WATCH: New Georgia signee Kyron Jones is a playmaker
Georgia set its sights on Charlotte Christian (Charlotte, N.C.) athlete Kryon Jones in November with an offer. The former North Carolina State pledge was listed as a running back until recently but the Bulldogs made it known that they wanted him at defensive back.
He committed to and signed with Kirby Smart and company on Wednesday, the first day of the Early Signing Period. Jones’ junior film shows him playing both his listed position and his future position and he’s quite impressive at both.
At 6-foot-1 190 pounds, Jones is the nation’s No. 737 overall prospect and No. 29 athlete according to the industry-generated, equally-weighted On3 Consensus. He’s the No. 20 overall player in North Carolina.
It was undoubtedly his combination of size and speed that stuck out to the Georgia staff. Jones has been clocked at 10.6 in the 100 meters, which isn’t world-class fast but puts him well within the “fast” range. He ran that time during the 2022 outdoor season and has improved upon his 100-meter performance in each of his high school seasons.
The Wolfpack wanted him to play running back and so did Nebraska, which made a late push. Jones is part of a large and talented defensive back class for the Bulldogs. He’s one of six guys that the Bulldogs’ signed to play in the back half. Each of the other five players has a four-star rating.
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“There is no such thing as a cornerback anymore in my mind,” Smart said on Wednesday. “There is defensive backs that play everywhere. Football is a matchup game. There’s more empty than we’ve ever seen before. More spread than we’ve ever seen before. You’ve got to have slot corners. You’ve got to have outside corners. You have to have guys that can go inside and play. You have to have guys that can be gunners, guys that can tackle.
“Just so many roles of a defensive back that it’s not three corners. It’s what can this guy play early? How can he help us? And you can’t have enough. I mean, very rarely do they come in and just jump right in and play as freshmen. They play. They just may not play the starting role. So it’s a position that has to develop, has to grow. It’s one that we have been short in that room. I mean, probably the last five years, four years we’ve been really short in our defensive back rooms. We’re trying to manage those numbers. There and receiver are probably the two hardest spots to be at your quota on your 85.”
“It’s a position that turns over a lot. It’s a position that comes out early a lot. It’s a position that goes in the portal a lot. We’re hoping to gain depth there.”
