Is Brett Jones the future at guard?

[MaroonBells]

Brett Jones graded higher than all Vikings linemen last weekend. Actually, it seems like even going back to last season, every time he plays, he's among the highest graded linemen. So when Cleveland comes back is it time to put Dozier on the bench? And...might the Vikings have their OL set for next year when he does? 

If the Pro Football Focus grades are to be believed, the Minnesota Vikings have found their savior at guard. In two games Brett Jones has recorded run-blocking and pass protection grades that dwarf what his predecessors put up — and that includes second-round draft pick Ezra Cleveland.

Jones’ season-to-date grades in both pass protection (76.1) and run blocking (73.6) are leaps and bounds better than anything the Vikings’ prior right guards have posted, outpacing the next best marks of guards still on the roster by almost 30 points in pass protection and a dozen points in run blocking. Now while there are few football fans more appreciative of PFF’s attempt to quantify what the big fellas are doing up front, you know I’m of the opinion that their grades are far from gospel. So it was time for a closer look at the Vikings’ fourth attempt to fill their beleaguered right guard spot.
It’s a small sample size, to be sure, and the PFF numbers might be a little more optimistic than what I’m seeing on film, but the short answer is that Jones is absolutely holding his own in place of the injured Cleveland. There are things he is doing fans have been begging Vikings’ guards to do for two-plus years—and there are things that seem to support why Jones was the coaching staff’s fourth choice to fill the spot.
Vikings fans have a huge cache of reasons to wake up screaming in the middle of the night; most recently one of the major instigators of these incidents was a flashback barrage of Pat Elflein getting pushed back into Kirk Cousins’ lap again and again and again.
For the most part, that isn’t happening with Jones. Listed at 315 pounds, he is the heftiest Vikings’ offensive lineman this side of the ginormous Oli Udoh (325). At 6’2″, and that may be a bit generous, Jones is also the shortest o-lineman, but the fire hydrant look is working for him when anchoring the point of attack.
More here. 
https://twitter.com/PFF_Vikings/status/1...79552?s=20

[Guest]

Thanks for posting this as I was thinking about it Monday. If the long term plan is Brett Jones at G then that really changes things up with our first round pick. Reiff at LT another year, Jones, Bradbury, Cleveland, and O'Neill. I really like that starting 5...dont want to speculate beyond next year because that's in other threads but why not give Jones a chance at G in place of Dozier?

[Guest]

Hard to believe that. Jones would have gotten the chance by now to be the guy. He's been cut, resigned and put on the practice squad. Doesn't scream 'starting NFL guard' to me. We can do better.

[Guest]

@StickyBun said:
Hard to believe that. Jones would have gotten the chance by now to be the guy. He's been cut, resigned and put on the practice squad. Doesn't scream 'starting NFL guard' to me. We can do better.

Depends on the circumstances. Need to see more, obviously, but that's two straight games now where Jones was the highest graded Vikings lineman, in a year when the Vikings are grading quite a bit better than they did in '18 and '19. And it's certainly better than what we saw from Elflein, Dozier and Samia. 

Of course, we all know what Zimmer thinks of PFF, so it would not surprise me if the Vikings stick with Dozier, who, by the way, consistently scores the lowest and is our obvious achilles heel. 

[Guest]

@StickyBun said:
Hard to believe that. Jones would have gotten the chance by now to be the guy. He's been cut, resigned and put on the practice squad. Doesn't scream 'starting NFL guard' to me. We can do better.

This staff is notorious for keeping the wrong guys on the field and the right guys off, don't you think?   This year's issues are actually forcing the old fossils who run the team to try new faces and it's paying off in several areas.

[Guest]

@MaroonBells said:

@StickyBun said:
Hard to believe that. Jones would have gotten the chance by now to be the guy. He's been cut, resigned and put on the practice squad. Doesn't scream 'starting NFL guard' to me. We can do better.

Depends on the circumstances. Need to see more, obviously, but that's two straight games now where Jones was the highest graded Vikings lineman, in a year when the Vikings are grading quite a bit better than they did in '18 and '19. And it's certainly better than what we saw from Elflein, Dozier and Samia. 

Of course, we all know what Zimmer thinks of PFF, so it would not surprise me if the Vikings stick with Dozier, who, by the way, consistently scores the lowest and is our obvious achilles heel. 

This is exactly where I'm at too. Send Dozier to the pine because his grades and the eye test showcase him being the weakness on the OL. Might as well see what you're working with these last few games

[Guest]

@Hawkvike25 said:

@MaroonBells said:

@StickyBun said:
Hard to believe that. Jones would have gotten the chance by now to be the guy. He's been cut, resigned and put on the practice squad. Doesn't scream 'starting NFL guard' to me. We can do better.

Depends on the circumstances. Need to see more, obviously, but that's two straight games now where Jones was the highest graded Vikings lineman, in a year when the Vikings are grading quite a bit better than they did in '18 and '19. And it's certainly better than what we saw from Elflein, Dozier and Samia. 

Of course, we all know what Zimmer thinks of PFF, so it would not surprise me if the Vikings stick with Dozier, who, by the way, consistently scores the lowest and is our obvious achilles heel. 

This is exactly where I'm at too. Send Dozier to the pine because his grades and the eye test showcase him being the weakness on the OL. Might as well see what you're working with these last few games

I'm very curious to see what the Vikings do. Both Cleveland and Jones played very well (if you believe PFF). Dozier, though he has an advocate in Rico, has been the offense's weak link. 

I would think because Jones is more a swing player, he'd go to the left, but who knows? Maybe it's time to get Cleveland some snaps on the left side. 

[Guest]

Jones doesn't have the athletic traits as the other OL on the roster,... and that might be why he gets overlooked for our zone scheme. Because he can play center and both guard spots I think he is best suited as a valuable backup player. Hope the Vikings can resign him to another cheap contract.

Not sure what the deal is with Udoh, but 1 snap all year isn't enough.

I would love to see what Udoh could do inside,... but if he could play guard, I think he would've gotten more opportunities than he has.  

[Guest]

I don't really understand how PFF grades OL...  Brett Jones is not a starter.  Like Sticky said, we can do a lot better than him.

[Guest]

@Carl Knowles said:
Jones doesn't have the athletic traits as the other OL on the roster,... and that might be why he gets overlooked for our zone scheme.   

I think that might be a clue as to why he grades so well on PFF. Zone schemes often require blockers to do funny things. Misdirection, baits, etc. I don't know how PFF accounts for stuff like that in their grades, if they do at all. But because of his Jones' athletic limitations, they may not have him doing as much of that.