A freakishly athletic UCONN safety who put the whole world on notice at the NFL Combine.
Yes, that sentence relates perfectly to current Cowboys safety Byron Jones, who continued to improve in year two and looks to be a staple in the back-end of the Cowboys defense for years to come.
It also relates to another safety, however, who could find himself playing along side Jones for the second time in his football career. That player, is UCONN’s Obi Melifonwu.
After losing Barry Church and JJ Wilcox in free agency, the Cowboys will certainly need to draft a safety this April, and Melifonwu could be the perfect fit. Byron Jones took to Instagram this morning, and possibly showed his support for the Cowboys drafting his former college teammate.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRf8QMWFA2B/?taken-by=byron31jump
Obi Melifonwu (second from the right) is pictured here after a workout with Byron Jones and a few other UCONN alums. Of course, they are probably just friends, but how cool would it be to see these two team up in Dallas?
Staff writer Sean Martin took to Slant Sports to write a scouting report on Obi Melifonwu, and came away giving him a third round grade. I have a second round grade on Melifonwu myself, but either way we both believe he could make a good match in Dallas.
Obi Melifonwu gets a 3rd round grade on my 2017 NFL Draft Board, with the upside to come into the right scheme and be a physical strong safety to hopefully compliment an already athletic secondary.
https://streamable.com/xnkof
Obi Melifonwu is by far the tallest safety in this year’s NFL Draft. He shows good range in pass coverage, and is a surprisingly good player in man coverage despite his height. He possesses many of the desirable traits which NFL teams will look for come draft day, and could compliment Byron Jones very nicely in Dallas.
And on top of all that, it appears that he and Byron already have a rapport to work with. Maybe this Instagram picture is a bit of foreshadowing, and Obi Melifonwu will be joining Jones in Dallas this April.
i already alluded in a publication Sean posted last week that If we lost both WIlcox and Church( which we did ) that we should consider Obi for our 1st pick because i’m not sure if he will be available in the 2nd His stock rose the same way Byron’s did two years ago because of his combine performance He’s the perfect replacement for Barry church and him and Byron already have a great relationship They would make a great safety duo for years to come
I still have to get the CB if the right value is there in round 1. SS is a big void right now, but Church was a solid and not spectacular player. Replaceable.
Now Then:
Jaylon Smith
40 yard dash time: 4.44 seconds
Weight: 229 lbs
Height: 6′ 3″
Suppose the guy makes a full recovery, and you let him roam at SS…
I’d like to see it attempted.
Travis, I agree that Obi is not going to last under 60th overall. I am not totally comfortable taking him at 28 just yet, but I am coming around on the idea of it.
Without knowing the full extent of Jaylon Smith’s recovery It would be crazy to let him roam at safety He has to master HIS LB position first before he can do anything else. Jeff Heath and Kavon Frazier are NOT starters yet We need to look at who’s gonna be Byron’s counterpart for the future
Not crazy to try it in camp IMO. If it’s a go it doesn’t matter if he learns LB first, becomes irrelevant.
If he’s not recovered Smith isn’t looking at a big year at LB either, but if he is, he could be a monster at SS with his speed & size. And you don’t go backwards at LB from last year either, since he was out.
It’s outside the box, but these things do happen. Todd Christensen, was drafted by Tom Landry as a FB. Got cut and the Raiders moved him to TE, where he exploded. Randy White was drafted as a MLB, failed at it and went on to a HOF career at DT.
Be sure to catch my other post where La’el Collins moves to RT… ;^)
Jabrill Peppers.