It will be interesting to see if he can take another step in this 3rd season. I'm expecting he will. He doesn't have to be some elite talent to still be a valuable LT for us. Interesting, on this 2023 ranking of all tackles it had Brax about the same as Leno (Leno was 51 and Brax 54th LINK). And PFF had Leno at #33 and Brax at 41 (keep in mind these rankings from both sources, lump all starting tackles into the same basket. RT's & LT's together). Interesting that both sources did have Leno a bit higher than Brax.
LINK One Chicago Bears player is going from needing to be replaced to underrated
It will be interesting to see if he can take another step in this 3rd season. I'm expecting he will. He doesn't have to be some elite talent to still be a valuable LT for us. Interesting, on this 2023 ranking of all tackles it had Brax about the same as Leno (Leno was 51 and Brax 54th LINK). And PFF had Leno at #33 and Brax at 41 (keep in mind these rankings from both sources, lump all starting tackles into the same basket. RT's & LT's together). Interesting that both sources did have Leno a bit higher than Brax.
LINK One Chicago Bears player is going from needing to be replaced to underrated
ESPN has their own propietary metric. They rate his pass blocking win rate at 93% — 5th best in league. I predict he will be the next Bear OL in Pro Bowl. And as lead blocker on sweeps, nobody at LT is better.
Post by mightyjoeyoung on Jul 11, 2024 7:15:34 GMT -6
I think there's far too many people in the media who don't know how to evaluate linemen properly.
Jones was an excellent pick for where he was at, but be is far from being a prototypical LT. He quite frankly gets rag-dolled WAY too much by power rushers.
Part of the issue is that too many laymen think that so long as the lineman remains between the defender and the quarterback, that's a good block. However, its much more nuanced than that.
Case in point, Jones gets pushed back directly into the QB WAY too much, and struggles with redirecting wide. If you compare Jones last year, to a semi-retired Jason Peters on the downturn from the year before, it becomes quite obvious Peters, even with his decline in skills and being called out of retirement, was STILL a superior LT to Jones.
To help everyone out in terms of what to watch for this upcoming season, its 2 things -
1) Jones needs to better his anchor. He should NOT be getting pushed into the quarterback any more in year 3. That's more than enough time in the offseason programs to build up an offensive lineman. If Jones faces a bull rusher and takes more than 2 steps back on a third to a half of his snaps this season (or more), that's a surefire sign he maxed out his potential and ISN'T the LT of the future. A lineman shouldn't be pushed back more than 2 steps; ideally a step and a half.
2) Jones needs to learn to redirect defenders WIDE. This is another issue for Jones. No lineman can hold a defender forever. Eventually, they will get by. But what you as a tackle want to do is force the defender WIDE. Make them take an extra 2-3 steps going AROUND you; that buys more time for the QB. All too often, Jones will block a guy for a second or so, and then the guy gets right by and makes a straight line to the quarterback. You can't have that. Again, go look at Peters the year before. He was ALWAYS making the opposing player go WIDE to get around him, and was always pushing defenders to the edges to force them to make extra steps to get to the quarterback.
For me, Jones has a lot to prove this year. He did improve some on the bull rushes from y1 to y2, but he only cut it in half - he didn't eliminate the issue completely. And he still was massively struggling with redirection out wide.
One player to keep an eye on in camp - Kiran Amegadjie.
He has a better body type and already has better technique in terms of pushing guys wide, based on his college tape. I predict he will be the starting LT in the next 2 years, and Jones will end up the swing tackle.
I think there's far too many people in the media who don't know how to evaluate linemen properly.
Jones was an excellent pick for where he was at, but be is far from being a prototypical LT. He quite frankly gets rag-dolled WAY too much by power rushers.
Part of the issue is that too many laymen think that so long as the lineman remains between the defender and the quarterback, that's a good block. However, its much more nuanced than that.
