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Emery Jones, OT, LSU (Junior)

Picture of Rayane M

Rayane M

The 2025 NFL Draft is fast approaching, and despite an initial impression that this year's class might lack talent, The Trick Play team has once again delved into the tapes to bring you scouting reports on the players who will soon wear the jerseys of your favorite franchises.

From Quarterback to Safety, including the trenches where Offensive Linemen and Defensive Linemen engage in a relentless battle, Rayane and Valentin will walk you through the new faces of this 2025 draft class while everyone is excited about the coming NFL Draft


Strengths :

  • Powerful player
  • Huge punch
  • Leverage
  • High Ceiling

 

Weaknesses :

  • Footwork
  • Stance needs work
  • Hands placement
  • Hips placement in pass situations

TTProfil



Another LSU Tigers Tackle, Emery Jones has chosen to enter the Draft this year. While Will Campbell is getting much of the media attention, Emery is quietly slipping under the radar, but is this justified?
Is Emery a worse player, or is he simply paying the price of playing on the right side? Perhaps his profile doesn't appeal as much as others. In any case, let's try to take a closer look at whether Emery Jones could be of service to your team in the future.
 
Before addressing any other aspects of his game, it's important to highlight that if there is one area where Emery Jones excels, it is his power. Indeed, Emery is a powerful player, and this is clearly the defining trait of his game. This strength and power are reflected in most of the strengths of his play. 
 
Already, while his power is evident in many other areas, it is particularly noticeable in his strong punch. His powerful punch is a point that stands out immediately; it's very visual, and whether in pass protection or in running situations, Emery is able to strike his opponent and stun him on the spot. Whether with one arm or both, this powerful and explosive punch allows him to sometimes gain or regain the upper hand on his opponent during a play. This is definitely a strong point.
 
Another area where his power is directly felt is in Emery's ability to finish blocks with strength and dominance. Jones is more than capable, when he places his hands well, of controlling the block and overpowering the defender with his strength. While this is much more noticeable in running situations, where Emery quickly engages with defenders and can fully unleash his power, he can also be seen dominating in spurts during pass protection situations.
Nonetheless, it’s important to keep in mind that Emery Jones is a player who currently shines more in his abilities as a run blocker, thanks to this power.
 
What might surprise with Jones, when looking at his player profile, which doesn’t necessarily suggest it, is his leverage ability, which is actually quite good. Indeed, despite being listed at 6’6", when he plays, Emery often manages to not only get low enough for an optimal impact, but also to lift his opponents once the block is engaged, which disrupts their leverage and puts them in an imbalanced position. This is the very principle of leverage, as we often discuss.
This not only indicates that Emery also has strength in his legs, but also that he has the stamina to sustain this effort throughout a match.
Beware, however, of his tendency to get up quickly once he's out of his starting stance. More on his Stance later.

Finally, Emery sometimes shows extremely interesting flashes, both in pass protection and in run blocking, and he already has a solid floor. On top of that, the development potential shouldn’t be overlooked with Jones, as in my opinion, he is far from reaching his ceiling and could still make significant progress if he lands with the right franchise.
Let's move on to his areas for improvement, since as with any other prospect, Emery too will have work to do in order to progress.
For example, despite having fairly decent mobility, Jones' footwork is a point that absolutely needs to be revisited. In pass protection, Jones is often quite passive and, in my opinion, takes too small steps on his kick-and-slide, which can sometimes put him in difficulty when facing fast and explosive rushers. If you add to that the fact that his steps are rather heavy and Emery is often somewhat unagile in his movements, this doesn’t allow him to react quickly enough to recover from a rusher once they’ve gained the upper hand on him.
In running situations, it's quite the opposite. While in pass protection Emery takes too small steps, here it's not uncommon to see him gain a lot of ground, but with footwork that is far from textbook, which also affects his overall balance and, consequently, his ability to properly block defenders.
Emery will need to do a lot of work in this area if he is to establish himself with the pros.
 
Another recurring issue at LSU this season, which was also a problem for Will Campbell, is Emery Jones' starting position (or stance). Whether it's Will Campbell or Emery Jones, both have an extremely narrow base due to their size, and this directly impacts their overall balance.
To counter this, Will Campbell tends to stand up very quickly, as you'll read in his own report, but that's not the case for Emery, who manages to stay relatively low, as we saw in the strengths section. The problem with Jones is that, while he is able to stay low despite his narrow base, he faces significant balance issues when he faces a defender capable of matching the physical challenge he imposes on his opponents. We saw this issue during SEC conference games this season, so I have no doubt we might see it again with NFL-caliber athletes.
So we end up with a balance issue when Jones faces power rushers who are powerful or explosive enough to move him, as well as a mobility issue when trying to keep up with the fastest and most explosive speed rushers. This is a real problem since these profiles appear every week in the NFL. A small positive point, however, is that both of these issues stem directly from his poor footwork, a point we've already established needs work. It's up to Emery to do what’s necessary to improve in this area, which undoubtedly impacts his final value.
 
His very average hand placement is another point we need to address, as it's not uncommon to see him with his hands positioned outside the defender's arms. This is largely due to the way he attacks with his arms, which tends to be more horizontal, with his arms often coming from the outside to reach the defender rather than attacking directly.
To help you visualize what I mean, think of it like this: Emery often swings his arms to catch his opponent, almost like a slap, rather than doing it with a direct punch. As a result, he loses time, and his hand placement is consequently not as effective.
When Emery manages to throw his hands well and have good placement, the quality of his blocks changes completely.

Finally, the last concern I would have with Emery is the fact that he turns his hips very quickly in passing situations in order to create a pocket as quickly as possible for his QB, but in doing so, he clearly uncovers his inside and therefore places himself in a situation where he can be vulnerable.
While he hasn't been put at risk on this score so far, the experience of NFL players is very different from that of CFB defenders.
 

To conclude, what’s to be gained by selecting Emery Jones Jr. in the upcoming Draft? Well, in this case, you’re getting a right tackle who could take a starting spot very quickly, perhaps even from the first game of next season. While there will certainly still be a lot of work to do, particularly on his footwork, his starting stance, and his positioning during play to improve stability and balance before he can truly dominate the competition at the NFL level, the potential seems to be there.
If these specific areas can be improved during his rookie year, Jones' level of play could really soar. At the moment, it's hard to see him as anything higher than a Day 2 pick, as there are real gaps in his game and I'm a little worried about the transition to the NFL.

Besides, like Will Campbell, Jones was forced to Babysit the interior OL all season at LSU, which really doesn't help his ability to play in a detached way, and this shouldn't be the case in the NFL, which could, once again, allow Emery to play at a higher level, concentrating on his work alone.
When I saw him play this season, I rather had the impression of seeing a dominant player who no longer sought to do violence to progress than the opposite, he seemed settled in his comfort zone and moreover managed to dominate like that. So will Emery be an eternal hope, or is there room for major progress? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I'm logically placing Emery Jones in my Tier 3 of Tackles with a projection of a Day 2 at the draft and more towards the middle/late 2nd round in my opinion. If he's taken lower, his value will be all the greater, whereas if he's selected earlier, we risk a small reach, but everything will depend on the fit with the team.

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