The San Francisco 49ers drafted Mississippi defensive tackle D.J. Jones in the sixth round of the 2017 NFL draft, and it was one instance where attention to detail was particularly important.
After the draft, John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan were wrapping things up with the media and Jones came up. It turns out, there were two D.J. Jones’ that came out of Ole Miss.
Moving down to [DL] D.J. Jones is a guy who has, from Ole Miss, there’s two D.J. Joneses at Ole Miss. We were very clear that we wanted the defensive tackle from Ole Miss, not the other guy. We got the right guy. He’s got, no offense to the other guy. He’s a heck of a player. We just didn’t want him at that point. We got the right D.J. Jones, and he’s a stout nose, who also has three technique versatility, but yet I think really dynamic.
When Lynch was speaking and mentioned “not the other guy,” Shanahan briefly chimed in with “no offense,” and Lynch echoed that. The tone of it was clearly not meant to say the other Jones is no good, but it was amusing nonetheless. It is in the opening segment of this video, and I’d recommend giving it a watch.
I was taking a look at the draft board after the fact, and it turns out the other D.J. Jones (Derrick) actually ended up getting drafted six picks later by the New York Jets. That Jones is a 6’2, 188 pound cornerback who converted over from the wide receiver position. He has limited reps, but is an intriguing prospect as a potential press corner. Of course, the 49ers found a primary corner option when they selected Ahkello Witherspoon three rounds earlier. But, still interesting nonetheless.