Time To Play For Marcus Jones?

By John Roth, Blue Devil Weekly

DURHAM, N.C. -- The Duke football team's dining hall on Central Campus features a seemingly endless supply of food, but Marcus Jones would often leave the training table hungry during his first two years in the Blue Devil program. As a quarterback and wide receiver, he was always conscious of his weight so he usually limited himself to one plate per meal.

But this year, Jones does not hesitate to have second helpings. In the offseason he made the transition from an offensive skill position player to a defensive outside linebacker post. One of the requirements was to put on more pounds, and Jones was only too happy to oblige.

“He's definitely eating a lot,” says roommate and wideout Raphael Chestnut.

“Now it's two plates,” admits Jones. “I eat as much as I want and run it off in the morning.”

Like most college students, Jones devours his share of junk calories from pizza and ice cream. But he also keeps an eye on the nutritional value of his meals.

“At wide receiver, I was having to hold back on what I ate, watch what I ate and when I ate,” he says. “At outside linebacker I don't have to do as much of that because I need the weight. I do need to watch what I eat, because I need to eat healthy so I can gain good weight. But it's not as hard to gain the weight as to keep it off or lose it.”

Jones tried to play at 210 to 212 pounds his first two years. This year he wants to play at around 230, and he was up to 225 when preseason training camp began. From the looks of it, the added weight has been good weight chiseled on to his 6-foot-3 frame. He was considered one of the team's best athletes before the transformation began, and he still is.

In fact, it is Jones' athleticism that led coach Ted Roof to suggest the move to defense. During Jones' freshman and sophomore seasons he averaged about 27 snaps per game while splitting time at the two offensive spots. It didn't look like that number would increase much this year with Thad Lewis and Zack Asack back at QB and a core of talent on hand at WR, so Roof came up with a plan that could put Jones' athleticism to good use more frequently.

“The main reason we moved him was because we thought he was one of our best athletes, and as coaches it's our job to get the best athletes on the field and develop players,” says Roof. “Certainly his knowledge and his want-to, there was no question about that. We just want to have our best people on the field to give us a chance to win ball games.”

This is not Jones' first attempt at playing defense. As a senior at Southeast Whitfield HS in Ringgold, Ga., he played free safety as well as quarterback and receiver. N.C. State, one of his first college suitors, recruited him as an outside linebacker.

Still, he did have to learn new techniques and new assignments in moving to defense ? a process that began with full immersion under outside linebackers coach Larry Kerr during spring practice.

“He's making a great adjustment. He's a very athletic player and has taken the coaching really well. We love having him on defense,” says senior safety Chris Davis, Duke's most veteran defensive player.

“Coming from wide receiver to a linebacker spot, you have to learn how to use your hands a little more because you've got offensive linemen coming at you on every play. He seems to be dealing pretty well. He was one of the more aggressive receivers so I knew he wouldn't have a problem, but he's definitely picked up the aggression. He gives us another edge being quick and fast off the side.”

Jones attempted 21 passes and caught 21 passes during his first two years on offense. He should have the opportunity to make considerably more plays now. And he has especially enjoyed making the mental adjustment to defense. As a quarterback he had to maintain some control over his emotions on the field; now he feels free to let loose and play.

“Mentally, on the inside, I'm a wild man. I like to compete,” he reveals. “I like to talk mess, I guess you could say. Being at quarterback and wide receiver, I couldn't do that as much. I had to just play my position. Now that I'm on defense, it's a little bit easier for me to be who I am ? do my assignment, play my role and play ball.”

“He told me he felt you could show yourself more on defense, especially your personality,” adds Chestnut. “You have to keep a certain tone of calmness as a quarterback, but now he's able to express himself more because you have to be more aggressive on defense.”

“I want all of our players to have that attack mentality, not just the linebackers,” says Roof. “People say it's a defensive mentality, but to me it's a football mentality and you want your whole team to have a football mentality, an attack mentality.

“Marcus was a very physical blocker as a receiver. His biggest adjustments now are the reactions and getting used to the speed of the contact and the close combat. He's not playing in so much open space all the time now, he's in more traffic.”

Jones has always enjoyed his relationship with the former linebacker Roof and appreciates the fact that his head coach did not force him to make the move. Before deciding to accept the offer, Jones talked about it extensively with his father Mark, who has always provided him with valuable insight. The elder Jones played college football at Mars Hill and endured several position changes during his career, so he was able to provide wise counsel as his son contemplated his third collegiate position in three years.

“He definitely can sympathize and understand how I'm handling things and how things are going here,” Marcus says.

“The main thing he gave me to think about, well, he put it like this, which was interesting: Offensively you've got a lot of things to depend on. The quarterback has to get the ball on the snap, the offensive line has to block, the quarterback has to make his reads, and then you are one of four or five receivers who might get the ball. And if the ball is thrown, it might be a good ball or maybe not. There are a lot of things to depend on. On defense, the ball is snapped and you do your assignment, but once that ball comes in your direction across the line of scrimmage, you play ball and go after the ball. You don't have as many things to depend on, you just go play.”

Jones can't wait to do just that. He admits he may have overworked himself last summer when he was preparing to be the starting quarterback. “That might be why I had some trouble later on with it.” This summer progressed at a different pace. He met with the coaches, did all the daily workouts through both summer sessions, and just got himself ready to play ball. Now it's time to see what happens. The hunger that previously followed him out of the training table door is gone, overridden by an intense hunger for success.

“A lot of people who came in with my class, we played a lot as freshmen and sophomores and we were considered young those two years,” Jones says. “Now everybody on the field has had some experience, so I think we'll be ready.”