Datone Jones

Datone Wayne Jones (born July 24, 1990) is an American football outside linebacker for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at UCLA. Jones was drafted by the Packers in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Jones was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended Compton High School in Compton, California, where he played for the Compton Tarbabes high school football team. As a junior, he had 60 tackles and four sacks. As a senior, Jones had 91 tackles, seven sacks, two fumble recoveries, nine hurries and three pass deflections. Jones was named second-team all-state by Cal-Hi sports. Additionally, he was also the Moore League co-defensive player of the year.

In addition to football, Jones also lettered in high school track & field, where he competed in sprints, posting personal-best times of 12.97 seconds in the 100-meter dash, 25.45 seconds in the 200-meter dash and 56.69 seconds in the 400-meter dash.

Jones was highly recruited coming out of high school and was given a four-star prospect ranking by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds. Scouts said that he had good explosion, pass rushing skills, and quickness off the ball, but also expressed concern about his techniques and moves. "I go low, fast and hard. That's my strength," Jones said. "Every coach I talk with says how much they love how I fly around sideline-to-sideline and hit. I think quarterbacks are afraid of me and I'm really hard to block because I have such a fast get off." He had a 3.0 GPA and an 810 SAT score which he planned to retake. He received scholarship offers from UCLA, Arizona State, Colorado, Notre Dame, Oregon, Arizona, Nebraska, and USC.

Jones ultimately decided to attend the University of California, Los Angeles, and play for the UCLA Bruins football team. In his first year with the team, he played in ten games with two starts. His first start came against California, where he had six tackles (4 solo). He finished the year with 15 tackles and was named to the rivals.com All-Pac-10 Freshman team.

As a sophomore, Jones started all 13 games that season. During the season opener against San Diego State, Jones defended two passes, a career high. Later on against Stanford, he had three tackles and sacked quarterback Andrew Luck, forcing a fumble which he recovered. He finished the season with four sacks, and 11 tackles for a loss which earned him Sophomore All-America honorable mention honors from college football news.

In 2010, Jones missed the entire season due to fracturing his right foot in Fall Camp. Returning from the injury the next season, he again started every game for the team and was named to the Hendricks Award watch list, given annually to the best defensive linemen in college football. During the game against California, he had a career-best two sacks. At the end of the year he led the Bruins in tackles with 41.

In his final year with the team, he continued to be the starter and was named to the Chuck Bednarik award watch list, given annually to the best defensive player in college football. During a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Jones had a career best 3 tackles for loss and also was given credit for forcing a safety. Later in the season against Houston, He matched his career-high with three tackles for a loss and also caught a seven-yard touchdown pass. Later on against Rice, Jones had six tackles and matched his career high with two sacks. When the Bruins faced California, Jones had five tackles (four solo),a sack and blocked an extra point. At the end of the year, Jones was selected to be a second-team all-conference by the league coaches. He finished with 148 tackles (90 solo), 36.5 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks, five passes defensed, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He was also selected to play in the all-star Senior Bowl.

Jones was projected to be a late first, early second round pick in the NFL Draft. Scouts commented that he was a well built athlete that had a good initial explosion off the ball and used his hands well. However, he was also described as a tweener who lacks the sustained speed and flexibility to be a 4-3 defensive end who also tired quickly.

Jones was selected in the first round (26th overall) by the Green Bay Packers in the 2013 NFL Draft. He became the first UCLA defensive lineman taken in the first round since 1979 when Manu Tuiasosopo was drafted 18th overall by the Seattle Seahawks. As a rookie in 2013, Jones played 16 games making 11 tackles. 3.5 sacks, and a fumble recovery. In 2014, Jones played 13 games, starting in three of those games with 27 tackles, 1.5 sacks, an interception, two passes defended, and a fumble recovery. In 2015, Jones played 15 games with 20 tackles, three sacks, three passes defended, and one kickoff return for nine yards. On November 4, 2016, Jones was fined $36,434 for roughing the passer in Week 8 against the Falcons.

Regular season

Postseason