SMU OLB Jayden Jones enters NCAA Transfer Portal
SMU outside linebacker Jayden Jones entered the NCAA Transfer Portal as spring practice wraps up for the Mustangs, sources told On3. The Dallas native is expected to transfer to TCU, to join former SMU head coach Sonny Dykes.
In 2021, the former Dallas (Tex.) Parish Episcopal standout did not see action. He’d been in and out of SMU spring practices, as well.
This spring, Jones had a chance to break out for the Mustangs as new defensive line coach Calvin Thibodeaux looked for pass rushers. Instead, a veteran, Nelson Paul, emerged as someone Thibodeaux talked up this week.
“Right now, just from a pure pass rush, Nelly Paul has really kind of stood out,” Thibodeaux told reporters. “He’s a first guy and then it’s everybody else. I think with Gary (Wiley), he’s a physical guy and he can win some 1-on-1s, but Nelly is twitchy and it comes kind of easy. I watched the La Tech game and I’m like, man, he played his butt off, but then you look around and there’s not a lot of him on tape. My challenge to him is to change that. You’ve got a fresh start so make the most of it, and he has.”
Jayden Jones leaving SMU defense after one year
SMU is set to wrap up spring practice on Friday with its spring game, giving a chance for the defense to finish strong with a spring of change under new defensive coordinator Scott Symons.
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“Overall, just pleased with how we’ve progressed,” Symons said on Thursday. “I think we’ve worked hard, pursued the ball. We’ve done a good job of making some plays on the ball at times so tomorrow, more than anything, I want to see us play hard and I want to see us fly around and have fun. It’s like I told them, we’re not a finished product. We won’t be in the summertime. There’s a natural progression and it’s a marathon, not a sprint, but overall, I think we’re trending in a positive direction for sure.”
Jayden Jones had offers from North Texas, Colorado and Tulane among others when he was coming out of high school. He, along with SMU quarterback Preston Stone, helped Parish Episcopal to a TAPPS Division I State Championship in 2020.
According to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, Jones was the No. 112 EDGE prospect and No. 174 prospect in Texas.
