In a wide-open race for the OT1 mantle in the 2025 NFL Draft, can LSU Tigers offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr. attain superiority with his scouting report? One half of the most talented tackle duo in college football, Jones has a strong early claim to the top positional spot.
Emery Jones Jr.’s Draft Profile and Measurements
- Height: 6’6″
- Weight: 322 pounds
- Position: Offensive Tackle
- School: LSU
- Current Year: Junior
Few teams can say they struck gold like Brian Kelly and the Tigers did in the 2022 recruiting class. In that class, LSU would find their two starting offensive tackles for the next three seasons: A five-star recruit named Will Campbell, and Jones — a four-star.
Hailing from Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, it was Jones’ dream to play for the home-state titan, and he didn’t have to wait long to manifest that dream into reality. By the third game of the 2022 season, Jones was the team’s starting right tackle, starting 12 of 14 games that year.
Jones, alongside Campbell, earned Freshman All-SEC and Freshman All-American buzz for his play in 2022. The following year, the duo came back even better, helping fuel historic production by an LSU offense with Heisman-winner Jayden Daniels at the helm.
Campbell was a first-team All-SEC performer in 2023, and Jones made the second-team. Now both are back in their first year of NFL Draft eligibility. Both have first-round aspirations, but Jones’ elite tools and well-rounded profile could earn him an edge.
Jones’ Scouting Report
Strengths
- Has a near-elite size profile with exceptional height, mass, and overwhelming length.
- Agile, energized, fleet-footed mover with superb lateral mobility and burst in recovery.
- Has the raw strength and torque to displace run defenders and force them out of gaps.
- Can load shocking power output in his punches and has the raw power to plow lanes.
- Well-leveraged blocker who plays with great knee bend and controlled lean for his size.
- Unique torso flexibility enables him to acquire leverage and absorb power through flex.
- Synergetic pass blocker who gets depth on his kick and stays balanced when matching.
- Can recalibrate and re-anchor with blistering speed, gathering rushers with active hands.
- Shows great reactive quickness and adaptability adjusting his hip alignment on counters.
- Can use his length to punch and latch quickly off the snap, nullifying moves across face.
- Able to target hand moves with precision and redistribute momentum through his frame.
- Has the lower body strength and leverage IQ to drop the anchor against power rushes.
- Suffocating core strength can utterly dissolve opposing power drive on bull rushes.
- Flashes good patience and composure against stunts, maintaining hip alignment.
- Ultra-physical competitor, who at times seems insulted by challengers.
Weaknesses
- At times, could better channel his explosive capacity out of his stance as a run blocker.
- Doesn’t quite have elite range as a space blocker and lead-blocking presence.
- Lacks truly elite hip flexibility, which can hurt against speed rushers threatening the arc.
- On occasion, whiffs with initial two-hand extensions, delaying counters and recovery.
- Occasionally fails to properly load and exert, subtracting from optimal force on punches.
- Sometimes loses his balance when attempting to stab with his inside hand at depth.
- Despite baseline awareness, occasionally gets tunnel vision when faced with stunts.
- Is occasionally baited into oversetting to the arc, then sacrifices pad level on recovery.
- Occasionally works too far upright when sealing edge setters, exposing himself to swims.
- Is more susceptible to lurches and losses in balance when blocking on the move.
Current Draft Projection and Summary
Entering the 2025 NFL Draft cycle, Jones grades out as an early-to-mid Round 1 prospect and my preliminary OT1 of the upcoming class. In the 2024 NFL Draft class, he would have been my OT6 — behind Joe Alt, Olu Fashanu, Taliese Fuaga, Troy Fautanu, and JC Latham.
Jones’ profile might be the most well-rounded profile in the entire 2025 NFL Draft OT class. He has few glaring weaknesses, and a diversified skill set underpins his game.
Jones is agile and explosive on the lateral plane, but he also has menacing strength and power, impressive natural leverage, and a testy brand of physicality.
In pass protection, Jones employs fast feet, synergetic technique, and rapid lower body coiling. He can sequentially extend, latch, and gather rushers with violent, heavy hands. And in the running game, Jones can suffocate edge setters and gap invaders, and cave in interior defense.
Jones might not be the level of space athlete that other early-round tackles in the upcoming class are, and his non-elite hip flexibility occasionally gets him into trouble against speed. Still, he assuredly has the functional athleticism to be a force in both phases, and he builds a stellar profile on top of that physical foundation.
Ultimately, Jones has the combined physical talent and operational utility to be an NFL starter early in his career. He’s a natural right tackle, but with his balance and universal utility, he could feasibly shift to the left side. And with more refinement, Jones could be an impact starter, especially in gap and inside-zone schemes.