B. Jones - what are your expectations?

[DandyDon1722]

I don't think he's ever been a ballhawk. I see him as a solid player, but nothing special. His freak athleticism doesn't show up on the field. I see him more as a strong safety who will play in the box and cover tight ends, where he excelled last year.

Cliffs Notes: Solid, but not amazing.

Bob let's give him a year of "playing" and not "thinking" and see if his athletic ability flashed a bit more.

 

[Knotamus]

I believe he will make a huge difference. I won't predict ProBowl now, but they are definitely in his future. I'm not sure most people understand how hard it is to shine as a Rookie CB, even more so when your asked to play different positions almost every week. He had an impact being a jack of all trades last year. A good FS make everybody's job a lil easier in the secondary. The CB, SS, and linebackers can gamble (or make more plays) when they know they have a intelligent FS taking the right angles and is fast enough to cover up mistakes in coverage. I think he'll be one of the most effective changes on defense. And like someone else posted, if the DL can somehow show some improvement.. It'll make him that much better.

As a rookie CB/S that didn't have a true position.. he ranked 5th on the team in tackles. He won me over after he was able to do what not many can do in this league.. He held Gronkowski in check. (W/ the exception on one play I believe)

 

[Manwiththeplan]

While he may never be a ball hawk, he at least has shown some propensity at forcing turnovers. 2 ints as a senior (7 games played), 3 as a junior, 1 as a sophomore and 2 as a freshman, totaling 8 for his college career.

 

[perrykemp]

While he may never be a ball hawk, he at least has shown some propensity at forcing turnovers. 2 ints as a senior (7 games played), 3 as a junior, 1 as a sophomore and 2 as a freshman, totaling 8 for his college career.

Byron Jones hasn't tallied a single fumble recovery or forced fumble in any of his last 4 seasons of playing football. Not a single one.

 

[mattjames2010]

0 INTs

 

[Manwiththeplan]

Byron Jones hasn't tallied a single fumble recovery or forced fumble in any of his last 4 seasons of playing football. Not a single one.

And considering he was a CB through most of that, it isn't a big deal

 

[gmoney112]

Byron Jones hasn't tallied a single fumble recovery or forced fumble in any of his last 4 seasons of playing football. Not a single one.

Richard Sherman didn't either in college.

He's one of the most, if not the most, gifted players in the NFL. There are about 4-5 guys in the league that can match his athleticism across the board, and I'm pretty sure none of them can beat his 33 Wonderlic. The guy is an Olympian with a brain.

It showed last year when he played basically every position in the secondary, and just non chalantly shrugged off questions about it being difficult. Not many guys can do that as a rookie.

If we keep him at safety he's going to be really, really good. Half the battle is being technically sound at the safety position and making smart adjustments, of which I have 0 concern with him back there. Add in the fact he's insanely athletic and I think he's going to improve the pass defense significantly.

I think he'll have a couple of picks, but more importantly, we'll probably be wishing we had more guys like him after this year.

 

[Killerinstinct]

I definitely see him as a FS and not a SS. I think if they leave him there the game will slow down for him and I can see him peeling off his guy when the ball is in the air and using his athleticism to get some INT's. He should be able to cover a lot of ground once he is able to anticipate plays and that will come with familiarity.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Jones is coming off a relatively impressive rookie season, Imo..showed a ton of versatility...played basically everywhere in the secondary..very smart kid...appears that he's moving to FS full time..what are your expectations for him for this season and why?

Do you think this guy will turn out to be a ball hawk at FS?

Good, not relatively imipressive in terms of production.

 

[sideon]

Jones is coming off a relatively impressive rookie season, Imo..showed a ton of versatility...played basically everywhere in the secondary..very smart kid...appears that he's moving to FS full time..what are your expectations for him for this season and why?

Do you think this guy will turn out to be a ball hawk at FS?

Not a ball hawk, but he will break up a ton of passes. He looked very comfortable at FS in the TB game and i expect that to continue.

I'm afraid Jones may be a workout warrior. I'm not sure what others saw in his 'impressive rookie season'; I didn't see much. Especially for a 1st round pick, I don't think he's that special. I do like his smarts/leadership, and I think his build and athleticism should make for a really, really good FS. Remaining optimistic.

So workout warriors are abele to completely shut down Gronk?

 

[dallasdave]

Jones is coming off a relatively impressive rookie season, Imo..showed a ton of versatility...played basically everywhere in the secondary..very smart kid...appears that he's moving to FS full time..what are your expectations for him for this season and why?

Do you think this guy will turn out to be a ball hawk at FS?

Need it in the worst way !!!

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Byron Jones is too intelligent to fail at FS IMO. He's got the physical traits as well.

 

[Gameover]

To give us a real FS for the first time in two decades!

Be better than Wilcox

 

[Daillest88]

He's going to be able to focus on playing one position. He has the potential to be a ballhawk. I see 4 picks for him this year.

 

[Techsass]

Right now we've only got Lee on D, if we're talking elite level. By the end of this coming season I expect Byron to be in that conversation. Hopefully we'll also add another few names into the "Special" class on our team.

 

[Risen Star]

Hey, remember when Marshall Faulk said he couldn't play? Good times.

 

[ghst187]

I'm afraid Jones may be a workout warrior. I'm not sure what others saw in his 'impressive rookie season'; I didn't see much. Especially for a 1st round pick, I don't think he's that special. I do like his smarts/leadership, and I think his build and athleticism should make for a really, really good FS. Remaining optimistic.

agree with this and similar posts.
My expectations for him this year are INTs, not giving up big plays, and QB'ing the secondary. But for goodness sakes your first round DB HAS to make some INTs and an occasional big play here and there or he's pretty much a bust (although I'm willing to give him this coming season and the following before I declare him as such).

 

[JohnsKey19]

Very good coverage FS. People have to understand the difficulty of switching b/t CB/S as a rookie. With that, I thought he showed why the team is excited about his future.

Player comp....Antrel Rolle in Arizona. Highly athletic yet it doesn't fully show on the field. Still a good coverage guy.

 

[Alexander]

Not answering the question, but I think he needs to work on his tackling if he is going to play safety full time.

 

[jday]

Jones is coming off a relatively impressive rookie season, Imo..showed a ton of versatility...played basically everywhere in the secondary..very smart kid...appears that he's moving to FS full time..what are your expectations for him for this season and why?

Do you think this guy will turn out to be a ball hawk at FS?

Realistically, I think we can expect an upgrade over what we have had for the last 10 years. Unfortunately, that ain't saying a whole lot.