North Carolina State strong safety Josh Jones speaks to the media during the 2017 NFL combine.
INDIANAPOLIS — North Carolina State safety Josh Jones is in a unique position to evaluate the top quarterbacks in this year’s NFL draft.
Jones, a Walled Lake Western product, faced potential first-round picks Deshaun Watson, DeShone Kizer and Mitch Trubisky during N.C. State’s season.
The Wolfpack beat Notre Dame (Kizer) and North Carolina (Trubisky) and lost to Clemson (Watson) in overtime.
“All those guys are phenomenal quarterbacks,” Jones said, adding Miami (Fla.)’s Brad Kaaya, a mid-round prospect to the mix. “All those guys are elite. They ran their offense very well. Very well. They had good stats against us, so I don’t know how to rank those guys but to me they’re all great quarterbacks and I would love to have all three of them.”
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Kizer had one of his worst games of the season against N.C. State, completing just 9 of 26 passes for 54 yards.
Trubisky threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns while completing 23 of 38 passes.
Watson threw for 378 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 10-yard pass in overtime.
Jones had two tackles against both Notre Dame and North Carolina, and 11 tackles and one pass breakup against Clemson. He said the Clemson games was one of the best he played all year.
“I did my job,” Jones said. “A couple plays that I liked in that game were good. But that team was good. They won the national championship with his leadership.”
Asked which of the quarterbacks was toughest to go against, Jones singled out Watson out of the group.
“Because he’s such a competitor,” Jones said. “I admire the way he took control of the Clemson offense. Just him finding ways to win week in and week out, that was a close game we had against them. It came down to overtime and his will to win is what impressed me, is what I admired.”
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