[4] Jones committed to play college football at Pittsburgh over offers from Virginia Tech, California, Duke, Illinois, and NC State.
[5] Jones enrolled at Pittsburgh a semester early and redshirted his true freshman season.
[6][7] Jones became a starter going into his redshirt junior year and was named second team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) after recording 43 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and 18 quarterback hurries.
[8][9] Going into his redshirt senior year, Jones was named to the Chuck Bednarik Award, Ted Hendricks Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy watchlists and was considered to be one of the top prospects at his position for the 2021 NFL draft.
[21] The Vikings obtained the aforementioned third round selection after trading defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to the Baltimore Ravens.