Notre Dame Football Will Add Tony Jones Jr. To Their Active Backfield

Notre Dame will break in their talented sophomore running back Tony Jones jr. this season.

The Irish will enter the ’17 season without running back Tarean Folston, who had an injury-filled, yet successful, career at Notre Dame. Although he wasn’t invited to the NFL combine, he has exciting talent including above average elusiveness that should spark interest from NFL scouts.

Tony Jones Jr. comes from the #1 prep football program in the country – IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, a team so stacked they aren’t allowed to compete in the Florida State Playoffs. Notre Dame recruits IMG heavily.

Tony Jones Jr. was an All-American in Florida. He’s a bruising, tough-running back who shows great vision, agility and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield.

Brian Kelly raved about his polished skills during last summer camp.

“Today was pretty evident that he’s a kid that is reliable and can run physical when he’s asked to,” Kelly stated in a post-practice press conference.

Kelly also explained how he stacked up in regards to other offensive freshman.

"“If there was one freshman that jumped in there offensively and looked confident, it was Tony.”"

Click here to read Blue and Gold Illustrated’s article regarding Tony Jones Jr.

Jones Jr. will likely be the third back in a talented stable for the Irish this season.

Junior Josh Adams will return as the workhorse as he was the lead back in his first two seasons. Last season, Adams played the majority of the season banged up. He wasn’t as explosive as he was as a freshman but really tuned it on against USC where he had a tremendous performance.

Dexter Williams added a lot of size and strength and showed some serious play making ability in his limited carries last year. Having Folston and Adams in front of him last year lead to his chances of seeing the field to be limited.

Tony Jones Jr. should get a good, long look in spring camp at the running back position. At 5’10, 220 pounds, he could add a physical presence to the backfield that Notre Dame hasn’t had for quite some time.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jones Jr. show up in the 225-230 pound range against Temple.

Many Irish fans are craving another Robert Hughes. I’m not sure that Tony Jones Jr. is that type of player, but he could certainly have a similar, if not even more substantial, impact on the Irish offense.

In my opinion, he’s another type of player that Notre Dame has ,going into the ’17 season, that may be further down on the depth chart but simply too good to keep off the field.

In 9 games during his senior season at IMG, Jones Jr. carried the ball for 564 yards for 11 touchdowns. His yards per carry average was impressive at 6.6.

Must Read: In Depth Look At The 6 Recruits Notre Dame Offered This Week

It remains to be seen how Notre Dame will utilize Jones Jr. in 2017 but I expect him to see the field early in order for Brian Kelly and running backs coach, and former Irish great, Autry Denson to get a look at what he has.

I expect Tony to excel at running the ball between the tackles and as a receiving option out of the backfield. Both Kelly and new offensive coordinator, Chip Long, have made a point of stating that as well as the tight ends, they want to get the backs more involved in the pass game.

Stay tuned to SlapTheSign.com for all your Notre Dame Football news.