PFF really liked Jamarco Jones (click here). So much so, according to this video they graded him as a second round talent:

So why didn’t he go in the second round?

I think there are two reasons.

Firstly, it’s his combine performance. TEF has helped us quantify the number of truly explosive offensive vs defensive linemen entering the league in recent years:

Explosive offensive linemen at the combine:

2016 — 6

2017 — 3

2018 — 7

Explosive defensive linemen at the combine:

2016 — 26

2017 — 30

2018 — 22

This is an era of football where the best college athletes are playing defense. John Schneider references this all the time. It’s a problem that exists, it’s hurting the league and they need a solution.

Offensive tackles with fantastic physical profiles are going to be over-drafted for the foreseeable future as teams look for that solution. Kolton Miller is a fine example. He had a Lane Johnson-esque combine. He didn’t play like Johnson at UCLA but found a home in the top-20 because his combination of size, length, agility and explosive traits is all too uncommon at his position these days.

Jamarco Jones is a lot more Orlando Brown than Kolton Miller as an athlete.

Here’s his combine performance:

Height: 6-4

Weight: 299lbs

Forty: 5.50

Bench: DNP

Vertical: 24 inches

Broad: 8-6

Three-cone: 8.32

Short shuttle: 4.92

At least Orlando Brown had the excuse of being 345lbs. Incredibly, he comprehensively beat Jones in the three-cone (7.87).

Jones had the third worst vertical, third worst forty, third worst short shuttle and third worst three cone among offensive linemen.

Seattle’s starting left tackle in 2018 (Duane Brown) ran a 4.52 short shuttle, a 7.58 three cone and a 5.08 forty (despite carrying an extra 16lbs).

That’s the main reason why Jones dropped to round five. This is a league crying out for an athletic counter punch to the extreme athleticism playing defense. His combine performance likely took him off a number of draft boards.

In his NFL.com bio, an anonymous NFC Executive is quoted as saying:

“His Combine was awful. He athletic testing was reject level. It’s hard to trust a tackle to start if he has reject level testing.”

What’s the other reason he dropped?

I’ll come back to it. I want to talk about the positives first.

When Jones connects, he usually wins. There are numerous examples I could show you where he engages the block and finishes. His hand placement, power and toughness are all commendable. If he gets his hands on you, it’s very difficult to disengage or counter.

I watched three games (Iowa, USC, Michigan) and never saw an instance where he overextended and lost balance. It’s impressive at the level he played and the opponents he played against. In the BIG-10 you don’t see many elite speed rushers but you see a lot of power and physicality. He matched up perfectly well and didn’t lose many hand battles. He often deals the first blow, delivers a jacked-up punch and finishes. He’s precise with his hand placement and the punch carries precision and power. He won nearly every battle I saw where he connected with the defender.

I didn’t see him beaten by a bull rush either. There were a couple of occasions against Michigan where he was jolted back. Against Iowa I noted a snap where he was moderately pushed back into the pocket. He simply dropped the anchor and held the defender at bay long enough for the quarterback to make a clean throw.

You see a lot of snaps like this vs Rasheem Green. He connects, finishes and it’s job done:

For the most part he handles his business. I could show you multiple videos of standard pass sets where he connects and finishes. If you were wondering why he started for Ohio State despite such a poor combine, clips like this will shed some light:

He is also able to move people in the running game. He had one nice snap against Iowa where he engaged the defender at the LOS and drove him back five yards on 2nd and 3, paving the way for the running back to get a first down. He’s not a tone setting mauler per se but he was reasonable in the short yardage game and his ability to connect and finish is a positive here too.

There are examples of second-level willingness and effectiveness:

There’s also evidence of handy double team work and there were examples where he passed off one defender inside to cover a stunting pass-rusher attacking the edge. His awareness and level of comfort were impressive.

Yet he has one maddening major technical flaw I can’t get my head around.

Play inside out. Don’t get beat inside. Make sure the DE has to get you outside. Especially when you have 35 1/8 inch arms.

Too often Jones was beaten inside. I don’t know why Ohio State didn’t fix this. They didn’t come up against many great speed rushers. In the three games I watched there were multiple examples where Jones dropped too deep in his kick slide and got beat inside. He left the gate wide open. He was susceptible to a counter (spin move) or simple invited the DE to pressure the quarterback:

Was he concerned about the edge rush too much, anticipating problems against speed and overcompensating? If so, someone really needed to address this and make it clear — let that guy beat you with speed. You have the length. Make his route to the quarterback as long as possible. Trust the QB to make the throw. You’re Ohio State. You have an experienced QB and numerous playmakers.

I can’t think of any other reason why he kept leaving the B gap open to be exploited. But it’s where he was beaten. And sadly, he doesn’t have the athletic profile to recover and counter.

He needs to eliminate this from his game. He has fantastic, ideal length for the position. There are examples where he just shoves a DE to protect the arc. Use their speed to their disadvantage, use your length to run them out of the play. Don’t leave yourself open to get beat inside.

Jones was a good blocker in college with a technical flaw. That’s fixable. His athletic profile is more of a concern. A pro-training program should help. It might take time though. And he’ll need to show improvement.

His athletic limitations could be a death knell to any future starting potential. However, if he can learn to play inside out and with his ability to lock on and finish — there’s at least something to work with. It was worth a fifth round pick to find out and if he ends up being no more than a reasonable backup tackle — that’s worth a day three flier any year.

You can now support Seahawks Draft Blog via Patreon by clicking the tab below.

Become a Patron!