Why the Kansas City Chiefs looked in-house to solve their pass rush with Chris Jones
A quick right step preceded a move back to his left, and within the matter of about one second, Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones was bearing down on the quarterback. Even the most elusive of scramblers had little choice but to wave a white flag, falling to the ground before the contact arrived.
In one preseason sequence, the most notable move of the Chiefs’ defense looks like it might work out OK. The hands and feet carried the workload more than his pure strength en route to Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray, but as Jones exploded toward him from his new home on the edge, he attributed it to something else.
Space.
You see, operating within the interior of the defensive line can draw some attention. Jones played through constant congestion as he developed into an Pro Bowl player — he faced double-teams on nearly half his snaps.
So it’s no wonder that when the Chiefs approached him about transitioning to play on the edge — at least part-time — Jones replied with one word.
Finally.
“Defensive end is a little different because you’re more so on an island — it’s just you and the tackle,” Jones said. “You have so much space between you and the next guy on the field. So it’s a little different. But I like it.”
The offensive line received the bulk of the attention this summer — the free-agency acquisitions, the draft prospects, heck even the headlines — and rightfully so. Its need for help had become the most apparent, unraveling so glaringly in the Super Bowl that the Chiefs would turn over all five starters.
But as he approached the offseason, Chiefs general manager Brett Veach reinforced his desire to improve the other line, as well. The defense had pressured the quarterback too infrequently in 2020.
While the offensive line gained talent through every mechanism offered, the Chiefs’ search for defensive line help came from a nearby source.
In-house.
They’ll use their best pass rusher as the rook on a chess board, allowing him to play any of the four spots along the line. Most often, though, he will occupy left defensive end, a move made easier by a replacement on the interior with Jarran Reed.
“We’re going to move him around and use him to the best of our ability and his ability,” Chiefs defensive line coach Brendan Daly said. “(It will be) based on the bodies that we have available — and that may changed based on game plans sometimes. It may change on the availability of the rest of the group. The versatility, I think it gives us some great options and great flexibility.”
Throughout the offseason, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo toyed with the concept. Do you want to move a guy from a spot he’s been really successful to cover a need somewhere else? Jones has 32 sacks in 44 games across the last three seasons while playing defensive tackle.
He’s one of the best in the NFL on the inside, save Los Angeles’ Aaron Donald.
The Chiefs, though, have determined they can be better as a whole with Jones operating outside for the first time since college, leaving Reed and Derrick Nnadi at tackle. When questioned about it all, coach Andy Reid always, without hesitation, reverts to Reed’s offseason acquisition as the impetus to make it happen.
The Chiefs have also been pleased with the development of tackles Tershawn Wharton, a pass rusher, and Khalen Saunders, a run stopper.
“I have posed that to myself quite a bit — because he is an imposing player inside; we all know that,” Spagnuolo said. “If we move him outside on a number of snaps — and he’s going to have to be flexible to do both — we will miss that (production on the inside). Hopefully we gain something on the edge.”
Jones went all-in this offseason on the transition. He watched film of the game’s best defensive ends, including J.J. Watt, who’s made this switch before. He dropped between 15-20 pounds, he estimated, and entered training camp at 292, his lightest frame in years.
And he took up yoga.
Yes, a nearly 300-pound man incorporated yoga and Pilates into his offseason routine, trying to become flexible enough to bend around the edge and add one more move to his pass-rushing repertoire.
“Listen, I feel good rushing off the edge, OK?” he said. “I know it’s year six.; I’m a little old; I’m a veteran in the room. But I feel so good rushing off the edge.”
He had two sacks in the preseason — one from his old spot and one from his new spot. But beyond that, he was consistently a presence in the backfield during training camp.
And that’s the point of it all — by keeping Jones part of the rotation on the interior, the Chiefs can elect the matchup. They have the last say. No longer can an opposing player spend his entire week preparing to face Jones. No longer can a team decide where to place its double teams all afternoon.
Jones’ location will move from week to week. From series to series. From play to play.
“I’m not a real D-end,” he said. “Spags is gonna move me around most likely. I’m gonna be playing both spots, depending on game plan and who we’re playing and what’s the best matchup.
“So I just try to put myself where I can play 3-tech the whole game or D-end the whole game.”