Velus Jones Jr.

#1 · WR · Sr. · USC6′0″ · 200 lb · Saraland, AL

Velus Jones Jr.: WR · USC · #1.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Jordan MooreDuke · 2023 · 89% season match
Jordan DwyerTCU · 2025 · 89% season match
Corey RuckerArkansas State · 2021 · 79% season match
Tevailance HuntArkansas State · 2021 · 77% season match
Dante CephasKent State · 2021 · 75% season match

Velus Jones Jr.

WR · Tennessee · Sr · #1

Wins underneath on volume and route precision. Played for three head coaches at two programs in five seasons: Clay Helton, Jeremy Pruitt and Donte Williams. The first one came in 2021: All-SEC. On tape: 103 receiving yards and 6 receptions against South Alabama, Week 12, 2021.

Style of play

Play style

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

USC in the news

Simeon Jones Jr. commits to USC247Sports Nov 2
USC fans storm field after upset winUSA Today Nov 1
Top-150 recruit commits to USCOn3 Oct 21
$70M buyout talk for RileyYahoo Sports Oct 16

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2021	USC	62	807	13.0	7	72
2020	Tennessee	22	280	12.7	3	74
2019	USC	6	35	5.8	0	8
2018	USC	24	266	11.1	1	45
2017	USC	6	46	7.7	0	16
Career		120	1,434	11.9	11	74

Season	Team
2021	USC	1	15	628	272
2020	Tennessee	3	16	398	--
2019	USC	--	--	704	--
2018	USC	6	13	483	1
2017	USC	5	15	760	--
Career		15	59	2,973	273

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 38-6vs Bowling Green	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 2	L 34-41vs Pittsburgh	3	31	10.3	0	16
Wk 3	W 56-0vs Tennessee Tech	3	65	21.7	1	45
Wk 4	L 14-38@ No. 11 Florida	3	64	21.3	0	37
Wk 5	W 62-24@ Missouri	7	79	11.3	1	35
Wk 6	W 45-20vs South Carolina	6	103	17.2	1	31	Season-high 103 yds
Wk 7	L 26-31vs No. 13 Ole Miss	6	93	15.5	0	30
Wk 8	L 24-52@ No. 4 Alabama	3	18	6.0	1	8
Wk 10	W 45-42@ No. 18 Kentucky	5	100	20.0	1	72
Wk 11	L 17-41vs No. 1 Georgia	8	44	5.5	1	11
Wk 12	W 60-14vs South Alabama	6	103	17.2	0	41
Wk 13	W 45-21vs Vanderbilt	2	22	11.0	0	15
Total		52	722	13.9	6	72

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 10 · Kentucky · 3rd and 7 · Q1 · EPA +6.93Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 72 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 3 · Tennessee Tech · 4th and 3 · Q2 · EPA +5.70Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 45 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 5 · Missouri · 3rd and 12 · Q2 · EPA +4.82Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 35 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 12 · South Alabama · 3rd and 12 · Q3 · EPA +3.89Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 41 yds to the SAlab 6 for a
Week 7 · Ole Miss · 3rd and 12 · Q3 · EPA +3.42Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 29 yds to the Miss 1 for a OLE MISS Penalty, Defensive Offside (Jahcour Pearson) declined for a
Week 6 · South Carolina · 3rd and 7 · Q1 · EPA +3.29Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 21 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)

4 more plays

Week 6 · South Carolina · 2nd and 10 · Q1 · EPA +3.03Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 24 yds to the SCaro 42 for a
Week 8 · Alabama · 3rd and 7 · Q1 · EPA +2.90Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 8 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 11 · Georgia · 3rd and 3 · Q1 · EPA +2.70Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 9 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 1 · Purdue · 2nd and 5 · Q3 · EPA +2.54Hendon Hooker pass complete to Velus Jones Jr. for 15 yds for a TD (Chase McGrath KICK)

Teams and coaches

2017USC11-3HC: Clay Helton · Balanced

2018USC5-7HC: Clay Helton · Balanced

2019USC8-5HC: Clay Helton · Pass-leaning

2020Tennessee3-7HC: Jeremy Pruitt · Run-leaning

2021Tennessee4-8HC: Donte Williams · Balanced, fast tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 70 (#67 of 468). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2021 season

70Quality starter #67 of 468 · 2021?

13 metrics · season cumulative

2021 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: rec tds (89th percentile). Strength: receptions (89th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#170 / 655 · 74th pct

9.2%

Catch rate#187 / 655 · 71st pct

81.6%

EPA / target#188 / 655 · 71st pct

0.83

Explosive rate#221 / 655 · 66th pct

15.8%

Yards / catch#286 / 655 · 56th pct

13.0

Box-score rates (8)

Rec TDs#51 / 557 · 89th pct

Receptions#60 / 557 · 89th pct

Rec yards#68 / 557 · 88th pct

807

Long catch#79 / 557 · 85th pct

Rush yards#122 / 273 · 54th pct

Yards / catch#289 / 557 · 47th pct

13.0

Rush TDs#57 / 273 · 40th pct

Fumbles lost#89 / 223 · 36th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2021. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home8g	4.2	57.6	14.1	0.4
Road4g	4.5	65.2	14.7	0.8

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.0	62.1	16.2	0.4
Weeks 8+5g	4.8	57.4	11.9	0.6

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2021 season

Head Coach

Donte Williams

Pass share

51.5%

593 pass / 558 run

Plays / game

95.9

12 games

Team sack rate

3.4%

553 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Starter

62 catches and 1 carry in 12 games, more catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

70 · #67 of 468 WRs · 2021

Three-star recruit. Now #67 at the position.

Velus Jones Jr.

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

USC in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

Starter

Five seasons, two schools, drafted

2016

2021 12 games

2022