Jones forged his own path, is on verge of NFL future

Cayleb Jones walked an unfamiliar campus, wearing colors — royal purple and gold — that seemed out of place.

Still, everybody seemed to know his name.

Jones is from Texas and plays his college football in Tucson. But in Greenville, North Carolina, the Jones family is something of royalty.

Jones’ younger brother, Isaiah, is a star receiver at East Carolina. He caught 98 balls for 1,099 yards and five touchdowns this season for the 5-7 Pirates; his regular-season numbers are better than many of the nation’s receivers, including those of his older brother.

Cayleb had to see for himself. The UA receiver had time off following the Wildcats’ Nov. 21 game against Arizona State. And so he finally made the trek to Greenville to watch his brother play against Cincinnati.

It was the first time he’d ever seen Isaiah play on his home turf.

“He was two short of his goal, which was 100 catches,” Cayleb Jones said this week. “He had a great season; I know he just wishes he was playing in a bowl game.”

People around town know Isaiah’s name. But fans in that area knew the Joneses already.

Robert Jones, Cayleb and Isaiah’s father, is an ECU Hall of Famer. In 1991, he was a consensus All-America linebacker and led the Pirates to a top-10 ranking and victory in the Peach Bowl.

From there, Robert Jones went on to the NFL. He won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys and played nine years in the league.

“Seeing how much love he got out there was cool,” Jones said. “They knew who everybody was in my whole family, so that was nice. Isaiah is on billboards, they sell his jersey; it was really cool.”

Cayleb chose not to follow his father to Greenville. He committed to the University of Texas out of high school and spent one season in Austin before transferring to the UA.

He promptly posted one of the better individual receiving seasons in UA history. Jones caught 73 passes for 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns in 2014, and expectations were sky-high heading into 2015. At 6 feet 3 inches, and with that amount of production, Jones was — and still is — expected to be an NFL prospect.

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His junior season hasn’t gone according to plan. With different quarterbacks in and out of the lineup — Anu Solomon, Jerrard Randall and Brandon Dawkins have all seen significant playing time — there hasn’t been the same rhythm between the receivers and quarterbacks as there was when Solomon passed for more than 3,000 yards last year.

Just look at Jones’ numbers: Heading into the New Mexico Bowl, Jones is at 51 catches for 722 yards and four touchdowns.

“I think there were such high expectations,” UA coach Rich Rodriguez said. “Everybody thought he’d have 100 catches or something, but I thought he’s played pretty well. He’s gotten better. I think he’s a better player now than he was a year ago, and I think he’ll keep getting better.”

Jones added: “It’s football. It’s life. You expect one thing, another thing happens, so it’s been up and down. Obviously everyone wants their numbers to be productive and high. Things went well for me in some games, and things taught me stuff to learn and grow from in other games.”

Despite the down numbers, his NFL prospects still appear to be high — Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller recently projected Jones as a second-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

Recently Jones submitted paperwork for the NFL draft’s advisory board, which many underclassmen do at this time of the year to find out where they stand in terms of their possible draft projections.

“You just want to see where you’re at, what they think about you, how you compare to the rest of the nation,” Jones said. “It’s no different from how you would ask a college coach when they’re recruiting you four years ago. It doesn’t mean anything; I’m just seeing where I stand.”

Rodriguez said a few players submitted paperwork this year — linebacker Scooby Wright is likely among them — and the team should receive feedback before the Dec. 19 bowl game.

For Jones, that will certainly play a factor in deciding if he’s to return for his senior season in Tucson.

“It’s something in my family I’ve looked forward to all my life,” Jones said, “and that’s something I’ll decide when I go home over break with my family.”

It certainly helps to have a certain Jones, with NFL experience and connections, around to help out.

Robert, that is.

“It’s great because you really weed out the information that’s not really genuine, because mock drafts and random people saying whatever means nothing,” Cayleb said. “It means absolutely nothing to programs and organizations, so it means a lot to have him.”