100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 96 Days, Former No. 96 Chris Jones

Year two of the Jeff Lebby era has arrived and the Mississippi State coach is back to work.

After a disappointing first season, the coach and his staff are doing what they can to get things back on track in Starkville. The players on the field will be the difference for State this season if they are to make a return and we’re going to discuss every single one of them over the course of the next few months.

As we do every year, we’re counting down 100 days until State’s first game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on August 30. Over this period of time, we’ll breakdown every scholarship player on the roster, look back at great moments in MSU history and even talk about legends that have come before the current Bulldogs.

Today, we look at a Bulldog legend.  

96 Days: Former No. 96, DL Chris Jones    

Before Jones was one of the great players in the NFL, he came from extremely humble beginnings at Houston High School.

Jones was a relative unknown in the recruiting process until blowing up during his senior season. Former coach Dan Mullen and his staff tried to hold him under wraps after grabbing his commitment in the summer of 2012, but that wouldn’t last.

Everyone in the country was after Jones in the final couple of months of his recruitment and it would come down to one of the fiercest instate recruiting battles of all time.

After several days of trips back and forth to Starkville and Oxford, Jones stuck with his commitment to the Bulldogs that he made the summer prior as a two-star recruit.

Jones earned immediate playing time with the Bulldogs, as expected, as a true freshman and performed well enough to be one of the top freshmen in the country. With 32 tackles, seven for loss, three sacks and 10 quarterback hurries, he affected the game when he was in there but was still raw on the surface.

Much more was expected out of Jones in his sophomore season in 2014, but he didn’t quite reach expectations set for him. Jones moved around some at defensive end and inside at tackle and grabbed just 23 stops a year ago though he equaled his three-sack total. He became more frustrated in year two with double teams and didn’t have as much of a fire off the ball.

In 2015, Jones had his best year as he made 44 tackles and had 7.5 tackles for loss and four pass deflections for career highs. He also had 2.5 sacks during the season as he earned second-team All-American honors. He was quickly starting to develop into the potential that everyone knew he could reach.

While the measurables and ability were undeniable, teams were obviously still not sold. The Kansas City Chiefs would take him in the second round with the 37th pick and he entered the NFL with a chip on his shoulder.

In year one in 2016, Jones worked his way into the starting lineup playing in all 16 games and starting in 11 as he had 28 tackles and 2.0 sacks. He had 6.5 sacks in seven starts in 2017 and things would take off from there. In 2018, Jones had 15.5 sacks and was named to the All Pro second team. He’s followed that up being on the Pro Bowl team for five-straight seasons and has landed on the All-Pro team five-seasons as well.

He’s won three Super Bowls and played in four in his career.

After holding out the first game of the season for more money, Jones has earned every cent he got last offseason. The Houston native is now the highest paid defensive tackle in the history of the game with a $158.75 million contract in progress.

Through the course of his career, he’s already racked up 310 tackles, 80.5 sacks, 13 forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries with six Pro Bowl selections and three-straight All-Pro honors. The boy from Houston has become one of the best players in the game and it’s not surprise to those that watched him grow up inside the state.