The Utah Utes got some great news last night when San Bernardino (Calif.) Cajon four-star wide receiver Darren Jones verbally committed to Utah. Jones is 6’ 8” tall and weighs 185 pounds. Height like that is incredible to find for a wide receiver and makes him a nightmare to cover. As you might guess at 6’ 8”, he also plays power forward in basketball. Utah beat out Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas A&M, and Washington State to land him. Per Greg Biggins of 247Sports, Jones caught 102 passes for 2,094 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior last season, helping Cajon reach the state championship game.
I would like to thank all of the schools that have shown interest in me and I am blessed to say that I have committed to the University of Utah #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/ZoevRSMkY8
— Darren Jones (@djonescmob1) August 21, 2018
This first thing that jumps out about Jones is how well he uses his body and height. He has excellent body control and knows how to go up and get the football. If the quarterback throws the ball up for grabs, Jones is going to come down with it. He has great hands. His height makes him one of the hardest receivers to cover, but it is more than that with Jones, he has fabulous technique on jump balls. He is a weapon all over the field but especially the red zone.
At Cajon, Jones is teammates with four-star dual-threat quarterback Jayden Daniels, who the Utes are after hard. I remember hearing Biggins on ESPN700 last month saying Daniels is likely down to Utah and UCLA. He will visit September 15 when Washington comes to town. Hopefully Jones can convince his high school teammate to join him at Utah. Per the 247Sports Crystal Ball, Utah is also the favorite to land three-star Cajon running back Daniel Fortune. Will we see the Cajon 3 like we did with the Hallandale 3 back in the 2016 class?