Christian Jones is the Detroit Lions secret weapon on defense
By Ash Thompson
Christian Jones brings a different dimension to the Detroit Lions linebacker group. He is a fundamentally sound linebacker with very good coverage instincts.
Every season there are players that move to a new team and find their spot. Whether it was missing opportunity, a bad scheme fit, or just plain bad luck, they needed fresh scenery. Christian Jones is a player like that for the Detroit Lions.
Jones was the Chicago Bears best linebacker last year. He ate snaps as the rest of the linebacker corp struggled to stay on the field. He was decent in run support and matched up well against the opposing team’s best receiving running backs.
Christian McCaffery was limited to 14 touches for 46 yards against the Bears, and the reason was that as soon as he got the ball, Jones was there. Jones was not merely good in that game, he was spectacular. McCaffery averaged 1.4 yards per carry and 5.1 yards per reception.
Jones, an undrafted free agent in 2014, seemed an unlikely player for the Bears to match up against the dynamic 2017 first-round pick McCaffery. It is not stunning athletic ability that made the match-up work for Jones, it is that he just does not miss tackles, or take bad angles to get to them.
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Jones doesn’t jump routes for interceptions. He doesn’t blanket receivers and force the ball to go elsewhere. What he does is kill a short play at it’s earliest possible point. He knifes between blockers to get to screens. He keeps his feet moving and anticipates routes at the top of his zone drops. He is proactive in his defense, rather than purely reactive.
It is that trait that sets Jones apart from someone like Tahir Whitehead. The former Lions linebacker fits each of the descriptors I have applied to Jones but that. Whereas the Lions linebackers like Whitehead and Paul Worrilow in previous seasons have been dead-legged and chasing the ball, Jones is on the way to where the ball will go before it gets there.
Next. Lions players taking advantage of preseason opportunities. dark
It is a subtle difference, but one that makes itself apparent countless times over the course of a season. Football has been called a game of inches, and Christian Jones will save the Lions a lot of them in 2018.