Scouting Report: DL Anthony Jones

 

Anthony Jones — Defensive Line

Crean Lutheran (Irvine, CA)
Height: 6-5 | Weight: ~285
Frame: Long-limbed, 80+ inch wingspan
Primary Projection: Interior Defensive Line (3-tech / 4i / Nose-adjacent)
Secondary Value: Front versatility, short-yardage edge looks

Originally committed to the UCLA Bruins, Jones recently took an official visit to the Oregon Ducks, and his evaluation has to be viewed through one essential lens: this is not the same player he was two seasons ago.

Anthony Jones is a case study in developmental trajectory, not static snapshot scouting.

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Big Picture Evaluation

Anthony Jones’ high school career is best understood as a controlled evolution rather than a sudden reinvention.

He entered the varsity level as a long, power-based edge defender whose game was built on leverage, length, and effort. He exits as a legitimate interior defensive lineman with Power-conference utility and a pathway to NFL evaluation. The physical transformation is obvious on film. The positional shift is undeniable. But the most important through-line is subtler and more telling: the traits that made him effective on the edge did not disappear when he moved inside. They scaled.

His length still shows up, now less as a cornering weapon and more as a disruption tool through traffic. His power translated cleanly from edge bull rushes into interior knock-back and pocket compression. His motor did not dip as his body changed; if anything, it became more valuable as his role expanded. And his competitive toughness held steady as the job became harder, more physical, and more detail-oriented.

That is why Jones’ film consistently grades higher than his raw sack totals, particularly late in his career. The impact never went away. It simply changed shape.

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Physical Development & Body Transformation

As an underclassman, Jones looked like what he was: a long, angular 6-foot-5 defender hovering in the low-240s with obvious edge potential and obvious room to grow. He played fast, won with length, and relied on linear power more than refined technique.

Over the next two seasons, his body caught up to his frame.

Jones added roughly 40 pounds of functional mass, but the weight did not arrive awkwardly or unevenly. It redistributed in ways that fundamentally changed how he could be deployed. His upper body gained density without sacrificing reach. His lower half thickened enough to absorb contact and hold ground against double teams. His core strength improved, allowing him to stay balanced through first contact rather than playing off it.

By his senior year, Jones was no longer a defender playing “up” in weight classes or surviving contact through effort alone. He was physically capable of dictating terms. The collisions that once tested him now favored him.

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Positional Transition: Edge → Interior

Early in his career, Jones won the way many high school edge defenders do: with long-arm bull rushes, straight-line get-off, and the ability to overpower smaller or less technically sound tackles. The production followed naturally.

As his frame filled out, his coaches began to slide him inward, not as an experiment, but as an adjustment to reality. The edge traits were still there, but the interior offered something more valuable.

What changed inside was not his approach, but his advantage profile.

Against guards, Jones gained a quickness edge he rarely enjoyed on the outside. Against centers, his mass and length became overwhelming. Interior alignments gave him cleaner rush lanes that emphasized power and timing rather than bend. And in the run game, his presence began to register snap after snap, not just in the box score but in altered blocking schemes and redirected runs.

Jones is not a twitch-first interior penetrator. That was never his game. He wins with decisiveness, force, and an understanding of how to collapse space in confined areas. Inside, those traits became more impactful, not less.

The move was not a compromise. It was a recalibration that clarified his value.

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