PFF: Byron Jones best player on roster; 4th best safety in league; no better safety in coverage

[ConceptCoop]

PFF 9/26: Byron P. Jones - Overrall: 88.2 - Coverage: 88.9 - Run Support: 86.8 (4th best safety (not FS, S!) in the league; best cover safety in the league; best player on Cowboys roster)

It's very early, but I'm getting really excited. The kid is a stud and has a chance to be special. Based on his game, and thus, role, he's not going to get the picks that he would as a traditional center-fielder. But that doesn't mean the impact isn't there. The kid can fly, is a sure and solid tackler, and has the length to match up against the increasingly utilized TE, which is a mismatch for most teams.

Don't let the two TDs to Miller last night fool you. Jones played a great, great game. You can't reasonably ask him to be in better position than he was on either of the two TDs. The first was simply a 50/50 play, despite his great coverage. He knocked the first attempt away but the couldn't get to the second one. Still great coverage. The second TD was a well designed and executed play by the Bears and Miller. They used the LB as a screen and Byron was still able to maintain his position while avoiding it and recovering. Again, just run to perfection - and as we know, perfect offense beats perfect defense.

Again, I'm really excited about the guy. He's a true foundation piece and outside of Lee, we haven't had one of those for quite some time.

 

[Ken]

He played better last week and was solid last night. I don't think we drafted this kid to be able to just cover TE's though. It is nice but but I need to see more out of him in the traditional FS role...jmo.

 

[bayeslife]

Not a PFF fan but I think Byron has played well for sure. He's a good talent on a unit filled with trash.

 

[Denim Chicken]

~Obligatory PFF is trash comment~

Now that that's out of the way, I've been impressed with Jones this year. He hasn't been flashy, but he's making plays, breaking up passes, and making good assignment decisions.

 

[ThrowuptheXDez88]

I'm a fan of Jones

 

[ConceptCoop]

He played better last week and was solid last night. I don't think we drafted this kid to be able to just cover TE's though. It is nice but but I need to see more out of him in the traditional FS role...jmo.

We need a true center fielder to play FS when Jones flexes to the TE. Wilcox has been solid, but will eventually get exposed.

Jones isn't a true FS. That's not his game and not what he does best. While he can do it, and has done a good job when asked, we should still play to his strengths.

 

[Sydla]

So we like PFF this week! LOL.

He's played very well IMO.

Yeah, he did give up that TD last night but he still was in decent position to make a play. In the past, one of our safeties would have been 5 yards off him.

 

[Idgit]

PFffffttt. Jones is a player though. Which is good, because we needed a decent Safety in the worst way.

 

[ConceptCoop]

~Obligatory PFF is trash comment~

Like any stat, their grades need context and need to be used in coordination with the eye test. While they're not perfect, they're still clearly the best at what they do. There's simply not another service that grades every single snap and provides a meaningful metric for each position. I really like PPF, though I know it's just one metric and needs some context.

 

[CATCH17]

I like him.. With that said.. I want to see the guy make plays.

Too many players on our team get overrated just for doing their job.


He's an elite athlete with elite potential. Go make some game changing plays. Breaking up a pass here in there doesn't mean you're special.

 

[ConceptCoop]

So we like PFF this week! LOL.

He's played very well IMO.

Yeah, he did give up that TD last night but he still was in decent position to make a play. In the past, one of our safeties would have been 5 yards off him.

I've always liked PFF.

 

[VACowboy]

He's a great cover safety, not a center fielder.

 

[ConceptCoop]

I like him.. With that said.. I want to see the guy make plays.

Too many players on our team get overrated just for doing their job.

He's an elite athlete with elite potential. Go make some game changing plays. Breaking up a pass here in there doesn't mean you're special.

He saved the game last week against Washington. If saving a game isn't making a play, I don't know what is. Just last night he knocked down a TD. If Chicago wasn't getting blown out, they kick a FG and he's responsible for 4 points. That's as valuable as most picks.

People need to understand how often he's playing 1-on-1 in coverage. When a guy is playing 1-on-1 and you don't hear his name - it means he's doing his job.

 

[Deep_Freeze]

Well I don't know if he is that good, not a real fan of PFF but he has been playing alot better.

People will just look at interceptions and fumbles forced with safeties, but he does do alot more than that for the team. All he shows me though, is we still could use another safety back there with elite talent to take us to the next level (course that can be said at every level of this D).

 

[CATCH17]

He saved the game last week against Washington. If saving a game isn't making a play, I don't know what is. Just last night he knocked down a TD. If Chicago wasn't getting blown out, they kick a FG and he's responsible for 4 points. That's as valuable as most picks.

People need to understand how often he's playing 1-on-1 in coverage. When a guy is playing 1-on-1 and you don't hear his name - it means he's doing his job.

Chasing a guy down on a busted coverage is not the type of game changing plays i'm looking for.

I want to see a ball hawking safety back there that shows range.

I like him.. But to anoint him as one of the best safeties in football with no real big plays on his resume is ridiculous. If he has a pick 6 is he better than Ed Reed? Come on.

He's dynamic and really good but he isn't making a big impactful plays.

 

[ConceptCoop]

...we still could use another safety back there with elite talent to take us to the next level (course that can be said at every level of this D).

No doubt. A true ball-hawk who can hold his own in run support would make our secondary one of the best in the league. Assuming Claiborne is truly coming on and not just flashing, that is.

 

[morasp]

Greg Jackson could turn out to be a good pick up. The secondary seems more aggressive this year.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The best safety play this team has had in a while.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

Cowboys Zone: Nuh uh.

 

[ConceptCoop]

Chasing a guy down on a busted coverage is not the type of game changing plays i'm looking for.

I want to see a ball hawking safety back there that shows range.

I like him.. But to anoint him as one of the best safeties in football with no real big plays on his resume is ridiculous. If he has a pick 6 is he better than Ed Reed? Come on.

He's dynamic and really good but he isn't making a big impactful plays.

Chasing a guy down on somebody else's busted coverage is as valuable as anything. Again, he saved a TD. Most guys don't run a 4.36; thus, most guys don't make that play.

He's not playing FS in most passing situations, so it's not fair to be looking for him to make plays from that spot, when he's not actually playing it.

I get it; you're like most fans and are judging his play on INTs. That's fine and I doubt you'll change your mind. But at least understand that he's only playing FS in the base defense. Meaning, he's not getting a lot of chances to make the plays you're looking for him to make. And last year, he played even less FS than he is this year.

You're saying "he's played X games at FS and doesn't have a pick." But that's not accurate. He's probably only played 6 games worth of pure FS to this point, in terms of snaps.