52 Days till Kickoff: Baylor’s #52 Matt Jones
As always, keep track of both the stats and roster countdowns in the Offseason Hub!
Matt Jones is a junior linebacker from Odessa, Texas. Including the Covid year, he should have two more years of eligibility remaining past this season. Jones will most likely get his first opportunity at a full-time starting role in 2022. He will be competing with Josh White and Will Williams to take over the reins at weakside linebacker for Terrel Bernard, one of the best linebackers in Baylor history.
Our own Travis Roeder has this to say about Jones, “He is a much different player than Bernard, he’s a lot bigger [6-foot-3, 240 pounds] and can better handle big OL 1v1. But he doesn’t have the instincts or ability to knife in the backfield that Bernard had. He figures to play more on the edge, get more sacks, and be used more on the edge.”
The Odessa native had his best season as a Bear in 2021. He recorded at least one tackle in each of the thirteen games he played in. He finished the season with 52 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, two sacks, three forced fumbles, and an interception. In the early season loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Jones filled in for an injured Bernard and totaled 14 tackles and a forced fumble. In the rematch against Oklahoma State in the Big 12 title game, Jones picked off Spencer Sanders, forced a fumble, and tallied five tackles.
Jones ended his 2020 redshirt freshman campaign with appearances in eight games, 11 total tackles, and 2.0 tackles for loss. He recorded two tackles in the games against Kansas, TCU, Texas Tech, and Kansas State.
As a freshman in 2019, Jones appeared in only three games before deciding to redshirt. He made his Baylor debut versus SFA and tallied a career-high three tackles and half of a sack. He also had one tackle in the games against both UTSA and Kansas.
At Odessa Permian High School, Jones put up video game numbers during his senior season. He totaled 65 tackles, 14.0 sacks, 27.0 TFls, and two forced fumbles. He helped lead his team to an 8-4 record and the second round of the playoffs. He was the 2018 District 2-6A Defensive Player of the Year and was also a three-time All-District selection. He earned second-team All-Texas according to Dave Campbell's Texas Football and was rated three stars by 247. 247 ranked Jones as the No. 66 player in Texas and the No. 35 outside linebacker in the nation. He committed to Baylor over Illinois and Texas Tech in the class of 2019.
