The quarterback for the Odessa High football team is your typical teenage sports fan.
What makes Jaylien Jones stand out, however, is his accuracy and play for the Bronchos this season.
Jones, a senior, has completed 63.7 percent of his passes in his first year as the full-time starter.
He backed up since-graduated Diego Cervantes last season, seeing action after Cervantes was injured late in the season.
The high completion percentage puts him second among all quarterbacks in District 2-6A, with his total passing yardage, touchdowns and quarterback rating all placing him third in the district.
“I feel like I’ve just been put in the right position,” Jones said. “I’ve been getting a lot of coaching and just trying to execute the best I can to get the job done.”
Jones has wanted to play quarterback since he was in elementary school.
Back then, he would voraciously watch former Philadelphia Eagles and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, his favorite athlete growing-up, use his athletic skills to his advantage against NFL defenses.
Jones then attempted to replicate those talents on the field.
He developed quick feet and agility at the Pee-Wee level, then continued to hone his skills to this day.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot since my Pee-Wee days, like trying to get it down the field and making the right reads and stuff like that,” Jones said. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot throughout the process of playing quarterback.”
Bronchos’ head coach Dusty Ortiz, in his second season coaching Jones and his teammates, has also noticed a similar change with Jones’s play on the field.
“There’s been a lot of growth in his decision-making ability on the field,” Ortiz said. “His leadership has really grown throughout this whole process as well.”
As for Jones’s accuracy, Ortiz believes that Jones has been thriving in this hurry-up system.
“Jones is smart with the football,” Ortiz said. “He knows when to take a chance and when to throw it out. All of those things come into play when he’s trying to be successful.
“As far as getting Jones into situations where he can complete passes – he has some good targets,” Ortiz continued the praise. “He has some Read-Pass Options which we have, which make the throws a little bit easier.”
Ortiz went on to explain Jones’s success on the field.
“He’s done a great job executing the offense,” Ortiz said.
Jones appreciated what Ortiz has taught him over the past couple of years, as Ortiz’s knowledge has helped Jones’s play on the field this season.
“(Ortiz) has been pushing me to do a lot and put me in a lot of situations that can help me be better in game and outside of the game,” Jones said. “He gives me a lot of good tips and tricks for the game.”
Off the field, Jones enjoys following the NBA, along with playing video games with friends.
Jones also follows one NBA player in particular … LeBron James.
Jones felt that what the current Los Angeles Lakers’ star has done with his teammates and as a businessman is what he aspires to one day,
“I feel like LeBron is the perfect example of what I want to be like, as he’s done a lot,” Jones said. “In the NBA, he’s done a lot on the court and off the court he has been very successful.
“So, I want to get in that position too.”
>> Follow Sameer Malla on Twitter at @OA_SameerMalla
