People didn’t think the Chicago Bears were serious about keeping Braxton Jones at the starting left tackle spot for the first week or so. Yet with each passing practice, the lineup never changed. There was the 5th round rookie out of Southern Utah, running with the first-team offense. Like anybody with inexperience, he had his tough moments in practice. Pro Bowler Robert Quinn gave and continues to give him plenty of painful lessons. Even so, Jones never backed down. He keeps battling and holds his own more than he has any right to.
Still, people weren’t ready to buy in. Looking good in practice is one thing. The big challenge is carrying it over into game situations. Jones would face a stiff first test against the AFC powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs. Their defensive front is loaded with a mix of young and veteran talent. Some expected the rookie to get a rough education on how nasty the NFL can be. It didn’t take long to discover the Bears might know what they were doing.
It wasn’t a clean afternoon for Jones. He did give up two pressures on the quarterback. It could be argued one wasn’t his fault. Either way, an evaluation of the entire sequence of 18 snaps he played revealed something. Jones is good. Like shockingly good. Better than any 5th round pick should be at this stage. Here are three blocks that stood out to illustrate how.
*Video clips are courtesy of Dan Durkin via All-22 Review.
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Braxton Jones had moments of brilliance in the preseason opener.
Block #1
This play is remembered most for Fields getting sacked. Some blame the quarterback for holding it too long. Most blame right guard Michael Schofield for getting railroaded by Chris Jones. That made it easy to miss Jones’ outstanding block on #55. For those who may not know, that jersey number belongs to Frank Clark. Former Pro Bowl pass rusher Frank Clark. Thanks to his length and anchor, the rookie rendered him completely inert. Clark had nowhere to go.
Block #2
This is a great job of Braxton Jones pulling double duty. He starts off helping tight end Chase Allen (#87) with a double team block on defensive end Mike Danna (#51). Then in a tremendous show of awareness, the rookie peels back and picks off linebacker Nick Bolton (#32), sealing the running lane for Khalil Herbert on what became a five-yard gain. Most of that was thanks to the rookie going above and beyond his initial responsibility.
Block #3
Another case of Jones getting put one-on-one against the defensive end with no help. This time he’s going against Chiefs 1st round pick George Karlaftis (#56). Based on draft status alone, the defensive end should’ve pasted the Bears blocker. Instead, his rush got stonewalled. Jones does an excellent job of keeping his hands in Karlaftis’ chest, not allowing him to break free. Another sign that he is progressing faster than expected. Seeing moments like these, it becomes much easier to understand why the Bears are excited.
If he is this capable already, it is scary to think how much better he can get with more coaching and experience.
Umm, how about the multiple illegal use of hands the Chiefs DEs were doing? Multiple times the DEs grabbing/pushing on Jones’ facemask. I see the refs have left off where they were last year. Geez!!
I like that Poles knows what his O and D coordinators need and grabs the value. This also shows the scouting staff is on the same page and the draft board was properly constructed and followed, right down to the punter. Gimme 2-3 drafts of Poles players and let’s see how we look.
I loved the way that Ryan Poles and staff traded down multiple times in the draft. And this was after being very short on draft capital, including no first round pick. Then trying to fix the oline, they “carpet bombed” offensive linemen. It is early, but it looks like at least one of the 4 may work out. And possibly very well. Early returns from the draft look extremely positive. Can’t wait to see what happens when they have a full draft of higher picks. Coach Flus’ defensive system puts a lot of emphasis on the secondary. And the oline.… Read more »
B Jones is looking very talented and may well be the answer to protecting J Fields’ blind side. The thing that stood out for me was the fact he never let the game get too big for him and never seemed intimidated by Clark or Jones or the KC defense. Hard not to like what you see when you watch his play, and even easier to like it when you consider he may just become the biggest steal of the draft.
@Kyle. This is pretty standard from the author. Seems to overstate the positive consistently knowing us bears fans are looking for hope these days! I HOPE HE IS RIGHT!