Eastern Washington running back Taiwan Jones, whose eye-opening 40-yard dash times appeared to boost his draft stock, will visit the Raiders, according to a story in the National Football Post.
Jones was timed between 4.28 and 4.35 in two 40-yard dash attempts Thursday in a Pro Day workout at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg that was attended by Raiders running backs coach Kelly Skipper and a member of the team’s personnel staff.
Jones said afterward he didn’t have anything set up with the Raiders, but that he’d talked with the on the phone and at the scouting combine.
Skipper and Jones had a brief, private conversation before the assistant coach left the workout.
Running back isn’t considered a position of need with Darren McFadden, Rock Cartwright and Michael Bennett already under contract and Michael Bush a potential free agent who was offered a first- and third-round tender.
Jones, however, has the kind of speed coveted by Raiders owner Al Davis.
According to the Post, San Francisco and Miami will also host Jones.
Both the 49ers and Dolphins were at the Los Medanos workout, which were represented by 27 teams. Forty-Niners running backs coach Tom Rathman was involved in putting Jones through drills, at one point getting assistance from Skipper. Also at the workout was 49ers personnel executive Tom Gamble.
The 49ers are hosting a Pro Day for local athletes at their facility Thursday. Jones was planning to attend but not work out.
No plans for a Raiders Pro Day have been made public.
Judging from various scouting reports, Jones would likely be available to the Raiders with their second-round pick at No. 48, but could be gone by the time they pick in the third round at No. 81.
Coaches and scouts were impressed that Jones had gained 18 pounds and was up to 196 pounds with no loss of speed. Jones’ agent, Doug Hendrickson, said he estimated Jones was “90 percent” healed from late-season surgery to repair a fractured fifth metatarsal sustained late in the season.
NFP: Jones will visit Raiders - Inside the Oakland Raiders - A look inside the world of the highly classified Oakland Raiders from the writers of Bay Area News Group
