Andre
Jones.
Andre
Jones.
Louisiana
"The six-year Louisiana grinder who went from roster afterthought to the Sun Belt's top edge (13.5 sacks his final two years) — Washington's closing pick in 2023."Pre-draft read
Jones is a long-levered edge defender — 6-5, 258 with 34-plus-inch arms — who spent six seasons at Louisiana and grew from a self-described non-factor into the Ragin' Cajuns' most disruptive pass rusher. He wins with length and effort off the edge, can reduce inside on passing downs, and set the edge with heavy hands on early downs.
His peak was a dominant two-year close: 6.0 sacks in 2021, then 7.5 more in 2022, production that made him one of the Sun Belt's best defenders. The limitations were age — he entered the NFL at 24 after a six-year college run — and a rush plan built more on motor and length than on elite bend or first-step explosion.
4-3 front that rotates edges and values length and edge-setting on early downs
Year 1: DE5/6 and special teams; ceiling: rotational run-down edge
3-4 outside linebacker schemes that ask edges to drop and bend the arc
His NFL role — deep-rotation end — has matched the evaluation.
Andre Jones Official Junior Year Highlights
Official reel from his 6.0-sack 2021 season at Louisiana.
Andre Jones | Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Campus reel on the Cajuns' longtime edge starter.
Andre Jones Jr. Selected by Washington
Draft-night short on the Commanders' seventh-round pick.
Jones's story was development in its purest form. He arrived at Louisiana in 2017, heard hard truths from his coaches about being a non-factor early, and ground his way into a perennial starter — six seasons in Lafayette, culminating in back-to-back seasons as the Sun Belt's most productive edge: 60 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.0 sacks in 2021, then 7.5 sacks in 12 games in 2022.
The scouting case was the length-motor profile. At 6-5 with 34-plus-inch arms, he could keep blockers off his frame, and his production against the run and pass was real, earned across 60-plus college games. The concerns were equally clear: he was already 24, his pass-rush plan relied on effort more than a signature move, and his athletic testing was ordinary for the position.
Washington, which had loaded up on defensive line talent for years, took him at 233 as its final pick of the 2023 draft — a bet that a long, productive, coach-approved edge could crack a deep rotation.
For a program that churns out NFL linemen, Jones fit the mold: experienced, physical, and with nothing left to prove at the college level.
- 01
Late-career production
13.5 sacks across 2021-22, including 7.5 in 12 games as a senior.
- 02
Length
6-5 frame with 34-plus-inch arms; keeps blockers off his body and sets a hard edge.
- 03
Experience
Six seasons at Louisiana; 60-plus games and years as a multi-year starter.
- 04
Run defense
Physical edge-setter who produced 60 tackles in 2021 from the defensive line.
- 05
Makeup
Coaches' favorite who turned early-career criticism into a perennial-starter career.
- 01
Age
Entered the NFL at 24 after six college seasons, limiting the development runway.
- 02
Average athleticism
No elite first step or bend; wins with effort and length more than explosion.
- 03
One-move rusher
Rush plan lacks counters; production came from motor more than craft.
- 04
Level of competition
Sun Belt tape without a Power Five test on the schedule.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— No athletic data recorded
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-20 | Louisiana | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Louisiana | 14 | 60 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Louisiana | 12 | 0 | 7.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2021 line and 2022 sacks verified against cfbstats.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Big, long defender who stuck for years as a rotational early-down lineman.
Long, late-blooming edge who turned effort and length into a decade of production.
Long, toolsy small-school edge whose rush plan never developed.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Jones made Washington's roster as a rookie and hung around the edge rotation for two seasons, appearing in a handful of games as a deep reserve behind the Commanders' star rushers. By 2025 he had moved on to Buffalo, where he appeared in three games and remains on the depth chart as experienced insurance.
The honest retrospective: for pick 233, this is a perfectly acceptable outcome. Jones has now spent three seasons on NFL rosters — more than most seventh-rounders — without ever threatening to be more than a deep reserve. The length and motor translated to a roster spot; the athletic ceiling kept him there. Washington got exactly what it drafted: a reliable adult at the end of the defensive line room.