More than a few have likened him to a teddy bear, 6 feet, 4 inches and 300 or so pounds worth of likeable, cuddly Big Ten Conference-bound tackle.
He speaks softly and carries a big smile, one he displays easily, naturally and with regularity. The moniker to which he answers - "Dae-Dae" - suggests little-boy cute rather than mountain-sized sack master and destroyer of all things in the A-Gaps.
"People say I'm too nice to be on the defensive line, but there are two ways to play the game of football," said Johnson City High senior DaQuan Jones. "You can be a mean brute like most guys, or you can play smart, high-energy, have fun playing.
"That's how I play it."
Jones, who has committed to Penn State University, has been selected the Elite 24 team's Player of the Year by members of the Press & Sun-Bulletin, Elmira Star-Gazette and Ithaca Journal sports staffs.
A four-season varsity starter judged to be of All-Division caliber as a freshman in the fall of 2006, Jones has matured into an impact football player of the highest degree, just as he has developed personally and intellectually into an interesting, introspective young man.
On the field, he is a dominant force of a two-way tackle, physically superior to so many of those wearing the other-colored jersey. He has been a cornerstone of a JC program that in 2009 claimed a Section 4 championship for the first time in 11 years.
When the Wildcats needed yardage, frequently they ran behind Jones. And when an opponent was in need of same, it was with equal frequency that Jones was there to squelch intentions at the line of scrimmage from his nose tackle position. Or, there were those defensive packages that called for him to be shifted to the outside.
Suffice to say, he raised some eyebrows along the way.
* "When he moved to defensive end and got in the clear, he was almost impossible to block," said coach John Martinson of Norwich, whose team was beaten twice by JC this past season. " ... Not many kids in high school can handle him."
* "He's going to be a great college player, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him playing on Sundays," said Mike Ramil, Binghamton High coach and erstwhile University of Alabama lineman. Ramil had an up-close look at Jones as one of the coaches for the East squad in the Ernie Davis Classic, a postseason showcase for the section's premier seniors.
"I was impressed with how tough and quick he is."
* "He had a phenomenal year," Owego coach Steve Virkler said. "He blew people up, and did it play after play."
* "When he goes full speed, you can't block him," said Dryden coach John Nicholas. "He spent a lot of time in our backfield. He played nose and we couldn't block him."
Also meriting Player of the Year consideration were: Jordan Thomas, Union-Endicott running back/defensive back; Kevin Gorman, Waverly running back/linebacker; and Kyle Reed, Groton fullback/linebacker.
Jones has risen from eighth-grade junior varsity member to plodding freshman to sophomore of note to highly recruited junior to blue-chip senior who, on Jan. 2 in Myrtle Beach, S.C., will participate in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl, a showcase that will feature many of the nation's top collegiate prospects.
Behind that growth has been guidance and schooling from coach Fred Deinhardt and his JC staff, aware early on that in Jones they had a physically imposing athlete of tremendous potential. In Jones, they also had a pupil who came to determine that realization of said potential was worth the steep price to be paid.
"You've got to have some determination, a little chip on your shoulder," Jones said. "You have to want to do it. You have to have the drive to go out and do the stuff you don't want to do.
"If you don't want to wake up at 5 in the morning and go lift, you're not going to be successful, you're going to be average. If you want to be better than average, up there with the big-tie Division I players, you have to do the stuff you don't want to do.
"That's what it takes."
Particularly noticeable was Jones' improvement from junior to senior season, a breakthrough he attributed in part to knowledge - and confidence - gained through visits to summer camps at Penn State and Boston College and Maryland. He also cited extensive time spent in the weight room and in front of the screen watching video and critiquing his technique- see here, the stance is too high; and there, see that backward lean?
The tutelage, attention to detail and subsequent on-field effort and ability enabled him to become highly visible and a marked man on opponents' scouting reports, which he turned into motivation.
"You know everybody's looking at you so you want to play well," he said.
Jones said he strongly considered scholarship offers from Boston College and Maryland before his visit to Penn State, where he was wowed by the campus, 107,282-seat Beaver Stadium and the coaching staff's persuasive pitch- including Jones' high school highlights spliced into a Nittany Lions football video presentation.
Jones said he'll step into Penn State's program as a defender, but that evaluation of his abilities could prompt a switch to offense. His preference is defense.
"I love being the guy who can control the line of scrimmage and make the play. That's what I like doing," he said. "We'll find out what suits me best, but I'm going to work my butt off to get a defensive spot."
Regardless, Deinhardt knows well the type of athlete Penn State coaches will have to work with.
"He's a 6-foot-4, 300-pound athlete, a guy who's well put together and who has the feet of a running back," he said. "It's his agility and his ability to do things with that body that sets him apart.
"(Offensively), if he gets into you, he's going to move a pile. There were times when he hit people and they rolled backward.
"(Defensively), his ability to move made him extremely effective. You had to account for him, and he certainly cleared the path for others (linebackers, etc.) on our defense."
