Cornerback, Houston (from Troy), 2016–21
Marcus Jones
Lettered 2020–21 (school media guide)
- Number
- No. 8
- Height
- 5′8″
- Weight
- 185 lb
- Class (2021)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Enterprise, AL
- Born
- Oct 22, 1998
Marcus Jones played cornerback at Troy (2016–18) and Houston (2019–21). He won the 2021 Paul Hornung Award. He was a consensus All‑American in 2021. The New England Patriots took Jones in round 3, No. 85 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
8tackles, career highat LSU, 20172interceptions, career highvs. Memphis, 2021Honors
- 2017Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
- 2020National leader in punt return average (19.8)
- 2021Paul Hornung Award
- 2021Jet Award
- 2021Consensus All‑American
- 2021American Special Teams Player of the Year
Team titles: Sun Belt champions, 2017
All-America: consensus 2021; FWAA 2020; CBS Sports 2020; Phil Steele 2020
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Defense
Returns
Receiving
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Troy | 8 | CB | Yr 1 | ||
| 2017 | Troy | 8 | CB | Yr 2 | ||
| 2018 | Troy | 8 | CB | Yr 3 | ||
| 2019 | Houston | 8 | CB | Yr 4 | ||
| 2020 | Houston | 8 | CB | Yr 5 | ||
| 2021 | Houston | 8 | CB | Sr. (Yr 6) | 5′8″ | 185 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2021 Houston 13 games, 47 tackles, 5 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Sacks | Int | PD | KR | Yds | PR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4 | vs. Texas Tech | L 21–38 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 |
| Sep 11 | at Rice | W 44–7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Sep 18 | vs. Grambling | W 45–0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 4 |
| Sep 25 | vs. Navy | W 28–20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 3 |
| Oct 1 | at Tulsa | W 45–10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | – | – | 4 |
| Oct 7 | at Tulane | W 40–22 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 1 |
| Oct 23 | vs. East Carolina | W 31–24 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 121 | 3 |
| Oct 30 | vs. SMU | W 44–37 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 145 | 2 |
| Nov 6 | at South Florida | W 54–42 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 80 | – |
| Nov 13 | at Temple | W 37–8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Nov 19 | vs. Memphis | W 31–13 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 3 | – | – | 2 |
| Nov 27 | at UConn | W 45–17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 49 | 2 |
| Dec 4 | at Cincinnati | L 20–35 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 92 | 1 |
2020 Houston 7 games, 24 tackles, 1 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Sacks | Int | PD | KR | Yds | PR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8 | vs.Tulane | W 49–31 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7 |
| Oct 24 | atNavy | W 37–21 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Oct 31 | vs. UCF | L 21–44 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
| Nov 7 | atCincinnati | L 10–38 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 46 | 1 |
| Nov 14 | vs.South Florida | W 56–21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 4 |
| Dec 12 | atMemphis | L 27–30 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 42 | 1 |
| Dec 24 ✦ | vs. Hawai’i | L 14–28 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 |
2018 Troy 11 games, 32 tackles, 2 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Sacks | Int | PD | KR | Yds | PR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1 | vs. Boise State | L 20–56 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 161 | – |
| Sep 8 | vs. Florida A&M | W 59–7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 39 | – |
| Sep 15 | at Nebraska | W 24–19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 13 | – |
| Sep 22 | at UL Monroe | W 35–27 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 31 | – |
| Sep 29 | vs. Coastal Carolina | W 45–21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 96 | – |
| Oct 4 | vs. Georgia State | W 37–20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
| Oct 13 | at Liberty | L 16–22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
| Oct 23 | at South Alabama | W 38–17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 91 | 1 |
| Nov 17 | vs. Texas State | W 12–7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Nov 24 | at App State | L 10–21 | – | – | – | – | 2 | 55 | 2 |
| Dec 22 ✦ | vs. Buffalo | W 42–32 | – | – | – | – | 4 | 98 | 1 |
2017 Troy 13 games, 49 tackles, 2 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Sacks | Int | PD | KR | Yds | PR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2 | atBoise State | L 13–24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
| Sep 9 | vs. Alabama State | W 34–7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 50 | 2 |
| Sep 16 | at New Mexico State | W 27–24 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 53 | 2 |
| Sep 23 | vs. Akron | W 22–17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 105 | 1 |
| Sep 30 | at LSU | W 24–21 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 1 |
| Oct 11 | vs.South Alabama | L 8–19 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 53 | 6 |
| Oct 21 | atGeorgia State | W 34–10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 46 | 1 |
| Oct 28 | vs. Georgia Southern | W 38–16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 29 | – |
| Nov 2 | vs. Idaho | W 24–21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 56 | – |
| Nov 11 | atCoastal Carolina | W 42–17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 194 | 1 |
| Nov 24 | vs.Texas State | W 62–9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 74 | – |
| Dec 2 | at Arkansas State | W 32–25 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 108 | – |
| Dec 16 ✦ | vs. North Texas | W 50–30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 90 | – |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2022 |
|---|---|
| Height | 5′8″ |
| Weight | 174 lb |
| Arm length | 28⅞″ |
| Hand size | 8⅞″ |
| Wingspan | 69¾″W |
Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
5 seasons, 52 games with a stat; latest team: New England Patriots.
First-team All-Pro (AP): 2022 · Second-team All-Pro (AP): 2025
All-Pro teams: AP first team 2022; AP second team 2025; Pro Football Writers first team 2022; Sporting News first team 2022, 2025.
| Season | Team | G | Tkl | Sacks | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | New England Patriots | 14 | 34 | 0 | 2 |
| 2023 | New England Patriots | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | New England Patriots | 14 | 54 | 0 | 1 |
| 2025 | New England Patriots | 17 | 62 | 2 | 3 |
| 2026 (so far) | New England Patriots | 5 | 19 | 0 | 1 |
| NFL career | 52 | 173 | 2 | 7 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
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