Dawand Jones - OT - Ohio State
Which Ohio State tackle is better?
Dawand Jones is arguably coming off a better season than is more highly regarded counterpart Paris Johnson Jr.
Per PFFs numbers, Jones surrendered just five pressures all season and didn’t allow a single sack. Jones isn’t just getting drafted because of his frame. He produced at a high level against top competition.
But the frame is crazy. Jones will be one of the biggest football players ever drafted. He’s a tough guy to move, it’s a long way to go if you want to run around him. The edge rushers at the senior bowl certainly struggled with it.
Jones was a three star basketball recruit coming out of high school, super raw, and the 1,043rd ranked senior football player in the country, and developed into a bookend right tackle. He has shown the ability to be coachable and improve every year.
Jones’s length lets him engage with defenders from a longer distance, and really just gives him more room for error. It’s extremely difficult to get into Jones’s frame.
17 is trying to convert speed to power here, but his plans are thwarted when Jones gets hands on first.
Even when Jones doesn’t have a great initial punch, he can still recover. In the clip below, 90 gets into his frame. But Jones’ arms are long enough that he can readjust his hands and get them into the right position later into the rep.
Compare that to Skoronski, who has extremely short arms. On this play he gets long-armed, and his limbs are a bit too short to do anything about it. Longer arms for tackles makes it easy to be proactive, and easy to recover. When Dawand Jones is on, he dictates the matchup. He is in control. He’s longer than all the other NFL players too, this will transfer.
Jones is crafty and extremely strong.
There is a bit of a miscommunication here and Jones initially misses his man on the down block. He reaches out an arm and with just one hand he’s able to hold 99 back from reaching the backfield.
The pulling guard ends up taking the end man on the line of scrimmage here, but first Jones gives Jalen Carter a quick punch to slow him down. That punch visibly stuns Carter and causes him to lose him balance. Jones then looks for work and blows up a jumping defensive lineman.
A Dawand Jones jumpset is no joke. Here he easily is able to reach Carter and lock his arms out, completely stonewalling the potential number one pick. The ball is out quickly here, but Carter isn’t going anywhere. After the throw, Jones finishes the play, driving Carter backwards and throwing him to the ground.
Jones has the power to potentially go up against even high level NFL guys and move them around, and stop them in their tracks.
I also like Jones’ craftiness. Chops down long arms with the snatch trap, he can reset his hands, and he always seems to find ways to get guys on the ground. His punch isn’t Charles Cross level consistent, but his upper body technique is promising.
The question with Jones will be as an athlete in space. How coordinated and nimble can you be at 6’8?
Now Jones obviously isn’t ever going to be the quickest lineman in the league, but he's no liability in this area. Again, we’re talking about a former ranked basketball recruit here.
And what Jones lacks in explosiveness he does make up for in length. Guys who tried to win around his outside shoulder often found themselves getting reached anyway and easily pushed upfield.
I think he’s nimble enough to be an NFL starter. He hits the thresholds. I think he’s going to have a much better combine than Orlando Brown Jr (not hard) and I can very much envision him ending up the better player (much harder).
Now I don’t want to paint him as some insane athlete, he does run into problems here. When pass rushers set him up in one direction and then put their foot in the ground and change directions, he often can’t keep up and he’ll fall over or stumble in the wrong direction.
I wonder about how useful he will be in the run game. Yes he can dominate downblocks, but I don’t think he’ll be a great puller or elite executing zone blocking assignments that ask him to cross a defenders face or climb to the second level.
Being a tall tackle has some disadvantages as well. He won’t often win the leverage battle, and I’ve seen guys simply duck under his punches.
But overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons. Orlando Brown is the easy comp and I think Jones has the foot quickness to be even better. He’s passed every test thrown at him. He won the starting job at Ohio State, he had a great season, I thought he played fantastic vs Georgia, and he dominated everyone else at the senior bowl. He’s ready for the league, and I am very bullish on his future there.
Grade: 6.4 - Good Starter - Late 1st Rounder
Where I’d like to see him:
Cincinnati Bengals: I do not wish to see La’el Collins playing right tackle anymore.
New York Jets: It’s always fun to imagine freakish body types next to each other. I’m not sure if Mekhi Becton will ever be the same, but if he does come back, Becton and Jones would almost certainly be the biggest tackle duo of all time. If Becton doesn’t come back, well, here is his replacement.
Dallas Cowboys: Terrence Steele is a free agent, there has been some talk of Tyron Smith being a cap causality. Plus he’s always hurt. Zach Martin is getting old. Dallas needs to continue adding talent to this line or they could find themselves with a terrible unit rather quickly. Tyler Smith was a great start, Jones could be another worthy addition
How far down the board do you think you will scout this year? Looking forward to a Cedric Tillman review (I think he’s a gem), but I understand not wanting to scout past round 2
Need the stroud and Levis reviews Theo