Notre Dame Running Back Tony Jones Declares For NFL Draft
Notre Dame senior running back Tony Jones Jr. announced this afternoon that he will not use his final year of collegiate eligibility and will instead try his hand at football professionally.
"Through prayers and talks with my family, I would like to say: I am forgoing my final year of eligibility and officially declaring for the 2020 NFL Draft," Jones said in a statement he released on Twitter.
Jones was the most productive Fighting Irish running back this season, going for 961 yards from the line of scrimmage (857 yards rushing) this season and accounting for seven total touchdowns.
The only offensive skill player to produce more yards and touchdowns this season was senior wide receiver and team MVP Chase Claypool.
After redshirting his freshman year, Jones saw action in 12 games in each season from 2017 through 2019. He will finish his Notre Dame career with 1,754 total yards and 14 touchdowns. Jones also excelled as a blocker in pass protection.
"I want to thank God for all the blessings he has given me on this journey," Jones wrote. "The last four years at Notre Dame have been greater than I ever imagined. This university has helped me grow as a player, but more importantly as a man."
While this isn't a complete surprise, it will impact the 2020 Notre Dame running back room. The second and third leading rushers on the team were quarterback Ian Book with 567 yards and wide receiver Braden Lenzy with 200 yards.
The fourth-leading rusher was sophomore Jahmir Smith with 180 yards. However, Smith was relegated to fourth-string running back by the end of the season behind junior Jafar Armstrong — who dealt with injuries throughout most of the season — and fellow sophomore C'bo Flemister.
All three will be back next season, along with freshman Kyren Williams, who redshirted this season, and incoming running back Chris Tyree, a top 50 recruit in the class of 2020 with a verified 4.3 40-time.
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