Sturm: Why Byron Jones Is Being Moved Out To Corner – Again

Cotton

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[h=1]Why Byron Jones Is Being Moved Out To Corner – Again

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By Bob Sturm 13 hours ago




When a top talent is being moved from position to position from year to year, very seldom does it ever offer a positive connotation. Football is an extremely complex game, so while it is always nice to have a player who can do several things – and the Dallas Cowboys get pretty excited when they talk about “positional flex,” often it is a clear indication that the organization is either A) addressing an emergency roster situation in-season or B) they are trying to find that level of special talent that they were convinced they were drafting in the first place.


Now, before we get too far into this discussion, allow me to remind that we have to use nuance in these discussions. Too often in today's sports world, there is no middle ground in discussions between “Best” and “Trash”. Either someone is the best around or he needs to be cut. I realize that these hot opinions are a nice way to get noticed online, but it is not a reasonable view of professional athletes in almost any case.


Byron Jones is going to require some nuance with the news recently that the Cowboys are planning on moving him back to the corner. There are levels of play for us to discuss and while Byron Jones has been somewhat disappointing at times, it is also safe to say that over 3 seasons he has done some things very well and has been nothing short of a solid starter. He is not a player that opponents will locate because they want to continuously attack him as an easy mark, but he is also not a player that would seem to be the type that opponents would avoid at all costs because he is a “game wrecker”.


And that is the overall issue here.


Byron Jones is a 1st round pick. The Cowboys drafted him in the 1st round in 2015 in the 27th spot. I remember studying him that spring and seeing all of the physical tools that made him the talk of the NFL Combine. The next corner off the board was Damarious Randall to Green Bay at pick #30. No problem there, as Jones has been the better player. But the next safety taken was Landon Collins, who the Giants took at pick #33. That is a problem because on any given day Collins can look flat-out elite as a “box safety” which teams do have to avoid in their game plans. If the idea was to play Jones in the spot where they played him in 2017, which is Collins' spot, then they clearly took the wrong guy. When “elite” was available at that pick and you only found “solid”, combined with that player you passed on going directly to a rival that you play twice a year, it does not allow for fans to carefully recall the nuance of this issue.


Then, the other issue with Jones, which is the investment and the contract. You invest in a 1st round pick because you think he can be a blue-chip talent that holds your defense together. With that comes the contract that will require the Cowboys to decide on his 5th-year option in 2019. For Jones, that is also interesting because the value of the contract is directly affected by whether the Cowboys play him at safety or corner. As you may know, corners make much more. So, if they pick up his contract as a safety, you are looking at $6.5 million or so in 2019. If it is as a corner, the deal goes over $9 million. Additionally, it is well below the franchise tags for a corner (above $15 million) and there is essentially no downside to picking up the contract option unless Jones suffers a significant injury between now and next spring. It does not guarantee the contract. In other words, they could walk away from 2019 if they wish to do so after the 2018 season if he is fit.


Has Jones been good? Yes. And at times, he has been quite good. In 2015, as a rookie who played primarily as a corner, he trailed only Demarcus Lawrence, Sean Lee, and Greg Hardy in splash plays with 17.5, leading all defensive backs in the metric that measures “big plays”. In 2016, he only trailed David Irving and Sean Lee and had 17.5 again to lead all defensive backs on the team as he was moved over to safety. And then this year, in 2017, he had 15.5 and finished 4th on the team behind Demarcus Lawrence, David Irving, and Sean Lee.

Jones has generated plenty of big plays, including this Pick-6 courtesy of a David Irving tipped pass in Washington.



So, in 48 games as a pro, he has 50.5 “splash plays” which easily leads any Cowboys defensive back over that span. Has he been less than you might have hoped? Sure. That is fair. There is nothing wrong with wishing he was even better. And this news that suggests he is a corner again is a great indicator that they want more.


But, it would also be completely incorrect to say he has not been very solid over his span with the team, and we would probably also point out he has played in 48 of 48 games – something that from the 2015 first round, only Jones and the Jets' Leonard Williams can say. Every other 1st round pick has missed at least one game. It would also be important for us to remember the Cowboys drafted him because he was the “right kind of guy” as they continue their initiative to select leaders and strong humans. Jones has excellent character by all accounts, and while we have no way of evaluating intangibles, we certainly know that they have placed a premium on this and that might affect their evaluation greatly “in the room”.


