Exploring what function Dre’Mont Jones may have in Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks protection

(Editor’s notice: Everybody please welcome Alexandre Castro to the Subject Gulls employees! He will likely be our lead analyst shifting ahead, all the best way from Brazil!)

Final week, Dre’Mont Jones agreed to phrases on a restructured contract that freed up cap area for the Seattle Seahawks. The transfer helped the staff and made it more and more unlikely that he could be minimize (though his contract has now change into extra enticing to different groups in a possible commerce).

Nonetheless, this isn’t Jones’ solely change for the 2024 season. The defender has been figuring out extensively within the offseason and has participated in exercises with the EDGEs throughout minicamp.

Let’s see how this transformation can occur!

First issues first

Dre’Mont Jones was John Schneider’s costliest signing, however his 2023 season didn’t reside as much as expectations. Nonetheless, I imagine this was extra as a consequence of Seattle’s failure to make the most of him correctly than the participant’s efficiency.

An instance of this was the frequency that Seattle put Jones in 1 and 2-tech alignments. This has made Jones’ life troublesome towards the run. He’s extra of a penetrator/infiltrator than a man who’s going to reveal the anchor to carry double groups.

Jones’ body is uncommon; he was listed final 12 months at 281 kilos. That’s about 20 kilos lighter than the same old 300 kilos for a DT, but it surely’s additionally about 25 kilos heavier than what an EDGE usually weighs.

Jones’s two chapters in Seattle

Jones’s season in Seattle might be divided into two components. From Weeks 1-9, Jones performed largely inside. After that, as a consequence of Uchenna Nwosu’s damage and the arrival of Leonard Williams, he began getting snaps in additional broad positions like 5T and past.

Weeks 1-9

Snaps as DT: 257
Snaps as 5T and wider: 97
Common Run Protection grade: 58.5
Pressures: 19
Hits: 5
Sacks: 2

Weeks 10-18

Snaps as DT: 31
Snaps as 5T and wider: 374
Common Run Protection grade: 64.5
Pressures: 24
Hits: 2
Sacks: 3

We are able to see vital enchancment in each the go rush and the run sport protection. Nonetheless, we did see Jones’ dangerous utilization in some snaps.

Enjoying inside, Jones struggled a bit towards the power of the opponents. If he didn’t beat the OL instantly, he would get caught within the blocks and couldn’t get out. Nonetheless, he additionally had too broad snaps and didn’t have sufficient velocity to threaten exterior.

The easiest way to make use of Jones

For my part, one of the simplest ways to make use of him is by lining up the defender as a 5T. On this place he has extra power to fight the working sport/potential to infiltrate and, standing up, he has a greater probability of profitable the go rush, along with his burst/uncooked power.

Visually, Jones is lighter than the 281 lbs listed final 12 months. Nonetheless, we don’t but know the way a lot weight he misplaced and the way a lot that loss has made him acquire burst/agility.

Mike Macdonald’s stress technique with the Baltimore Ravens consisted of a whole lot of artistic stunts. I believe Jones will add a whole lot of worth by both masking blockers to offer his teammates area, in addition to looper profitable the 1-on-1s and getting in on the stress himself.

He improvises a stunt and has sufficient velocity to take advantage of the areas created on the DL. A participant with good imaginative and prescient and processing to execute this play that Macdonald likes a lot.

Lining up as a 5T on high of the opponent offers him a greater angle of assault on the guard who, needing to respect his velocity, finally ends up falling to the bottom and giving up the sack.

As talked about above, Jones is healthier at working the ball by infiltrating the ball slightly than absorbing blocks. Right here’s an instance: standing up, he has the velocity and skill to get into the backfield to make a direct sort out.

Jones’ limitations as EDGE

Each go rusher must have a well-established plan. It is a complicated subject for a later article, however in brief, the participant must suppose: “Use transfer X, if it fails, I’ll use Y to get away.” The dearth of such a plan is likely one of the elements that causes DLs to get caught in blocks so simply.

Wanting inside, Jones’s plan and vary of actions have been subpar. He merely used energy strikes just like the bull rush. If it labored, nice, but it surely didn’t occur typically.

On this play, lining up wider, we see Jones executing significantly better. He assaults the chest and outdoors half of the OT, inflicting him to commit on this approach and all of a sudden assault with an inside transfer (swim transfer) to get to the QB.

Jones gained’t beat gamers with velocity or getting across the arc. He can win OTs with energy and inside strikes, so it’s a waste to ask him to get across the arc. Within the play above, he comes off the display screen and loses all his effectiveness. Jones has a great first step, however he’s not a quick man.

When you return a bit bit, in Ken Norton Jr’s protection, we noticed repeated criticism of the usage of dropping DLs in protection. I can already let you know that this should be one thing Coach Mike Macdonald makes use of continuously, however they need to guard the brief passing zones and never in additional complicated protection conditions.

For instance, it’s not widespread, however it might occur that an EDGE must cowl a working again. Jones shouldn’t be going to be that sort of EDGE. The results of the play was disastrous as a result of the planning was horrible. He can align like an EDGE, however can’t carry out all aspects of the function. A delicate however necessary distinction to notice.

Ultimate Ideas

This place change would enable Seattle to maximise the number of its beefed-up DL in 2024. We may have Jarran Reed, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II, Dre’Mont Jones, and Uchenna Nwosu, which wouldn’t be dangerous.

Do not forget that EDGE was an issue for the staff final 12 months. Nwosu obtained injured and the one constant risk we had was Boye Mafe. Darrell Taylor was solely a situational piece given his disgraceful efficiency towards the run sport. Derick Corridor hasn’t performed sufficient to justify a second-round choose. The staff didn’t strengthen the world within the draft or free company, so Jones’ transition would assist the depth of the roster.

One other attention-grabbing level to notice is that Mike Macdonald, whereas at Michigan, had considered one of his EDGEs do extra pondering than typical, with fellow Seattle participant Mike Morris filling that function. This could additionally enable Morris to be a direct various to Jones within the rotation.