Velus Jones Jr. Surges Up Latest Big Board After Strong Combine Showing

Former Tennessee Volunteer Wide Receiver Velus Jones Jr. certainly appears to have made some money during last week's NFL Draft combine. It started with his measurements as Jones Jr. measured in at 6', 204lbs.

It was later in the week when Jones Jr. posted a blazing 4.31 40-yard dash time to turn heads.

Yea, @VelusJr wasn’t done, runs a 4.32 in his second attempt following a 4.34. My man zooming

🎥NFL Network pic.twitter.com/Fe2P82TEDj
— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) March 4, 2022

Since then, Jones Jr. has been climbing up big boards, and the lates projection from Sports Illustrated has him going early on day two of the draft.

The latest projection shows Jones Jr. going with the 39th pick to the Chicago Bears, which is a huge climb for the receiver, who was not expected to go until the late portion of day three as a 5th to 7th round pick.

This projection likely shows the ceiling for Jones Jr., but he has consistently climbed into the third and fourth rounds on multiple other mock projections.

Jones Jr. going this high would be a great selling point for the Vols on the recruiting trail, as they are involved with several top end recruits in the 2023 class.

Newly hired receivers coach Kelsey Pope was a vital piece of helping Tennessee's drastic turnaround at the position, and Jones has been outspoken about how important he was, so this would be a nice early boost to his recruiting efforts as well.