A few years ago, Hunter Jones was on nobody’s radar. Now, he’s preparing to be drafted into the Relocation Football League. The Alabama wide receiver is a Tuscaloosa native that, for a long time, was overlooked even by his hometown team. “I had some injuries during my junior year that kept me out when all Spring I felt poised for a breakout year,” said Jones. “My recruitment would’ve been completely dead if I didn’t attend camps the summer before my senior year.”

 

At an Alabama camp, Jones clocked a 4.40 time in the 40-yard dash. Afterwards, some of the coaches brought it to the attention of the coaches and after the camp, he was told that they’d be watching him this season. Halfway through his senior season, Alabama decided to finally offer him a scholarship and Jones immediately committed to play at Alabama. “If you play football and you’re from Tuscaloosa, I can’t imagine a better thing to happen to you than getting an offer from Alabama,” said Jones.

 

His freshman season didn’t see a lot of time at wise receiver, yet Jones showed out his talent on display as a kick returner. In his first game for the Crimson Tide, Jones returned a kickoff 103 yards to open up the second half. “I think that play was where I started to genuinely believe that I could really do some damage while I was here,” said Jones. His sophomore season he began to get some work in the offense but was still mostly seen as a kick returner, leading the nation with six return touchdowns and winning Returner of the Year along with racking up 437 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

 

For his junior year, Jones won another Returner of the Year award with four return touchdowns while bringing in 83 receptions for 1,184 yards and 11 touchdowns. Jones finished second in voting for the Biletnikoff award. “I thought it was a really good season,” said Jones. “Losing out on the Biletnikoff sucked but I’m not letting that take away from what I accomplished.” With the draft around the corner, Jones said he’s mostly focused on the future. “I really try not to think about awards or anything like that, right now I’m just focused on getting through the draft and starting back over.”

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Written By: Hunter Jones

7/11/19