Austin Jones

Jones transferred to Lincoln Riley’s Southern California team this offseason, and he should be one of many offensive threats. The running back has spent the last three seasons with Stanford and rushed for 378 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding 267 receiving yards with another touchdown in 2021. While Jones should be a major contributor to the Trojans’ offense, it appears unlikely that he will be the top weapon on the team. He is competing with fellow transfer Travis Dye who is coming off of four impressive years at Oregon which ended with a total of 1,271 rushing yards, 402 receiving yards and 48 total touchdowns in his final season. Whatever role Jones plays this season though, he is bound to be an impact player.

Volume is the key to Jones’ value as he ranked ninth in carries per game (21.0) but his 4.37 YPC average was among the worst among runners with at least 125 carries in 2020. That makes him a risky option at his current ADP as someone going in the first five rounds because if someone cuts into that volume, Jones hasn’t shown that he has the juice to hit value with limited carries. He had just two carries of 20-or-more yards on 126 rushes. Guys like 2020 four-star E.J. Smith or Nathaniel Peat could get longer looks if Jones continues to provide mediocre returns.