The San Francisco 49ers just welcomed their seventh pick of the 2011 NFL Draft to the family by selecting Colin Jones with the 25th pick of Round 6 (190th overall). Jones, a 6’, 208 pound safety from Texas Christian University, becomes the third defensive player and second defensive back selected by Trent Baalke and the 49ers front office in this year’s draft. Speaking of Baalke, the 49ers GM looked noticeably pleased to have landed Jones based on his reaction on camera from the war room. Baalke most have more information and stronger opinions on the intelligent, productive Horned Frog because there’s not a whole lot of information out there on Jones. He was not a scouting combine invite, and the myriad scouting outfits out there publishing mock drafts and what not, seem to have passed on spending much time on analyzing Jones’ prospects at the next level. Jones did however run an unofficial 4.32 at TCU’s Pro Day, an impressive time for anybody, let alone a safety.
Jones was very productive on one of the nation’s best defenses this past two years, particularly as a senior in 2010 when he was named a 2nd Team All Mountain West Conference selection. His 80. 5 tackles were the second most on Gary Paterson’s defense, highlighted by his team high 10 tackles in TCU’s impressive 21-19 win over Wisconsin in this year’s Rose Bowl.
It’s awfully tough to make it in the NFL for a myriad reasons, the least of which being that there’s just not always enough room on rosters to see how a guy like Jones might be able to contribute. But for a sixth round pick with speed and smarts (Jones was apparently applying to law school just in case football didn’t work out for him), the 49ers might have found themselves quite a steal in the later stages of the 2011 NFL Draft.
For more reaction to the pick and fan discussion about all of the 2011 NFL Draft’s developments, head on over to Niners Nation throughout the day and rest of the weekend.