Brandon Jones

Early life

Jones grew up in Nacogdoches, Texas, and attended Nacogdoches High School, where he played football and ran track. As a senior Jones recorded 124 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, two pass breakups and two interceptions and was named the District 16-5A Defensive Player of the Year as well as first-team All-State and the Texas Defensive Player of the Year by USA Today. He was also invited to play in the 2016 Under Armour All-America Game. Jones was a consensus top-five recruit nationally at the safety position (Scout.com listed him as the #1 safety in the nation) and a top 50 prospect for his class. On National Signing Day, Jones committed to play college football at the University of Texas over offers from Alabama, Baylor, LSU, Oregon and Texas A&M.

College career

Jones played in all twelve of Texas' games as a true freshman with one start, making 16 tackles and blocking two punts. He was named a starting safety going into his sophomore season and finished the year with 61 tackles (four for loss), two passes broken up, and a forced fumble. He finished fourth on the team with 70 (5.5 for loss) tackles as a junior while also intercepting two passes, breaking up a pass, and recovering two fumbles despite missing four games due to a recurring ankle injury and was named honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference. Jones originally considered entering the 2019 NFL Draft following the end of the season, but ultimately decided to return to Texas for his senior year.

Jones entered his senior season on the watchlists for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Lott Trophy. He finished his senior season with 86 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, in addition to adding two interceptions, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery and was named second-team All-Big 12. Jones finished his collegiate career with 233 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, one sack, two forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks with 11 passes defended and four interceptions in 47 games played.