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Kendell Jones committed to Alabama over offers from teams such as Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, LSU, and Texas A&M. He hails from Shoemaker High School in Killeen, Texas, and is the second player in this class from the Lonestar state. He is a four-star player by 247Sports composite rankings, and is considered the 11th best defensive tackle and 69th best overall player in the 2016 recruiting cycle, though odds are good that he will rise in the rankings throughout his senior season. Scout.com thinks even more highly of Jones, and has him as the 18th overall player and awarded him a 5th star.
At 6'5", 360 pounds, Jones will likely be the largest player on Alabama's roster. He tested out less than impressively in all of his athletic tests, aside from his 20-yard shuttle, where his 4.89-second time is fairly decent for someone his size. His final SPARQ ranking, 67.65, shows that Jones is more athletic than about 65% of college football players.
The Mothership's recruiting gurus are high on the signing:
Despite the fact that the big defensive tackle weighs in a 346 pounds currently, he carries little body fat. And despite his obvious bulk, he hasn't been lifting weights as long as many other prospects his age, so he will continue to add a great deal of functional strength once he gets into a collegiate strength and conditioning program. Combine those elements with his gentle nature and it becomes clear that Jones has unlimited upside -- as long as he can learn to play with a mean streak.
Kendell Jones is a true nose tackle, and excels at lining up directly over the center. He is both powerful and deceptively quick, and easily knocks offensive linemen into the backfield. Despite his size, Jones is a more natural 1-gap penetrating lineman than a two-gap plugger. To succeed at Alabama, Jones will likely have to either trim weight, or learn to become a two-gapping lineman for Nick Saban's base defense.
Despite his present limitation, Jones has been nigh-unstoppable in camps across the nation.
Kendell Jones is the ninth commitment of the 2016 class, and is the third most highly rated, behind Shyheim Carter and Jonah Williams. He is the second defense tackle for this class along with Raekwon Davis.