It was a long wait, but the Texans closed out day one of their 2007 draft by selecting wide receiver Jacoby Jones in the third round at No. 73 overall Saturday. Jones, who was in Houston in January for the Dell East-West Shrine Game, played his collegiate ball in relative obscurity at Lane College.
At nearly 6-3 and 210 pounds, Jones has been soaring up draft boards in recent months and the Texans selection of Jones triggered a run of receivers as he was the first of three receivers to go within four picks of each other in the third round.
"I think young players on the rise might be the theme of the day," Texans general manager Rick Smith said of the selection. "It was certainly a wait from the first pick to the third pick, but again, we feel great that our second-round pick was a quarterback that we feel like is going to lead this football team."
The Texans traded this year's second-round pick as well as their second round pick in 2008 to the Atlanta Falcons for Matt Schaub.
By selecting Jones, the Texans are adding to an already improved offensive arsenal for their new signal caller.
"The third-round pick of Jacoby Jones is good for us for a lot of reasons," Smith said. "He's a young player with great size and speed and some range in his body and natural hands."
{QUOTE} Jones didn't even pick up football until his junior year in college and began his college career on a track scholarship at Southeastern Louisiana before transferring to Lane in 2003.
"The thing that really impressed me about this kid is, he's from Lane College of course, and so he hasn't had an opportunity to play in the big stadiums and the big competition, but every time he's had an opportunity to step up, he did," Smith said.
Jones made a name for himself at the Shrine Game and continued to improve his stock with a solid workout at the scouting combine, but the final straw, at least as far as the Texans are concerned, might have been a visit to Reliant by Jones last week.
"I was very impressed with the young man," Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said. "We had him in here for a visit last week, very sharp young man, very confident."
Jones is also a capable kick returner with four kickoff return scores to his credit as well as a touchdown on a punt return during his time at Lane. When coupled with 21 receiving touchdowns in his four-year career, Jones could team with Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson to form a dynamic combo in the near future.
And if you think Jones may need some time to acclimate himself to the NFL game before being prepared to make a contribution, that may not be the case.
"This kid belongs and he's ready to get in here and prove it," Kubiak said. "On top of that, he's got some return ability and we see a huge upside here in a very hungry young man."
The Texans first-round pick, Amobi Okoye, arrives in Houston later tonight. He will address the Houston media at 11:30 a.m. Sunday morning. Fans can watch that press conference LIVE on Texans TV as well as every other draft press conference from Sunday.
Houston enters Sunday armed with all of their selections. The NFL draft continues Sunday at 10:00 a.m. CST.
