Transfer Tracker: Top Ole Miss LB enters portal
Mark Pszonak contributed to this report.
The transfer portal never stops grinding. Ole Miss lost their leading tackler from the 2020 season when Jacquez Jones decided to enter the portal. Not surprisingly, many schools quickly expressed their interest.
Recruiting: Jones trimmed his list of top schools down to Ole Miss, Mississippi State and LSU before committing to the Rebels during the early portion of his senior season. While he took a visit to Mississippi State after his commitment, he stuck with Ole Miss.
At Ole Miss: In three seasons in Oxford, Jones totaled 182 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss, 2.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He led the team in tackles in 2020 with 75.
Potential landing spots: While Jones quickly picked up plenty of interest, South Carolina was the first school that made him an immediate priority, but since then Kentucky has become rather aggressive. Others who are in the early chase include Texas Tech, Ohio State, Louisville, TCU and Liberty.
Farrell’s Take: Jones was a physical linebacker coming out of high school with adequate coverage skills and length but he has been much more active and instinctual as expected. He's a solid pass rusher and makes plays in the backfield and I like his tackling ability so to me he's a clear Power Five prospect and will have his choice of a few nice programs. I'm a bit surprised schools like Mississippi State and Auburn haven't jumped in much.
Impact Meter: 7.6 out of 10
IMPACT METER
The Transfer Portal continues to change the way college football programs recruit and manage their rosters so we here at Rivals.com continue to evolve our coverage. Each time a player of note enters the portal, we will examine their potential impact on the college football landscape and assign an impact rating, both when they enter the portal and when they choose a destination. The scale is from 1-10 and the description below explains the scoring scale.
1.1-4.0 — Not a big impact expected, likely a non-starter and down the bench depth player.
4.1- 6.0 — A solid impact can be expected in the right scenario and has the potential to battle for a starting job.
6.1-9.0. — A high impact player who won’t change a program but will certainly be a very good contributor and starter.
9.1- 9.9 — A very high impact player who should start the moment he steps on the field and will change the outlook of a program immediately.
10 — A franchise transfer who has a chance to be an All American and one of the elite players in college football.