Five things you might not know about Sam Jones

The Broncos drafted Arizona State’s Sam Jones in the sixth round of this year’s draft. He’s a 6-foot-5, 305-pound guard who turned 22 two months ago.

The competition for Denver’s starting right guard job is wide open, though Jones is far from the favorite to enter the season with it. Connor McGovern and Max Garcia are the top candidates at this point, leaving Jones to fight for a backup spot with Billy Winn and Jeremiah Poutasi.

Here are five things you might not know about Sam Jones:

HE TOOK THE PODIUM AFTER A WIN OVER TEXAS TECH

Jones led a dominant offensive line at ThunderRidge, but the eye-popping rushing numbers didn’t stop in high school.

When Kalen Ballage, a Senior Bowl invitee and speculated draft target of the Broncos, ran for an NCAA record eight touchdowns in a win over Texas Tech, he made sure to give credit to the big men up front.

According to ESPN, Ballage made his way to the media room a few minutes early to move chairs around so his offensive line could join him at the podium.

“To be honest with you, I had no idea they even did press conferences after games,” Jones said. “Because I always just get changed and leave.”

The linemen initially didn’t think stepping into the interview room was appropriate, but Ballage convinced them and appreciated the gesture.

“Now that’s the type of running back that makes an offensive line play and block as hard as they can for him,” Jones said. “When you have a guy that wants to give you credit—and offensive linemen don’t play the game for credit—it’s just really cool.”

HE’S A LEADER

Before last season kicked off, the Arizona Republic surveyed the Sun Devils about the team’s superlatives, like funniest teammate, most likely to succeed after football and biggest trash talker.

Jones was named the team’s best leader.

The Republic cites one practice this summer when a player wasn’t running his conditioning and full-speed, prompting the coaching staff to make the team repeat the exercise. Jones made sure it didn’t happen again.

“He’s one of the better leaders we’ve had here in the last five years because he’s got some courage,” head coach Todd Graham told the Republic, in reference to the incident. “He’s not afraid to say something. … It’s just sometimes we got to get the PG version.”

HE’S A LOCAL PRODUCT

Jones attended ThunderRidge High School in Highlands Ranch, where he led a dominant rushing game as a 6-foot-5, 275-pound tackle. During his junior and senior seasons, the Grizzlies had four games with at least 400 rushing yards—a high of 521—and five games with at least six rushing touchdowns—a high of nine, per MaxPreps.

ESPN gave Jones a four-star rating and named him the 23rd-best tackle in his class.

Jones said that it’s a “dream come true” to be drafted by the Broncos, but moving back to his hometown will come with some tough decisions.

Sam Jones: "I was joking with my parents the other day that if I get drafted by the Broncos I might be the only rookie living with my parents… I know my mom would like it but I think I'm gonna have to get my own place."

— RK (@RyanKoenigsberg) April 28, 2018

HE RAN INTO ELWAY THE DAY BEFORE THE DRAFT

The night before the NFL Draft, Jones grabbed a steak from Shanahan’s, according to 9News.

A few tables away sat John Elway.

Jones texted his trainer, asking whether he should introduce himself. The answer was yes.

“It was kind of awkward; I didn’t know exactly what to say,’’ Jones said. “I just introduced myself and told him, ‘Good luck on a big weekend and I’d love to be a Bronco.’ And he said, ‘we’ll see if we can make it happen.’’’

And, obviously, it did.

HE SMASHED THE ROCK

Before every season, the Sun Devils stack a pile of rocks in the team’s facilities, each with the logo of one of their opponents that season. After each win, one player is chosen—generally based on their performance in the game—to smash that week’s rock with a sledgehammer. The idea is that to break down a mountain, you have to get rid of on rock at a time.

Last offseason, Jones was chosen to break the first rock, which symbolizes the team’s completion of summer workouts.

Mega #BOOM and speech from Sam Jones. #ASU football has officially finished Summer practice. pic.twitter.com/QpvpVdepEQ

— Josiah Destin (@jozyphotovideo) July 19, 2017