Film study: What Nebraska is getting in EDGE Anthony Jones

When UCLA transfer edge Anthony Jones committed to Nebraska in January, his résumé stood out for the wrong reason.

In four seasons of college football, Jones had played at four different schools: Oregon, Indiana, Michigan State and UCLA. Nebraska is his fifth stop in as many years — a red flag, right?

It’s not that simple.

Rewind the clock to 2021, when Jones was a three-star recruit out of Henderson (Nev.) Liberty. A Texas commit since June, Jones flipped to Oregon, which had just hired Dan Lanning from Georgia, on signing day in December. Jones wound up redshirting while playing in two games and entered the transfer portal at the end of the season.

Jones thought he found a home at Indiana, playing for head coach Tom Allen in 2023. As a redshirt freshman, Jones played in 12 games with four starts. But the Hoosiers went 3-9 and Allen was fired after seven seasons, paving a path to the Curt Cignetti era in Bloomington.

With a new coaching staff coming in, Jones hit the portal again. He stayed in the Big Ten, landing at Michigan State. Two assistant coaches he had grown relationships with at his previous stops — Demetrice Martin at Oregon, Chad Wilt at Indiana — were now both on Jonathan Smith’s first staff in East Lansing.

Jones played in 12 games at Michigan State, making 25 tackles with 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks — career highs. But the Spartans went 5-7, won three Big Ten games and ranked 15th in the conference in scoring defense. Martin left for UCLA following the season. Jones entered the portal for a fourth time and followed Martin to Westwood. Smith never had it at Michigan State and was fired after the next season. He went 9-15 before decision-makers had seen enough.

“You start to see the whys, like, ‘Hey, coach left, coach left,'” Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said of Jones’ journey after the spring game March 28. “He has been fantastic in terms of his maturity.”

One of the reasons Jones felt comfortable with Nebraska in the transfer process was a pre-existing relationship with new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich, who had previously recruited Jones. But Rhule also wanted Jones because of what Rhule saw on film and how he played against Nebraska in Los Angeles.

On a bad team — with a defense ranked 127th nationally in scoring — that wasn’t going to play in a bowl, Jones still showed up against the Huskers when it would’ve been easy to pack it in and coast.

“I think I earned the respect of Coach Rhule after the game when we played them,” Jones said in the spring. “We weren’t going to a bowl game, so some guys end up going on the downward path. But I went out there, I competed really hard. So I think they had their eye out for me already.”

How Jones fits at Nebraska

With a returning edge group featuring upside but also limited on-field production in sophomores Williams Nwaneri, Kade Pietrzak, Willis McGahee IV and Jordan Ochoa, Nebraska needed a veteran alongside Cam Lenhardt as Aurich installs his 4-2-5 defense.

This is where Jones comes in.

Nebraska missed a player like MJ Sherman in 2025 — a physical edge who didn’t pile up stats but could set an edge and do the dirty work against the run. At 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, Jones is bigger and longer than Sherman and can do many of the same things. Jones is also hoping to develop into a better pass rusher.

“Love this scheme, love what they did at San Diego State — they had a bunch of guys getting sacks. That stood out to me,” Jones said during spring ball.

Jones isn’t coming to Nebraska with head-turning stats, which is another reason many in the fan base viewed his addition as underwhelming. In 37 career games with 14 starts, Jones has recorded 58 tackles, 6.5 TFLs and 3.5 sacks.

One of Jones’ friends who he’s known since his youth football days, Ryan Henderson, starred for Aurich at San Diego State in 2025. In his first season in Aurich’s defense, Henderson recorded career-highs in tackles (24), TFLs (9.0) and sacks (7.0).

Multiple San Diego State edges who played under Aurich used their success to land lucrative deals at power conference programs. Henderson transferred to Texas A&M while Trey White landed at Texas Tech.

Jones is hoping to have the same kind of success under Aurich in his final season. He’s been watching San Diego State film and how the two edge positions — boundary side and field side — are used. He believes the versatility of Aurich’s edge position will give him an opportunity to showcase his full skill set.

“The field end and the rush are pretty much the same thing, but being able to drop a little bit more, show a little bit more of your linebacker skill set, which can stand out to some scouts, that’s a good thing for sure,” Jones said.

Aurich’s edge coach at San Diego State in 2025, Roy Manning, will now try to get the best out of Jones like he did with Henderson, White and others.

“There’s nothing overly unique about what we do, but it’s just teaching those guys how to do it and really ingraining those guys, like, ‘Hey, here’s the core principles,’ because their techniques have changed and will change from what they’ve done the last few years,” Manning said in the spring. “But that’s why they pay me, to get them to execute their jobs and responsibilities within this system and scheme.”

So what is Nebraska getting in Jones? Here are observations after watching his games from the 2025 campaign:

Nebraska needs an MJ Sherman-esque edge setter, and Jones can be that guy

As we mentioned earlier, Nebraska’s defense missed Sherman, who by the end of his two seasons in Lincoln had turned into a strong edge setter and run defender who could act as a wall and turn ball carriers inside toward his help.

Jones has shown he can fit that role. In the clip below, from UCLA’s game against Washington, watch Jones do his job against tight end Quentin Moore, a 6-5, 260-pound senior, by holding his edge and forcing running back Adam Mohammed to turn up field instead of reaching the sideline.

Washington’s offensive line appears to have a miscommunication — the right guard blocks his center — and UCLA’s defense takes advantage with a TFL to set up a third-and-short:

In the clip below, from the USC game, it’s more of the same for Jones.

