2018 undrafted free agency: Arkansas State DE Ja’Von Rolland-Jones signing with Bengals

The Bengals are reportedly signing Ja’Von Rolland-Jones, an edge rusher out of Arkansas State who went undrafted.

The 6’2”, 253 pounder was a star in college and made a name for himself immediately as a freshman. He has had some injury issues but was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year as a junior after a 57 tackle, 20.5 tackle for loss and 13.5 sack campaign. He was again awarded the honor in 2017 after putting up 19.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks. Those are massive numbers and the Bengals will be looking to see if he can replicate them at the NFL level with much stiffer competition.

Here’s an excerpt from his NFL.com draft profile:

Rolland-Jones is the most accomplished pass rusher in FBS history, but teams will have to decide how to balance his production against his level of competition. Rolland-Jones may be smaller than teams would like on the edge, but his rush skill and instincts are beyond what many rushers come into the league with. Rolland-Jones posted extremely disappointing speed, quickness and explosion numbers between his Combine and pro day. While he has the consistency of production on the collegiate level, there is now a big concern that his level of competition helped him to post numbers that won’t translate into the league.

He was compared to Brandon Moore in the profile and projected as a priority free agent.

Read More: Bengals’ Undrafted Free Agent Tracker