It feels like people stopped talking about Braxton Jones. That might sound like a bad thing, but when it’s the opposite for an offensive lineman. The less his name is mentioned, the more he’s doing his job. That became the case for Jones. Again, nothing about this makes sense. He is a 5th round pick from a non-Division I program. His Southern Utah team went 1-10 during his final college season. A few months later, he appears to be the unquestioned starting left tackle for the Chicago Bears.
That is insane. Yet when watching him play, it’s wholly justified. Jones allowed three total pressures and no sacks on Justin Fields across three preseason games. If that weren’t impressive enough, his final 25 pass-blocking snaps resulted in one pressure. Whenever the Bears left him one-on-one, he seemed to hold his own. That was true again Saturday night in Cleveland. While he didn’t face Myles Garrett, Jones still more than did his job. Two of Fields’ three touchdown passes wouldn’t have happened without his solid blocking.
He wasn’t invisible in the running game, either. While the Bears didn’t dominate on the ground, they did pop a few good ones. Unfortunately, David Montgomery had a 24-yard burst that was called back by a holding penalty on Ryan Griffin. Jones drove his guy back several yards.
Braxton Jones has all the tools he needs.
That was never a concern going into the draft. Evaluators loved his size, length, and athleticism. It was a question of whether he could improve his fundamentals enough to handle NFL pass rushers. Preseason or not, he’s already proven he can slug it out with pro starters. He will get his education in the coming weeks. There will be down moments. Nick Bosa figures to give him an unkind welcome on September 11th. Still, the rookie looks like he belongs.
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If he continues progressing as quickly as he already has, there is no telling how much better he’ll get. It would be the height of insanity if GM Ryan Poles happened to land a franchise left tackle in the 5th round of his first draft. Braxton Jones has everything needed to become a fixture on this team for a long time.
