East Carolina's Zay Jones would be a perfect WR fit for Bills

• During his four-year career at East Carolina, Zay Jones caught a record 399 passes.
• As a senior, Jones caught a single-season record 158 for 1,746 yards and 7 TDs.
• Jones is the son of former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Robert Jones.

When Zay Jones was a little kid growing up in football-crazed Texas, he didn’t know any better. He just assumed that everyone’s dad played in the NFL, like his father, Robert.

“I would be like, ‘Who does your dad play for?’ ” Jones said with a wide smile a couple weeks ago at the NFL scouting combine. “Because that’s what was common to us growing up in a household with him. Eat, sleep, drink football. It’s just what I want to do right now. I’m fortunate enough to do it, healthy enough to do it.”

He does it pretty well, too.

No one in the history of college football has caught more passes than Jones did during his four years at East Carolina, 399 in all, including a single-season record 158 in 2016.

Think about that for a second. The first college football game was played in 1869 between Rutgers and the College of New Jersey, which later changed its name to Princeton. Granted, they weren’t running the West Coast offense that day in New Brunswick, and passing games in general were still primitive more than a century later. However, to be No. 1 on any list in the long history of the college game is quite an accomplishment, and it might very well lead to Jones being a first-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

“A lot of my friends tease me about not getting 400,” Jones said. “Still got the record. I’m happy with it. But you go back to all the drops that you had and you kind of pinpoint and be like, ‘Man, if only I would have caught that one.’ ”

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Jones’ father played linebacker at East Carolina and was a first-round pick of the Cowboys in 1992. He became a starter his rookie season, wound up playing four years in Dallas, and won three Super Bowl rings, two of those coming at the expense of the Buffalo Bills. He later played for the Rams, Dolphins and Redskins and finished his 10-year, 151-game career with 755 tackles.

Zay, the middle of three football-playing sons, was an infant when Robert won his final Super Bowl ring after the 1995 season, but he has seen all the highlights of his dad’s career.

“Tons,” said Zay. “A lot of film. That’s my pop. He’s got the old VHS tapes and all that good stuff and we used to watch it. What he put on tape was what he was — a freak athlete, naturally gifted, hard worker, dedicated worker and he has three Super Bowl rings to prove it.”

Zay’s older brother, Cayleb, went to the University of Texas as a five-star wide receiver recruit, was undrafted in 2015, signed with the Eagles, and is now with the Vikings. The youngest Jones boy, Levi, will be heading off to play linebacker at USC this fall. Zay, however, was not a big-time recruit, and when his dreams of playing for one of the major schools in Texas fell through, his father asked him if he’d consider his alma mater.

A call was made, an offer came through with no promises attached, and Zay headed off to Greenville, North Carolina, looking to prove that Texas, Baylor, TCU and Texas A&M should have taken him more seriously.

“Not getting a call was difficult, it was really heartbreaking,” Zay said. “It meant a lot to me growing up and playing football in a state that’s literally known for the sport.”

What must Longhorns Nation be thinking right now? A kid who grew up right there in Austin, the brother of a Longhorn, went on to become the most prolific college receiver ever, while once-mighty Texas went 24-26 during the four years Zay was tearing it up at East Carolina.

Besides his natural gifts, what impressed talent evaluators so much at the Senior Bowl practices and then at the combine is Jones’ personality. His excellent 4.45 time in the 40-yard dash and his impressive broad jump were important, but what they also saw in the one-on-one interviews was a bright, well-spoken kid who understands that everything he achieved in college, while special, must now be forgotten.

“It meant a whole lot; it doesn’t mean a whole lot right now,” he said of the magical 399 catches. “Nothing that I did in college will translate to the NFL. It’s starting over; I’ve got to prove myself again. Blessed to have that record … my goal is just to keep progressing and do the best that I can.”

When East Carolina’s season ended, Zay was considered perhaps a third-round draft pick, even with all those receptions. But his stock has risen rapidly during the pre-draft process and the 6-foot-2, 201-pounder is now being looked at as potential late first-rounder, early second-rounder.

Unless you consider newcomers Philly Brown and Jeremy Butler, or holdovers Walter Powell and Dezmin Lewis, the answer to start opposite Sammy Watkins, the Bills are desperate at receiver. There has been much speculation that they will take one with the No. 10 overall pick in the first round, and if not, certainly someone at No. 45 overall in the second round.

No. 10 might be too high, but if Jones is still on the board at 45, he’d be a great fit for the Bills for two reasons: There’s no doubt the kid can play and produce, and, his receivers coach his last year at East Carolina, Phil McGeoghan, is now performing those duties on Sean McDermott’s staff in Buffalo.

McGeoghan, who had a brief NFL career in the early 2000s with four teams before an injury ended his playing days, has been coaching ever since, and his path crossed with Jones’ last year after an East Carolina head coaching change. Jones attributed much of the credit to McGeoghan not only for his record-breaking senior season performance, but for getting him ready for the rigors of the NFL.

“For three years I primarily played in the slot at East Carolina,” said Jones. “I wasn’t an outside receiver. And then coach Phil came to me and said, ‘Hey, if you want to play in the National Football League, you’ve got to play some outside. With your frame, with your size, with your skill set and your ability, we’ve got to get you outside. We’ve got to get you in some more pro-style routes, like 18-yard comebacks, curls, things of that sort.’ And I did make that transition, that leap, then I had my best year and caught 158 balls. I don’t think I’d be standing at this podium if it wasn’t for coach Phil, so a great thank you to him. He’s going to be great at the Bills. I loved playing for a person like that and whoever he gets to coach will be lucky in the future.”

The Bills were among the many teams that interviewed Jones at the combine, and while they will never make public their thoughts, it would be impossible for them to not be impressed with Jones as a person and as a player. And hey, the connection with McGeoghan sure is nice, and the kid’s blood lines — his uncle, Jeff Blake, was an NFL quarterback for 13 years — certainly must count for something.

“The Jones household was very competitive,” he said. “My younger brother thinks he’s the best. I think I’m the best. Cayleb thinks he’s the best. It’s fun. But my dad holds the bragging rights right now because he went in the first round. We’ll see if I can make that push to beat him.”

MAIORANA@Gannett.com