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Jason Jones: Finding the Right Fit | ProFootballFocus.com. After an earlier article on Desmond Bryant, I'm keeping on the theme and looking at another defensive lineman: Titans DE/DT Jason Jones. He reminds me a little of Cullen Jenkins, a small school, undrafted defensive tackle who used his speed to make a name for himself in the NFL.
He got caught up in the transition from Jeff Fisher's defense to Jerry Gray, and he played less as a 4-3 DT and much more as a 4-3 DE in 2011. That's part of the reason why he's never had more than the 5 sacks he had in his surprising rookie season.
For the Green Bay Packers, Jones would be a 3-4 DE, and since he played a lot at the position in 2011, there's a lot of film to watch. According to Pro Football Focus, the results weren't too pretty:
Simply put, Jason Jones the defensive end doesn't do a whole lot of anything. And if you've seen him play tackle, you know that's an almighty waste of talent.
It would seem to make sense, moving a smaller defensive tackle to defensive end would prevent him from getting hung up in the middle. But apparently Jones is so fast that his speed is a problem for the interior offensive lineman, and he's pretty good at getting to where he wants to go before the offensive line can react. And he can't do that as well from the defensive end position.
Disclaimer: I know the Packers aren't going to sign anyone like Jones, who could expect to make $7 million next season, but I wanted to bring up his name just to discuss. And it looks like, he'd be a poor fit for the Packers, even if they were willing to spend some money on a free agent defensive end.