What happened to Josh Jones?

[Deleted member 6794]

Josh is not an immediate solution for us, but he is an upgrade over Brice.

Once again, Jones is not a fit at free safety.

does anyone recall last year game where Jones when off ....couple sacks and tackles for a loss...how was he schemed that game. I kown he played up near the line... was he hybrid ILB? the game was early in the season. next question has he played that roll since then?

Jones lined up in the box for 55 of his 61 snaps (90.2%) against the Bengals in week 3 of last season. Overall he played that role on only 55.6% of his defensive snaps in 2017.

 

[easyk83]

Which works pretty well especially when you have the talent to create turnovers and change games the way Woodson and Reggie White did. It’s kind of like watching Christian Yelich the past month. Everyone on the field knows he’s the best player on the field and knows that sooner or later, it’s going to show.

Back in 2007 I was a big Nick Collins defender on other forums. Other fans were complaining about a lack of impact plays, I saw a guy who was able to run a young Adrian Peterson down from behind twice in the same game.

No im not prescient I also liked Janis' potential and wondered if Derwin James wasn't just a better Josh Jones, he's so much more.

 

[James from IL]

Jones definitely isn't fit to be the center fielder of the defense, but he SHOULD be able to be up in the box and do some work there. Look what Derwin James is doing! Jones is not as talented as James, but he could be doing similar things.

 

[Favre>Rodgers259]

If Gute has even half as good as a Draft next year as he did this year, Jones should be trade fodder for a 4th or 5th Round pick in 2020. He has to make some waves this season or he won't survive.

 

[Dantés]

The simple answers to the questions, as others have pointed out already, are that Jones got hurt and seems to have struggled to grasp the scheme.

There's something else I want to highlight regarding his athleticism. While Jones is correctly known to be a great athlete, there is a hole in his profile.

At the combine, he ran a 4.41 (93rd%), jumped a 132" broad (96th%), and a 37.5" vertical (76th%) at 6'1" 220 lbs. Those are the numbers that won him his reputation as a freak athlete. And rightly so, to an extent. But you'll notice these are speed/explosion metrics. He didn't do the drills that more effectively measure change of direction and agility (3 cone, short shuttle) at the combine, which always makes me raise an eyebrow, because often players skip the drills that they're more worried about. He didn't do those until his pro day and the results were less than ideal.

His 4.40 short shuttle places him in the 10th percentile, and his 7.05 three cone in the 34th. Metrics don't bear out in the league 100% of the time, but I think they're good indicators of a players' ability and they fit in Jones' case.

Jones has looked to me like a straight line athlete who struggles to change directions. He's more equipped to be an undersized linebacker than a big safety. But Gutekunst drafted Burks for that linebacker position, which leaves Jones out in the cold a little bit. It should be mentioned that while Burks is considerably slower in a straight line, he's quite a bit more agile than Jones which might be why he quickly won a role before getting hurt.

Lastly, Pettine values intelligence and schematic comprehension more than most DC's. Whitehead is playing because he understands the concepts on the field. Jim Leonard made his living in the NFL following Rex and Mike and knowing the scheme inside and out. If Jones isn't grasping the system, all that speed is useless to his coaches.

 

[Patriotplayer90]

If Gute has even half as good as a Draft next year as he did this year, Jones should be trade fodder for a 4th or 5th Round pick in 2020. He has to make some waves this season or he won't survive.

Half as good? I admire your optimism, but do not share it

 

[SD Cheesehead]

I really hope they do let him fully heal and then give him a full opportunity to play safety a little later this season. That way if he doesn’t seem to have it we could probably try him at linebacker next year and see if he and Burks could make for a super athletic linebacking duo. I also wouldn’t mind a lineup that involves Burks and Jones at linebacker. King, Alexander, Jackson st CB, and Tramon and Haha at Safety. That would be a heck of a coverage and speed lineup also.

 

[Passepartout]

Hope he can heal. And that hopefully that he can come back to help out the team. Good luck.

 

[McKnowledge]

I just feel like our best defensive lineup would be
DL: Clark, Daniels
OLB: Perry, Matthews
MLB: Martinez, Burks
CB: King, Alexander, Jackson
S: Haha, Jones

This defense has size, speed, and aggressiveness for days. With this lineup we also have some decent depth behind them to give them a breather and throw in a few different wrinkles that Pettine has been dialing up.

Good lineup. Would've been nice to have Wilkerson rotate with Clark and Daniels.

 

[brandon2348]

Way way too early to give up on Josh Jones.

