As a junior in 2020, Jones played middle linebacker and was the vocal leader of the defense at South Carolina. He was named one of four permanent team captains and earned fourth-team All-SEC honors from Phil Steele. He started each of the first nine games and led the team in tackles for the second- consecutive year with 86 stops. He averaged 9.6 tackles per game, which ranked sixth in the SEC, and had four games with at least 11 tackles during the season. He notched a career-best 19 tackles at LSU, the most tackles in a game by a Gamecock since Roy Hart had 19 stops at Nebraska in 1987. He almost matched that total with 18 tackles at Ole Miss and had two of the top 17 single-game tackle performances recorded at the FBS level in 2020. Jones was one of 16 semifinalists for the Butkus Award after recording 199 tackles in just 26 games over the three seasons. He made 21 starts with 10.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks, two interceptions, five pass breakups, six quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles and a pair of fumble recoveries. During his sophomore campaign in 2019, Jones started all 12 games at middle linebacker, making a team-high 97 tackles, 20 more than anyone else on the squad. He ranked fourth in the SEC with 8.1 tackles per game and had 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two interceptions, five pass breakups, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble. As a true freshman, Jones played in five games and was credited with 16 tackles (10 solo). He made his first tackle in his debut against Coastal Carolina.
Jones graduated from Ware County High School in Georgia in December of 2017 where he logged 112 total tackles (70 solo) and six tackles for loss as a senior for the Gators. He also accounted for 2.0 sacks, three forced fumbles and five QB hurries in his final campaign. Jones was a first-team all-state Class AAAAA selection and was the 59th-ranked outside linebacker prospect in the country and 84th-best overall prospect in Georgia, according to 247's national composite rankings. He was named to the PrepStar All-Southeast Region team. Jones majored in public health.