There appear to be some strong reasoning for the team to wish to move him out to corner. Despite drafting three corners in the last two drafts (Anthony Brown 2016, Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis 2017), the team has started to phase him out after the disastrous team-pass defense day on Thanksgiving against Philip Rivers and the Chargers. Before Thanksgiving, Byron Jones played in 688 of 695 snaps (99%). That percentage after the holiday dropped in the final 5 games to 222 of 305 (73%). Conversely, Kavon Frazier saw his playing time shoot up after that day – in largely the same spots on the field – from 106 of 695 snaps (15%) before Thanksgiving to 116 of 305 after that (38%). It is pretty clear that they were taking Jones out of some spots where they thought Frazier gave them better options. Jones was perfectly fit as his special teams snaps shot back up as his defensive snaps were diminishing. The Cowboys wanted to see more from Frazier. He may not be a great replacement as a starter, but they want to find out as he starts his 3rd year as a pro in 2018.

To Jones' complete credit, when he played special teams, he demonstrated maximum effort and enthusiasm.


The other item to strongly consider is the hiring of Kris Richard from the Seahawks. The Cowboys would talk publicly and privately for years that much of what they attempt to do schematically is the Seahawks defense (without the elite personnel) and to be able to hire the coach who has developed those defensive backs for Seattle during their entire run of dominance should be very exciting for anyone who wants to see this group of young DBs develop together. The size and skills of Jones and Awuzie (assuming he is not being moved to safety a bit more), in particular, might have some ability to replicate the Cover 3 principles that Richard has coached in Seattle, and it sure sounds like he will be given a lot of responsibilities that normally are those of a defensive coordinator as the Cowboys prepare for a Rod Marinelli retirement before long.


But, back to the principal question: Why is Bryon Jones moving to corner?


I think they believe they were wrong about how good he could be at safety. He has the physical tools, but his recognition – his vision and instincts – may be better suited as a corner who has one thing to focus on – his man. They looked at the season as a whole and saw too many times where his vision was too narrow or his instincts too locked in on one possibility. A safety, by definition, must provide security, well-being, and protection to the defense. In other words, you cannot “guess” wrong back there, because if you do, it will result in a big play for the opposition.

This play above has Jones in the 2-Deep. He carries his vision on the receiver in front of him while missing the receiver who is actually the intended target for the 49ers going right by him. Not only does he not see what is happening, but he also takes out the angle for Jeff Heath who is aware of the ball. This route combination can be difficult to sort through, but if Jones is seeing the ball, he should be there to meet the ball.

Above, Jones is the safety in a zone where he is positive the Packers are running the ball. The corner (Brown) has outside leverage telling us that he knows Jones is helping him to the post if Jordy Nelson is headed inside. Jordy is. Brown is waiting. Byron is nowhere to be found. As we look again below from the other angle, you can see Byron's body language. He guessed incorrectly. And if you are a safety and you guess too much, you surrender touchdowns.

All you have to do is watch #31 on this whole play. It pretty much shows his full range of emotions. If Linebackers get beat on play-action, you can work with it. If a safety gets fooled, it is time for an extra point.

A lot of things went wrong on this big Jay Ajayi run. Many people got blocked too easily and you need better from many. But, Jones is needed to clean this up. He, according to my information, is to slow-play this attack and be the force player if it goes to his side or to fill the cutback. But, he was in a hurry (or guessed) and is sure it is going wide. When he does, it is nothing but green (fake) grass. Again, he has the speed to run him down, but play with the patience that you must on this play and it is “safe”. Go for the TFL, and bad things might happen.

Here, Byron is in a great spot to make a tackle on that incredibly long day in Denver. For whatever reason, he looks completely unaware of CJ Anderson running right past him and for a safety, he sure tackled like a corner there. He is not a bad tackler most days, but if you want Darren Woodson there, you realize that was quite poor.




Even on the above play, it surely isn't his man, but if you need your safeties to clean up the mess, then you need better from Byron Jones there. And like we said, that was the last game where Kavon Frazier wasn't getting many of these snaps. I have no idea if this play was the tipping point, because, like I said earlier, it was a really rough day for everyone.


