Byron Jones Drawing Comparisons to Devin McCourty

Draft season is also comparison season, and with the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft in the books, the comparisons are flying.

It’s almost a ritual, at this point. Before and certainly after a player is drafted, comparisons are drawn between said player and some established NFLer, or even a former player, and then we all debate whether that comparison is apt for awhile. We may as well, considering the draft is more or less all us football fans have to talk about until training camp.

For the Dallas Cowboys’ first round pick, Byron Jones, the prevalent comparison is to the New England Patriots’ Devin McCourty.

Granted, this is setting the bar pretty high. McCourty, who was also the 27th overall pick when he was drafted in 2010, has been named second team All-Pro both as a corner (in 2010) and as a safety (in 2013). Jones played both positions in college and though he’ll begin his NFL career at corner, the Cowboys believe he can play both in the NFL, and can see him making a transition similar to McCourty’s at some point in the relatively near future.

"You've got to have guys who cover in this league,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said, per ESPN Dallas. “Certainly, Jones helps us out here. He's a big, tall corner and you don't get taller at corner unless you pick them tall. He certainly can do it and we feel good about him if he's playing corner and we feel good about him if he's playing free safety. And I think the McCourty analogy is good.”