Alabama and Florida.
Since those string of offers, the hype around Jones hasn't settled down. Louisiana Tech, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Florida State and Texas A&M have made offers to him. The plan moving forward is to try and get back to LSU for another visit in the fall but also some of the other big programs in the country like Alabama, Florida State, Florida, Texas A&M and nearby Tulane as well.
The Baton Rouge native, who is set to start his junior season at Catholic High School in the fall, said it was very important for him to receive an offer from the home town program.
"I've been watching that school, that program my whole life and hearing coach O on the phone saying he wanted me to come play football there is just big," Jones said.
Not a very well known prospect even three months ago, the explosion of his recruitment, Jones believes, is just a testament to the hard work he's put in and that it was just a matter of getting the right people to see his film.
"A lot of hard work from my family, my teammates, my coaches because I wouldn't be in this position without everyone who's had a hand in supporting me over the years," Jones said.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound rising junior attended the "Under Armor Elite Underclassmen" camp back on June 14, one of the first major camps to be held since the coronavirus outbreak put a pause on all events.
Going into the event, Jones' main goal was to see not only how he stacked up against other offensive linemen from the region but also just how much his athleticism has improved in recent months.
"Today was fun, it was great to see other guys from across the country, I feel like I moved well today so it was a great experience," Jones said.
Jones has been putting time in the weight room since his sophomore season at Catholic and said he was really able to feel it. Most recently, Jones and his high school teammates were allowed to start working out at the high school again in preparation for the upcoming 2020 season.
Strength and speed are two areas he's attacked this summer and will continue to attack in the weeks leading up to his team’s return to the field.
"I feel like I got way stronger, way more flexible and just quicker and lighter on my feet," Jones said. "I've been doing some strength and conditioning work with my team, we've been doing a little bit of o-line work, just some footwork drills mostly because we can't have any contact."
Now that he's firmly on LSU's radar, Jones has made sure to keep in contact with the entire coaching staff, most recently spending a few minutes on the phone with Ed Orgeron.
"We're just trying to get to know each other a little bit more," Jones said. "We really talk a lot about how much they want to learn about the culture over there. Learning the X's and O's and just trying to learn how they do things and operate is kind of the next step for me."