The Trojans pull left guard Kaylon Miller (#60) to the boundary, but Jones absorbs the block and makes sure running back King Miller (#30) doesn’t turn the corner down the sideline. Instead, Jones fights the block, holds his ground, keeps his left arm free and forces Miller inside — where his teammates are flowing to the ball:

About Jones’ left arm — there was a concerted effort to keep it free during games due to an early-season shoulder injury. Jones was playing through that injury most of the season, and it was a big reason why he often played on the left side of UCLA’s defensive line, where he battled right tackles.

“My left shoulder, it was banged up. End-of-the-season type of thing, so I was trying to stay on the left side and use my right hand,” Jones said.

Jones flashed an ability to be a productive run defender, but consistency is needed

Jones played in 11 games with 10 starts at UCLA, missing the Penn State game due to injury. He recorded 20 tackles, 2.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks while leading the defense in quarterback hurries with four.

Jones flashed an ability to be a stout run defender. In the clip below, from the Michigan State game, Jones aligns as a stand-up 3-technique, manning the B gap in an exotic front that featured one true defensive lineman.

Jones sheds the block of redshirt junior left guard Gavin Broscious (#74) and tracks down running back Makhi Frazier (#5).

Earlier in that same game, Jones does what’s expected on a fourth-and-1: beat the block of 6-foot, 188-pound receiver Omari Kelly (#1) to create backfield disruption on a toss run to the field side.

Jones misses the tackle, but slowed Frazier until the calvary arrived to force the turnover on downs:

In the final clip below, from the Indiana game, Jones holds his ground and is able handle sixth-year tight end Riley Nowakowski (#37), who’s on the field to run block. Jones creates a traffic jam in front of running back Roman Hemby (#1), who is stopped for a short gain:

While these three clips show what Jones is capable of, consistency will be key for him at Nebraska.

In the midst of UCLA’s disaster of a season that included midseason firings of head coach DeShaun Foster and defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe, UCLA brought in Kevin Coyle as a defensive analyst. He took over UCLA’s defensive playcalling duties prior to the Bruins’ game at Northwestern on Sept. 27.

Coyle began the year as a defensive analyst at Syracuse and changed the defense UCLA was running upon his arrival to Westwood. That just speaks to the abnormal season the Bruins had, which couldn’t have been easy on Jones and his teammates.

Can Jones improve as a pass rusher?

As already mentioned, Jones’ pass-rushing production doesn’t jump off the page. Far too often was his rush stopped by opposing offensive linemen, leading to him putting little heat on quarterbacks.

In the clip below, from the Maryland game, Jones has a one-on-one opportunity against Terrapins’ redshirt senior right tackle Isaiah Wright (#74). The 6-5, 315-pound Wright stones Jones’ rush, allowing quarterback Malik Washington more time in the pocket before he ultimately bails to his right and beats Jones to the edge for a 4-yard gain:

In the clip below, against Ohio State, UCLA’s pre-snap six-man pressure look does its job, giving Jones a one-on-one against backup right guard Gabe VanSickle (#58). Jones, though, couldn’t get anything going with his rush:

At Indiana, it was more of the same. Jones was just unable to consistently generate pressure on quarterbacks for much of his 2025. In the clip below, veteran right tackle Kahlil Benson (#67) wins the rep easily:

But there were moments when Jones flashed his potential as a pass rusher, though he seemed to be a step late on many occasions.

Here he is in that same Ohio State game with a one-on-one against VanSickle. Jones gets the guard moving his feet to the right before countering with a spin move to the inside.

Jones’ move worked, but the process took too long and gave quarterback Julian Sayin time to find his receiver:

At USC, Jones nearly recorded a sack on quarterback Jayden Maiava. Jones is left unblocked at the snap, but showed good awareness by seeing the pulling guard — Miller (#60) again — and using his momentum against him by swimming under and tracking down Maiava to force an incompletion and risky pass:

At UNLV — where Nebraska’s projected starting quarterback, Anthony Colandrea, played — Jones was able to get a clear path to Colandrea thanks to strong hand technique. Watch closely as Jones swiped down on the right arm of right guard Alani Makihele (#73), allowing him to turn the corner and put heat on Colandrea to help force an overthrow:

Earlier in the game, Jones used his get-off to turn the corner on right tackle James Faminu (#66) an lit up his now teammate for a sack:

In the clip below, from the Northwestern game, Jones’ power shows.

He’s aligning as a 3-technique, on the outside shoulder of the left guard, on this third-and-10. Jones is used in a twist stunt with teammate A.J. Fuimaono (#55). It’s Jones’ interior push that unsettles Wildcat quarterback Preston Stone in the pocket, leading him to pull the ball down trying to escape.

Jones continues to churn his legs and takes center Jackson Carsello (#65) for a walk before collecting the sack:

Inside Nebraska’s final take

It doesn’t appear Jones was brought to Nebraska to be a pass rusher who racks up sacks — he hasn’t yet shown he can do that consistently in his career. His value, at least right now, is as run defender.

At 6-5 and 265 pounds, Jones will be a big, strong and long presence on the edge of Nebraska’s defensive line. He’ll be expected to hold his ground against Big Ten tight ends and tackles, and set edges to force ball carriers inside where linebacker teammates like Owen Chambliss, Dexter Foster and Vincent Shavers Jr. reside. In other words, Jones can be the 2026 version of MJ Sherman. That’s where Nebraska needs him to produce the most.

If Manning and Aurich can get more pass rush production from Jones, that’s a cherry on top. But based on his 2025 season, pass rushing would be a bonus, not an expectation.