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Oakland picks Jones in the fourth round of NFL draft

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Former Eastern running back grew up with Raiders close by home

Taiwan Jones knows a lot about the Oakland Raiders.

Now, he will try to let the Raiders know more about his talents as the former Eastern Washington University running back was selected by Oakland as the 28th pick in the fourth round of the National Football League Draft.

As the 125th pick overall, Jones

is Eastern's second-highest draft choice ever. Jones was the fifth NCAA Football Championship Subdivision player taken in the 2011 draft, and the first from the Big Sky Conference.

The two-time All-American was born in San Francisco, and graduated from Deer Valley High School in Antioch, Calif. in 2007 before becoming an Eagle. Antioch is located less than 40 miles east of Oakland.

Although unable to play in EWU's last 2 1/2 games of his junior season because of a foot injury, Jones led the 2010 Eagles to a 13-2 record and the NCAA

Football Championship Subdivision title. He rushed for 1,742 yards and 14 touchdowns in 12 games in 2010, and averaged 7.9 yards per carry in his 24-game career as a running back. Jones, who ranked second in FCS in both rushing yards (145.2 per game) and all-purpose yards (201.8), suffered a fracture to the base of his fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot in EWU's 38-31 overtime victory over North Dakota State Dec. 11 in the quarterfinals.

He finished with a career-high 230 yards rushing against NDSU, including 203 yards and a touch down in the first half, but wasn't able to play for the Eagles again. Eastern was 3-0 without Jones in the lineup in 2010, including a 41-31 semifinal victory in the playoffs over Villanova and a 20-19 championship game win over Delaware.

Jones announced on Jan. 15 he was leaving Eastern a year early and officially declared himself eligible for the 2011 Draft. Another former Eastern running back, Jesse Chatman (1999-00-01), did the same following his junior season, but was undrafted before spending seven years in the NFL.

Jones participated sparingly at the NFL Combine in February, then skipped EWU's pro day on March 30. However, he tested

exceptionally well on April 14 at a personal pro day in Pittsburg, Calif., including a 40-yard dash time of 4.33 seconds.

Coupled with linebacker J.C. Sherritt recently joining the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League, a total of 61 Eagles have been drafted or signed free agent contracts with NFL or CFL teams since 1989.

Jones is Eastern's first draft choice since Michael Roos became the highest draft choice in school history when Tennessee selected him in the second round of the 2005 NFL draft. He was the 41st selection overall, the third offensive tackle selected and the first NCAA Championship Subdivision player taken.



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