Case in point, Jones gets pushed back directly into the QB WAY too much, and struggles with redirecting wide. If you compare Jones last year, to a semi-retired Jason Peters on the downturn from the year before, it becomes quite obvious Peters, even with his decline in skills and being called out of retirement, was STILL a superior LT to Jones.
To help everyone out in terms of what to watch for this upcoming season, its 2 things -
1) Jones needs to better his anchor. He should NOT be getting pushed into the quarterback any more in year 3. That's more than enough time in the offseason programs to build up an offensive lineman. If Jones faces a bull rusher and takes more than 2 steps back on a third to a half of his snaps this season (or more), that's a surefire sign he maxed out his potential and ISN'T the LT of the future. A lineman shouldn't be pushed back more than 2 steps; ideally a step and a half.
2) Jones needs to learn to redirect defenders WIDE. This is another issue for Jones. No lineman can hold a defender forever. Eventually, they will get by. But what you as a tackle want to do is force the defender WIDE. Make them take an extra 2-3 steps going AROUND you; that buys more time for the QB. All too often, Jones will block a guy for a second or so, and then the guy gets right by and makes a straight line to the quarterback. You can't have that. Again, go look at Peters the year before. He was ALWAYS making the opposing player go WIDE to get around him, and was always pushing defenders to the edges to force them to make extra steps to get to the quarterback.
For me, Jones has a lot to prove this year. He did improve some on the bull rushes from y1 to y2, but he only cut it in half - he didn't eliminate the issue completely. And he still was massively struggling with redirection out wide.
One player to keep an eye on in camp - Kiran Amegadjie.
He has a better body type and already has better technique in terms of pushing guys wide, based on his college tape. I predict he will be the starting LT in the next 2 years, and Jones will end up the swing tackle.
He rarely gets beat inside. Still needs to improve on bull rush. Go watch Swifty’s YouTube video on Brax. There are problems on this OL, but Brax isn’t one of them. Weren’t you one of the guys who wanted to draft Alt? Maybe the rookie will eventually replace Davis at RG.
I think there's far too many people in the media who don't know how to evaluate linemen properly.
Jones was an excellent pick for where he was at, but be is far from being a prototypical LT. He quite frankly gets rag-dolled WAY too much by power rushers.
Part of the issue is that too many laymen think that so long as the lineman remains between the defender and the quarterback, that's a good block. However, its much more nuanced than that.
Case in point, Jones gets pushed back directly into the QB WAY too much, and struggles with redirecting wide. If you compare Jones last year, to a semi-retired Jason Peters on the downturn from the year before, it becomes quite obvious Peters, even with his decline in skills and being called out of retirement, was STILL a superior LT to Jones.
To help everyone out in terms of what to watch for this upcoming season, its 2 things -
1) Jones needs to better his anchor. He should NOT be getting pushed into the quarterback any more in year 3. That's more than enough time in the offseason programs to build up an offensive lineman. If Jones faces a bull rusher and takes more than 2 steps back on a third to a half of his snaps this season (or more), that's a surefire sign he maxed out his potential and ISN'T the LT of the future. A lineman shouldn't be pushed back more than 2 steps; ideally a step and a half.
2) Jones needs to learn to redirect defenders WIDE. This is another issue for Jones. No lineman can hold a defender forever. Eventually, they will get by. But what you as a tackle want to do is force the defender WIDE. Make them take an extra 2-3 steps going AROUND you; that buys more time for the QB. All too often, Jones will block a guy for a second or so, and then the guy gets right by and makes a straight line to the quarterback. You can't have that. Again, go look at Peters the year before. He was ALWAYS making the opposing player go WIDE to get around him, and was always pushing defenders to the edges to force them to make extra steps to get to the quarterback.
For me, Jones has a lot to prove this year. He did improve some on the bull rushes from y1 to y2, but he only cut it in half - he didn't eliminate the issue completely. And he still was massively struggling with redirection out wide.
One player to keep an eye on in camp - Kiran Amegadjie.