Showing a half dozen poor plays will certainly suggest I think he has been bad. He hasn't. He just has moments where he makes you think that he needs to be a corner who occasionally moves inside to take a Tight End on 3rd down. He is fantastic at that and has been since he was a rookie.

Here he shuts down a 3rd down against the Cardinals as Jermaine Gresham cannot get loose from a clingy Jones.

Gerald Everett in Week 4 has a good inside angle but Jones has the recovery speed to get his hand inside for a PBU.

In general, he is really solid in run support. I think as a corner he will handle force responsibilities quite well. There is no reason to believe that will be an issue. As a safety, he is not above average in physicality or disposition, but as a corner, there is no reason why he can't be well above-average.

Again, I would not call him “finesse”. He is plenty willing to stick his nose up in there to make the play. But, I believe they feel that he was not their best option in center field – Jeff Heath was better at general awareness and ability to see multiple threats simultaneously. I now believe they feel that Kavon Frazier might be a better option as the “down safety”, but I would not rule out an acquisition at either safety spot this spring.


But, this is about Byron Jones. He can be “good” anywhere. But, they don't want good. They want the chance at great. He is now the veteran in the secondary and I believe they are suggesting this is Kris Richard's first and biggest priority. Make Byron Jones the type of guy that will be a no-brainer when his contract expires. Make him a focal point of the scheme. Make him someone the opponent fears.


They know he has the tools. Now, they want him to go out wide and use his immense physical talents to focus on one thing. To follow that Richard Sherman blueprint and figure out how to be well above average as a corner.
 

Smitty

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Yeah, that's painful to watch. When we drafted Jones at 27 and were told that he was gonna be a safety, I supported it (lukewarmly) because I was under the impression they thought he could be a rangy FS type since he would be moving from corner.

It is blatantly obvious at this point that because he lacks the instincts in space, in tackling angles, in some of his play diagnosis, and in tackling ability/physicality, that he is not a safety.

Conversely, if he has less responsibility for moving pieces at corner, and his need for run support (in both the amount of times he is ran at, and the amount of times he has to clean up or take an angle), he seems like he has actually kinda ideal tackling skills for that position.

He also has both the size and twitchy-ness to play inside or outside, to cover the boundaries and the middle, which makes him extremely versatile. He is a body-type prototype of Scandrick and his obvious replacement as the 2-down outside corner and third down nickle corner, were it not for the fact that Jourdan Lewis might need to be the nickle corner. Still, you could put Lewis in the slot on the smaller WR and Jones could take the TE, and then have Awuzie and Anthony Brown as your outside CBs. And frankly for $3M I'm not sure I'd run Scandrick off either, unless he wanted out.

This seems like a no brainer except for that it leaves the problem that our safeties are then Frazier, Woods, and Heath, and I am not entirely sure there is a starting caliber player in that entire lot, at least not ready for next year. This seems like a position where if you do have the option of cutting Scandrick, then you need to turn that money into a starting safety. Then you can roll the dice maybe that the other safety spot can be EITHER Frazier or Woods, or in a worst case scenario, Heath again.

Overall, I'd say Jones was kinda a C- draft pick. Definitely not what I wanted and not what I would do if I could do it again (or what I would have done at the time either, for that matter). But if Jones is your worst pick, and can revive himself at CB, it's survivable. If he can form a long time trio with Awuzie and Lewis (and even Brown too) that gives you quite a nice set of young corners and the position can be ignored for a long time now. Which is good.
 

bbgun

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His two picks were a Hail Mary right before the half and a tipped pass that went right to him. Belichick would cut bait but we're discussing a fifth year.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Just shows how much playing safety has to do with instincts and awareness and Byron Jones rates really poor in both areas. On the other hand if you point out player A and tell him to cover player A he actually does a pretty good job. It's why I think he could do pretty well as a corner. This isn't about having a need at corner though. This is more about trying to salvage a young guys career.
 

Smitty

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I don't think there is a tremendous need at corner, but there is availability. And moving him to corner could insulate that position for a half decade.
 

