First, a few general impressions. Based on strictly the highlight films I like Jones as a prospect a little more than Groves. Jones seemed to be the faster, stronger, and more explosive player. I really like his film a lot, to be honest. I think rivals has underrated him as an unranked 4-star. Groves looked like a solid player too. He's a bit tougher to evaluate because most of his clips are on offense. He did show really good ball skills, the ability to make contested catches, and, in a few clips, good acceleration. He did make a few nice ints and tackles in his film but the defensive clips were limited. I think an unranked 4-star is a fair rating for him. I think both players have great potential and are great additions to the class.
There are a few guys that I thought of immediately after watching their film. Grove's high school tape reminds me a lot of Brad Hawkins senior year (class of 16) film. This was before he went to prep school and was still playing in NJ. Hawkins highlights were also mostly on offense as well but he showed good ball skills and a nice size and speed combination. I actually think Hawkins and Groves look really similar at the same point of their career and I'd be happy if Groves had a similar career trajectory. I think the Jones comparison is a bit more excited. He reminded me a lot of a poor man's Jabrill Peppers. Obviously he isn't the same type of athlete as Peppers (Peppers was a generational talent) but if you watch Jones' film you see him make plays at RB, as a returner, cover at CB, and make some explosive tackles from the safety spot. He does it all for his high school team and clearly looks like the best player on the field. Another player I thought of was Eamonn Dennis but I think Jones is the better overall prospect. So, early on my expectations for Jones are somewhere between a poor man's Jabrill Peppers and a rich man's Eamon Dennis, but probably closer to the Peppers end of the scale. I think Jones will have a chance to play pretty early at Michigan.
There are a few guys that I thought of immediately after watching their film. Grove's high school tape reminds me a lot of Brad Hawkins senior year (class of 16) film. This was before he went to prep school and was still playing in NJ. Hawkins highlights were also mostly on offense as well but he showed good ball skills and a nice size and speed combination. I actually think Hawkins and Groves look really similar at the same point of their career and I'd be happy if Groves had a similar career trajectory. I think the Jones comparison is a bit more excited. He reminded me a lot of a poor man's Jabrill Peppers. Obviously he isn't the same type of athlete as Peppers (Peppers was a generational talent) but if you watch Jones' film you see him make plays at RB, as a returner, cover at CB, and make some explosive tackles from the safety spot. He does it all for his high school team and clearly looks like the best player on the field. Another player I thought of was Eamonn Dennis but I think Jones is the better overall prospect. So, early on my expectations for Jones are somewhere between a poor man's Jabrill Peppers and a rich man's Eamon Dennis, but probably closer to the Peppers end of the scale. I think Jones will have a chance to play pretty early at Michigan.
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