Marcus Jones

Former cornerback at Houston. 2021: 5 interceptions, 13 pass breakups, 47 tackles.

CB · Houston · Sr. · #8

5′8″ · 185 lb · Enterprise, AL

CFB Index 30 · #278 of 321 cornersLow confidenceConsensus AANew England — drafted 2022, Rd 3, Pick 21, #85 overall

On production he ranks #278 of 321 corners; on reputation he is a consensus All-American. The gap between those two numbers is the story.

The story

Former cornerback at Houston. 2021: 5 interceptions, 13 pass breakups, 47 tackles.

Drafted round 3 by the New England in 2022.
Named All-America (Consensus) in 2021.
Named AAC Special Teams Player of the Year in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Houston, 152 tackles, an All-American season (2021) — drafted at #85 overall by New England.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

202113 games

All-AACfirst
AAC Special Teams Player of the Yearwinner
All-Americafirst · 8 selectors
Paul Hornungwinner

2022

Drafted by New Englandround 3, pick 85

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #85

New England · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

20 honors · 2 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2021)

7 first-team selectors

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

2 coaches

2017–2018

Major Applewhite

Houston

2020–2021

Dana Holgorsen

Houston

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Major Applewhite → Dana Holgorsen. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

New EnglandEntering 5th NFL season

#85Rd 3 · Pick 21

New EnglandEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Troy11-2HC: Neal Brown · Balanced

2018Troy10-3HC: Neal Brown · Run-leaning

2020Houston3-5HC: Dana Holgorsen · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Houston12-2HC: Dana Holgorsen · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

30Below cohort / limited sample #278 of 321?

Low confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (100th percentile). Strength: forced fumbles (99th percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Passes defended#8 / 2743 · 100th pct

Forced fumbles#3 / 673 · 99th pct

Interceptions#4 / 824 · 99th pct

Solo tackles#384 / 2743 · 86th pct

Tackles#679 / 2743 · 75th pct

Tackles for loss#1821 / 2743 · 28th pct

1.0

QB hurries#1413 / 2743 · 24th pct

Sacks#1435 / 2743 · 24th pct

0.0

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	4.3	0.2	0.0	0.7
Road7g	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.3

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.8	0.0	0.0	0.3
Weeks 8+7g	4.3	0.1	0.0	1.6

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Willie Fritz

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Consensus All-American

First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

30 · #278 of 321 corners

Selector Grid · 2021

AP—

FWAA1st

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN1st

SI—

Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Houston	47	36	1.0	13	5	2
2020	Houston	24	18	2.0	4	1	1
2018	Troy	32	23	0.0	7	2	--
2017	Troy	49	34	2.0	6	2	4
Career		152	111	5.0	30	10	7

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 21-38vs Texas Tech	6	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 44-7@ Rice	—	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 3	W 45-0vs Grambling	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 28-20vs Navy	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 45-10@ Tulsa	4	3	0.0	0.0	—	2
Wk 6	W 40-22@ Tulane	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 31-24vs East Carolina	7	5	0.0	0.0	—	1	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 9	W 44-37vs SMU	6	6	1.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 10	W 54-42@ South Florida	4	4	0.0	0.0	1	2
Wk 11	W 37-8@ Temple	4	3	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 12	W 31-13vs Memphis	6	5	0.0	0.0	2	3
Wk 13	W 45-17@ UConn	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	4
Wk 14	L 20-35@ Cincinnati	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	1
Total		47	36	1.0	0.0	5	13

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Marcus Jones

202113 games

2022

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Consensus All-American

Career stats

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Ball Hawk

Players who play like Marcus Jones