Chiefs-Cardinals takeaway: Kansas City’s Chris Jones is going to be a BIG problem
One of the funny things about the NFL’s preseason is this rush to make declarations. I come here not to judge, but to giggle, because every year with every team it’s the same thing. Fans do it. People like me do it. Heck, coaches and executives can do it, too.
Full disclosure here: I’m tempted!
Tempted to say Mecole Hardman is going to make Chiefs fans love him, tempted to say the Chiefs got an all-time steal by getting Mike Hughes for a swap of late-round picks, tempted to say this will be a big year for Byron Pringle. The defense looks terrific. L’Jarius Sneed might just be a star. But now is not the time for that column.
At least right now, the column is about Chris Jones.
The usual preseason disclaimers should apply here, but we’re all adults, so let’s just pretend the next 100 words or so are about how preseason games can be misleading, OK?
Deal? Deal. Let’s get moving.
Jones, somehow, looks better than ever. This is not based just on him repeatedly pantsing whoever tried to block him during the Chiefs’ 17-10 win over the Cardinals on Friday.
Jones did his part to wreck whatever the Cardinals wanted to get out of a preseason game the coaches had targeted as the most important dress rehearsal before the regular season. He sacked Kyler Murray after beating the Cardinals’ left tackle with an inside move, deflected a pass by Colt McCoy and noticeably changed the way the Cardinals’ offensive line operated.
He was the best player on the field, especially on a night when Patrick Mahomes wasn’t as accurate as we’re used to seeing. But this is no longer unusual. Hasn’t been for a while, really, and with a new role Jones has long openly campaigned for and the type of support the front office has long prioritized, he could be in line for the best season of his career.
That’s not said lightly. Jones had 15 1/2 sacks in 2018, by now is a mainstay on the NFL’s top 100 list and earned a contract worth $60 million in guarantees.
But here he is at 27 years old, the intersection of youth and experience, and fully in position to dominate the line of scrimmage consistently.
The Chiefs front office and coaches have long wanted to build the defense around relentless pressure on the quarterback, particularly at the edges. This offseason defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo committed to giving Jones more snaps as a defensive end, a strategy aided by Tershawn Wharton’s emergence and Jarran Reed coming over through free agency, a move that will be talked about more and more as the season goes on.
The Chiefs have more capable linemen than they do available spots, if we’re honest. Derrick Nnadi, Frank Clark, Alex Okafor, Mike Danna, Khalen Saunders, Taco Charlton, Joshua Kaindoh. Tim Ward has had bright moments, both in practice and in games.
This is how the front office has wanted it to look — good linemen playing behind good linemen, which is both insurance against injuries and a force multiplier if it means fresher rushes in the fourth quarter.
It’s all coming up Jones, in other words. He talks sometimes about wanting to lead the league in sacks, and that’s on the table, but it’s also true that sacks are an incomplete measurement of what Jones does.
Last season, he was Pro Football Focus’ second-ranked interior defensive lineman, behind Aaron Donald. He was first in quarterback hits, fifth in pressures, and eighth in hurries. He was, in other words, a constant problem.
He did this through consistent double teams, too, which was a sound strategy. Clark never found his way last season, at least not consistently, so offenses were free to focus on Jones.
That should be a riskier plan this year if Reed is as effective as he was in Seattle, Wharton continues this trajectory, and the Chiefs get representative production from the others (including Clark).
Here’s what we have, then:
Chris Jones at his physical peak, with five years of experience, a new position that makes it more difficult for offenses to know where he’ll be, and teammates who will make it more difficult for offenses to focus solely on him.
This is the kind of thing that can end up with a guy on first team All-Pro.
It’s early. But it’s also true.
This story was originally published August 20, 2021 at 10:49 PM.