“I think it does wonders for the guys, for the players,” said special teams coordinator Richard Hightower, “because they can look around the locker room and see, ‘Oh, that guy can return. Oh, he’s good. I’m not comfortable.’
“So, there’s competition there, and it’s also awesome just to have some options. It’s a huge boost, but we still have a far way to go. We haven’t put on pads yet, but it’s really good to have options.”
Last season at Tennessee, Jones was named SEC Co-Special Teams Player of the Year after averaging 27.3 yards with one touchdown on 23 kickoff returns and 15.1 yards on 18 punt returns. In 61 career college games over six seasons, the 6-foot, 204-pounder averaged 24.4 yards with two TDs on 122 kickoff returns.
“The whole organization is excited about adding a guy like that,” Hightower said. “We all just kind of got a feel for him as a person. We like him as a person and we like his energy, we like his speed, we like his toughness, we like his athleticism, and we like what he can do. What he has the opportunity to do is compete here and see if he can make those things translate that he did in college to the pro level, and we definitely believe that he can.”
Last year at Baylor, Ebner was voted Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Year and first-team all-Big 12 as a return specialist and all-purpose player after averaging 22.2 yards with one TD on 23 kickoff returns and 8.1 yards on 19 punt returns. In five seasons, the 5-11, 206-pounder averaged 25.3 yards with three touchdowns on 47 kickoff returns and 6.8 yards with one TD on 28 punt returns.
“He’s fast, he’s really quick-twitch,” Hightower said. “He covers the ball up well. He protects the ball well, which is good for a young player. When he’s running with it, he protects it well. You can see that even in the offensive drills when I’m watching on the side sometimes. He’s got speed and explosiveness and he’s eager.”
At Utah State, Scarver tied an NCAA record by returning seven kickoffs for touchdowns,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…