Chocolate Lab

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That's a lot of words to say "because he isn't a very good safety."
 

deadrise

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I recall Charlie Waters bouncing back and forth between CB and safety. Went on to become one of the best DBs in team history.

Of course, maybe that was a different time, different game.
 

Cowboysrock55

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That's a lot of words to say "because he isn't a very good safety."
Yep, that's my opinion as well.

And that's fine. I think he has shown himself to be somewhat useful in this league as a subpackage, cover the TE kind of guy. But at this point I think the coaches are hoping to salvage his career as a full time player. I still don't know if he'd rate any higher than our fourth best corner (Assuming Woods gets moved to safety full time).
 

Simpleton

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He's at his best as a slot CB and he's almost always played that role in nickel/dime, which accounts for probably at least 35-40% of the snaps.

Don't exercise the 5th year option on him, see how he does this year at CB, if he can actually supplant either Awuzie or Lewis as a starter or if he's relegated to just the nickel slot role, and then go from there.

At safety we have Heath who is kind of a guy you don't mind starting but you're always looking to upgrade, Frazier who seems competent as a box safety but is limited in coverage, and Woods who has the highest ceiling and is the most versatile but you don't know how much, or if he's going to improve and take the next step.

It's weird because it's clearly a position you'd like to see upgraded if possible but it's not necessarily a position that's going to kill us with what we have currently.
 

ravidubey

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He can cover the Hell out of a TE. Except when the game is on the line in the playoffs.
 

1bigfan13

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What has Byron Jones ever done to make one assume that a move to CB will magically make him a productive player?

I'd definitely get him out of that safety spot because he can't tackle for shit and is a huge liability in run support.

I just hope people aren't getting their hopes up that he's going to transform into a reliable play maker just because he's moving to CB.
 

Cowboysrock55

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What has Byron Jones ever done to make one assume that a move to CB will magically make him a productive player?

I'd definitely get him out of that safety spot because he can't tackle for shit and is a huge liability in run support.

I just hope people aren't getting their hopes up that he's going to transform into a reliable play maker just because he's moving to CB.
He is a liability in coverage at safety too. It's about trying to salvage something out of the guy at this point. We wouldn't be moving him to corner because of a need at corner. We'd be moving him to corner to see if it's possible to salvage his career. The move to safety is a total failure. This would be nothing but a last ditch effort.
 

1bigfan13

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He is a liability in coverage at safety too. It's about trying to salvage something out of the guy at this point. We wouldn't be moving him to corner because of a need at corner. We'd be moving him to corner to see if it's possible to salvage his career. The move to safety is a total failure. This would be nothing but a last ditch effort.
The way I see it, when/if he moves to CB he's pretty much only going to be a depth guy.

I think he'd only be our 5th best CB, assuming Scandrick returns.

What a horrific waste of a draft pick. I use the word "horrific" because I and most people saw this coming a mile away. This easily could have been avoided if they'd have just used the eyeball/on-field production test instead of trying to project "what could be".
 

Cowboysrock55

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The way I see it, when/if he moves to CB he's pretty much only going to be a depth guy.

I think he'd only be our 5th best CB, assuming Scandrick returns.

What a horrific waste of a draft pick. I use the word "horrific" because I and most people saw this coming a mile away. This easily could have been avoided if they'd have just used the eyeball/on-field production test instead of trying to project "what could be".
Scandrick isn't returning but yeah I've said before, he would really have to impress to be anything higher than our fourth corner. Assuming of course that we move Woods to safety full time. If we left him at nickel corner than Jones would be fifth.
 

Cotton

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mcnuttz

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This is what Jason Garrett and crew figured out while back home during the Senior Bowl.
 

boozeman

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Cowboysrock55

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Best training camp while playing center field :picard

Just goes to show Jerry has no fucking idea what he is looking at. At least some in the Cowboys organization can recognize that the guy is an absolute disaster in zone coverage.
 

p1_

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Best training camp while playing center field :picard

Just goes to show Jerry has no fucking idea what he is looking at. At least some in the Cowboys organization can recognize that the guy is an absolute disaster in zone coverage.
Think about it. Have you ever heard him say anything negative about a player? Hes constantly overselling his players' abilities.
 
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