8. Evan Jones grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Like a lot of kids from the area, he grew up watching the Ohio State Buckeyes and dreamed of being a professional football player one day. Whether it was in recess at school or in the local park, Evan was always the guy the rest of the kids wanted on their team. He has always been incredibly fast, and it’s one of the things that really set him apart from his peers throughout his football career. After a successful high school career, Jones got to live out his lifelong dream when he received an offer from Ohio State to come play football. He had a successful stint at OSU, having a smaller backup role his freshman year, but really getting to shine in his next two seasons as a Buckeye. Taking over the starting safety job. He got to wow fans, scouts, and his coaches alike with his insane speed and playmaking ability. Jones is the kind of player who doesn’t make a ton of noise on the stat sheet, but when he does, his impact is surely felt. Whether it was a critical tackle on a receiver who broke free, a big run stop, or a game changing interception, Evan Jones has been counted on his entire career to step up when a big play was needed. When he decided to declare for the DSFL and start his journey to the pros, he didn’t know what to expect. He was contacted by a couple of teams, and didn’t have a good idea of where he was going on draft day. Jones slid all the way to round four, where he was picked up by the Portland Pythons. Pythons management seemed excited to bring him in, and he was excited to get a chance to start right away on an up and coming Pythons team. He had a pretty good rookie season, even with Portland narrowly missing the playoffs, Jones still had a good season and was ready to see where he would go in the ISFL. He talked to just about every team before the draft, and had legitimately no idea where he was going. The first round went, and his name was not called. But he didn’t wait long, as he went to the Chicago Butchers in the second round. After being sent back down to Portland to continue to round out his game, he joined up with what would become a fearsome defense that would dominate the DSFL in season 26. Portland was dominant with a 13-1 season, and is about to play for the Ultimini championship.
18. I am also a part of the SHL, that one is actually my primary league. My player Alexander Roach is a center for the Buffalo Stampede in the SHL, and played for the Quebec City Citadelles in the SMJHL. I was a part of the Buffalo team that won the Challenge Cup in S55, and in the juniors I won the Brandon Holmes award for best defensive forward. It’s been a good career so far, and I’m only in my 6th season on this player, so there is still plenty of room to add more cups and other pieces of hardware. Besides my player, I am the Co-GM for the Quebec City Citadelles, one of the new expansion teams in the SMJHL. GMing has probably been my favorite part of the league so far. Being a juniors GM, I help people get accustomed to the league, figure everything out, and help them have fun while trying to make sure their players are doing well on the ice. Besides that, I really enjoy my SHL locker room. The Buffalo Stampede are a tight knit group, and we all love to get together and make fun of each other and laugh at everything going on in the league. Especially when another team gets punished for doing something stupid.
20. So if injuries were on, and things started to get dicey in Portland, there are a few positions I could see Evan Jones performing well in. The obvious one being cornerback, but we can go much further. They say that defensive backs are just wide receivers who can’t catch the ball, and Jones definitely fits that profile. He is very fast, but the hands really aren’t there, so Jones would do well as the classic deep threat receiver who drops half of the balls thrown his way. If you want to get even crazier on offense, put that speed to use in the backfield. Jones could probably make for a decent speed back, taking pitch plays to the outside for big gains. Put him in as a wildcat QB and really watch the madness unfold. I could also see Jones succeeding as an edge rusher, but probably more of the linebacker variety and not the defensive end type. If he lines up against a slower tackle, Jones is going to have that poor quarterback running for his life in the backfield. While I think getting to play out of position for a game or two would be fun, let’s leave the injuries off so I can just keep playing safety.
18. I am also a part of the SHL, that one is actually my primary league. My player Alexander Roach is a center for the Buffalo Stampede in the SHL, and played for the Quebec City Citadelles in the SMJHL. I was a part of the Buffalo team that won the Challenge Cup in S55, and in the juniors I won the Brandon Holmes award for best defensive forward. It’s been a good career so far, and I’m only in my 6th season on this player, so there is still plenty of room to add more cups and other pieces of hardware. Besides my player, I am the Co-GM for the Quebec City Citadelles, one of the new expansion teams in the SMJHL. GMing has probably been my favorite part of the league so far. Being a juniors GM, I help people get accustomed to the league, figure everything out, and help them have fun while trying to make sure their players are doing well on the ice. Besides that, I really enjoy my SHL locker room. The Buffalo Stampede are a tight knit group, and we all love to get together and make fun of each other and laugh at everything going on in the league. Especially when another team gets punished for doing something stupid.
20. So if injuries were on, and things started to get dicey in Portland, there are a few positions I could see Evan Jones performing well in. The obvious one being cornerback, but we can go much further. They say that defensive backs are just wide receivers who can’t catch the ball, and Jones definitely fits that profile. He is very fast, but the hands really aren’t there, so Jones would do well as the classic deep threat receiver who drops half of the balls thrown his way. If you want to get even crazier on offense, put that speed to use in the backfield. Jones could probably make for a decent speed back, taking pitch plays to the outside for big gains. Put him in as a wildcat QB and really watch the madness unfold. I could also see Jones succeeding as an edge rusher, but probably more of the linebacker variety and not the defensive end type. If he lines up against a slower tackle, Jones is going to have that poor quarterback running for his life in the backfield. While I think getting to play out of position for a game or two would be fun, let’s leave the injuries off so I can just keep playing safety.