He has a better body type and already has better technique in terms of pushing guys wide, based on his college tape. I predict he will be the starting LT in the next 2 years, and Jones will end up the swing tackle.
He rarely gets beat inside. Still needs to improve on bull rush. Go watch Swifty’s YouTube video on Brax. There are problems on this OL, but Brax isn’t one of them. Weren’t you one of the guys who wanted to draft Alt? Maybe the rookie will eventually replace Davis at RG.
See though, that's bullshit. Because they are counting a defender pushing Jones all the way into the QB as him "Not getting beat".
And that's why I have an issue with how people grade linemen. Because by any measure, if you are getting pushed STRAIGHT back into your quarterback, that is NOT a successful block.
He rarely gets beat inside. Still needs to improve on bull rush. Go watch Swifty’s YouTube video on Brax. There are problems on this OL, but Brax isn’t one of them. Weren’t you one of the guys who wanted to draft Alt? Maybe the rookie will eventually replace Davis at RG.
See though, that's bullshit. Because they are counting a defender pushing Jones all the way into the QB as him "Not getting beat".
And that's why I have an issue with how people grade linemen. Because by any measure, if you are getting pushed STRAIGHT back into your quarterback, that is NOT a successful block.
If the LT does not interfere with the QBs vision or space to throw, that’s a successful block. The rusher does not get credit for a pressure. There is also a time factor for the ESPN metric. The rusher must get there in 2.5 seconds. If Fields gets pressure after 3+ seconds, that’s on him. .
See though, that's bullshit. Because they are counting a defender pushing Jones all the way into the QB as him "Not getting beat".
And that's why I have an issue with how people grade linemen. Because by any measure, if you are getting pushed STRAIGHT back into your quarterback, that is NOT a successful block.
If the LT does not interfere with the QBs vision or space to throw, that’s a successful block. The rusher does not get credit for a pressure. There is also a time factor for the ESPN metric. The rusher must get there in 2.5 seconds. If Fields gets pressure after 3+ seconds, that’s on him. .
There were quite a few times where Brax was pushed straight into his own QB in under 2.5 seconds. It's not a Fields issue. Its a Jones issue. And technically, I count that as interfering with the QB's space to throw - the issue is some others don't, even though he still has significant anchor issues.
If the LT does not interfere with the QBs vision or space to throw, that’s a successful block. The rusher does not get credit for a pressure. There is also a time factor for the ESPN metric. The rusher must get there in 2.5 seconds. If Fields gets pressure after 3+ seconds, that’s on him. .
There were quite a few times where Brax was pushed straight into his own QB in under 2.5 seconds. It's not a Fields issue. It’s a Jones issue. And technically, I count that as interfering with the QB's space to throw - the issue is some others don't, even though he still has significant anchor issues.
It happens. As I said, there’s still room for improvement against bull rushers. It will not be a serious problem with Fields gone. We now have a QB and WRs to get the ball out fast. You should be more worried about the middle of this OL.
There were quite a few times where Brax was pushed straight into his own QB in under 2.5 seconds. It's not a Fields issue. It’s a Jones issue. And technically, I count that as interfering with the QB's space to throw - the issue is some others don't, even though he still has significant anchor issues.
It happens. As I said, there’s still room for improvement against bull rushers. It will not be a serious problem with Fields gone. We now have a QB and WRs to get the ball out fast. You should be more worried about the middle of this OL.
There is definitely room for improvement, and we will see it this season. And that “seeing it” is what I personally go on most. The OL evals are all over the board on him. The eyetest matters more to me.
It happens. As I said, there’s still room for improvement against bull rushers. It will not be a serious problem with Fields gone. We now have a QB and WRs to get the ball out fast. You should be more worried about the middle of this OL.
There is definitely room for improvement, and we will see it this season. And that “seeing it” is what I personally go on most. The OL evals are all over the board on him. The eyetest matters more to me.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see his PFF grade close to 80 this season — partly through his own work but also the other improvements to the offense.