Kentucky Football: Could Jordan Jones leave for 2018 NFL Draft?

The Kentucky Wildcats’ season on the gridiron is over.

After a loss to Northwestern in the Music City Bowl, UK is now focusing on the offseason, including players who could leave early for the 2018 NFL Draft.

We already knew Denzil Ware, Josh Allen and Mike Edwards were considering a jump to the NFL this year.

All-SEC linebacker Jordan Jones hasn’t gotten any real buzz as someone who could go pro, but it appears that’s very possible. According to KSR’s Matt Jones, Jordan could very well leave for the NFL, and it may actually be a mutual parting of sorts.

Might be less his solo decision than a mutual parting of ways. He is a junior who is still not allowed to do media interviews because of what he might say. At some point that becomes unacceptable and the penalties on the field too much for the risk…plus he wasn’t great this season. My guess is he has played his last UK game.

It’s no secret that Jordan has had his problems on the field due, mostly due to personal fouls that have proven costly in several games this season. He also had a spitting incident with a fan in the opener vs Southern Miss.

There’s no question Jones has a lot of maturing to do, but ideally he’ll get one more year in Lexington to do so. His draft stock is nonexistent right now after he missed a good stretch of the season due to a shoulder injury.

He did finish with 64 tackles, two sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss, but it’s hard to see him getting picked before Day 3 of the draft (Rounds 4-7) if he comes out this year. Then again, pro scouts may focus more on his All-SEC season in 2016, which had him looking like a future NFL star.

Either way, it sounds like Jones’ future in Lexington is in doubt heading into the deadline to declare for the draft, which is January 15.