 

[yooperpackfan]

The clock is ticking.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

If Gute has even half as good as a Draft next year as he did this year, Jones should be trade fodder for a 4th or 5th Round pick in 2020. He has to make some waves this season or he won't survive.

As others have already posted it's definitely too early to give up on Jones. If he isn't able to earn significabt playing time there's no reason to believe another team would trade for him.

Half as good? I admire your optimism, but do not share it

That's surprising as you're normally full of optimism all the time

I really hope they do let him fully heal and then give him a full opportunity to play safety a little later this season.

Jones already played on special teams vs. the Bills, therefore I believe he's fully healed.

 

[gopkrs]

I really hope they do let him fully heal and then give him a full opportunity to play safety a little later this season. That way if he doesn’t seem to have it we could probably try him at linebacker next year and see if he and Burks could make for a super athletic linebacking duo. I also wouldn’t mind a lineup that involves Burks and Jones at linebacker. King, Alexander, Jackson st CB, and Tramon and Haha at Safety. That would be a heck of a coverage and speed lineup also.

Sounds like you aren't taking Martinez, who is playing well, into your calculations. I would love to see Jones play well, but he did not impress when he was healthy last year. Yes, he was a rookie but I don't have high hopes for him. I really don't want to see somebody playing who is going to get beat a lot.

 

[SD Cheesehead]

Sounds like you aren't taking Martinez, who is playing well, into your calculations. I would love to see Jones play well, but he did not impress when he was healthy last year. Yes, he was a rookie but I don't have high hopes for him. I really don't want to see somebody playing who is going to get beat a lot.

I was tLking more 3rd downs and obvious passing situations. Martinez for sure in our base D’s. I was really just trying to think our most athletic lineup for when we are up 21 and just need to play coverage. I’m just scarred from watching Capers prevent defense the last few years.

 

[Caya]

does anyone recall last year game where Jones when off ....couple sacks and tackles for a loss...how was he schemed that game. I kown he played up near the line... was he hybrid ILB? the game was early in the season. next question has he played that roll since then?

Yes! That is the game where we utilized his skill set more effectively. He was near the line!!

 

[GBkrzygrl]

The simple answers to the questions, as others have pointed out already, are that Jones got hurt and seems to have struggled to grasp the scheme.

There's something else I want to highlight regarding his athleticism. While Jones is correctly known to be a great athlete, there is a hole in his profile.

At the combine, he ran a 4.41 (93rd%), jumped a 132" broad (96th%), and a 37.5" vertical (76th%) at 6'1" 220 lbs. Those are the numbers that won him his reputation as a freak athlete. And rightly so, to an extent. But you'll notice these are speed/explosion metrics. He didn't do the drills that more effectively measure change of direction and agility (3 cone, short shuttle) at the combine, which always makes me raise an eyebrow, because often players skip the drills that they're more worried about. He didn't do those until his pro day and the results were less than ideal.

His 4.40 short shuttle places him in the 10th percentile, and his 7.05 three cone in the 34th. Metrics don't bear out in the league 100% of the time, but I think they're good indicators of a players' ability and they fit in Jones' case.

Jones has looked to me like a straight line athlete who struggles to change directions. He's more equipped to be an undersized linebacker than a big safety. But Gutekunst drafted Burks for that linebacker position, which leaves Jones out in the cold a little bit. It should be mentioned that while Burks is considerably slower in a straight line, he's quite a bit more agile than Jones which might be why he quickly won a role before getting hurt.

Lastly, Pettine values intelligence and schematic comprehension more than most DC's. Whitehead is playing because he understands the concepts on the field. Jim Leonard made his living in the NFL following Rex and Mike and knowing the scheme inside and out. If Jones isn't grasping the system, all that speed is useless to his coaches.

Not faulting anyone, but isn't this scheme suppssed to be likeable and learnable?

 

[Dantés]

Not faulting anyone, but isn't this scheme suppssed to be likeable and learnable?

Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that 100% of players will get it. And we don’t really know if that’s been Jones’ issue or if it’s just been execution. It’s speculation.

But even if Jones can’t grasp the scheme, we’ve seen that it is much more effective. Not that the defense has been perfect, but the blitzes have been much harder to account for and the coverage units have seen far fewer busts.

And I will say that I totally agree with those who say it’s too early to give up on Jones. Of course it is. I’ve given my thoughts as to why he isn’t seeing snaps on defense, but that doesn’t mean he’s finished.

 

[gbgary]

he'll play a lot today with Whitehead out. ouch.

 

[SD Cheesehead]

he'll play a lot today with Whitehead out. ouch.

If they have him doing the Whitehead role blitzing and creating havoc. Ear the line I feel like we are gonna see him in his best role. Hope he shows up today!