The Bears have a budding star on their O-line
Standing at 6’5″ and weighing in at 310 pounds Braxton Jones is an absolute unit. He has all the physical qualities you want to see in an offensive lineman. Though after the draft combine scouts weren’t high on him which is why he fell right into Chicago’s lap in round 5 and thank goodness he has. Through 7 weeks of play Jones is looking more and more like one of the biggest steals of the 2022 NFL Draft.
Braxton Jones is currently outperforming top 10 draft picks from this year
There are not that many stats to define how good or bad a player is performing on the O line but the ones we do have, Jones is performing better than NO.7 overall pick Evan Neal and NO.9 overall pick Charles Cross. Keep in mind, Neal and Cross are products of the SEC and were much more prepared for the high speed and fury of the NFL whereas Braxton Jones played his college ball at Southern Utah State.
Braxton jones
- 77.0 run-blocking grade
- 4 sacks allowed
- 3 QB hits allowed
- 22 pressures allowed
Evan Neal
- 47.9 run-blocking grade
- 5 sacks allowed
- 3 QB hits allowed
- 16 pressures allowed
Charles Cross
- 55.2 run-blocking grade
- 3 sacks allowed
- 1 QB hit allowed
- 16 pressures allowed
As you can see Jones has been significantly better than Neal and Cross in the run game and is about on the same level as them when it comes to pass protection. The Bears have been successful when utilizing Jones in the run evident by his solid run block grade. They are averaging 5.2 YPC when running behind their left tackle.
Could Jones be the Bears Left Tackle of the future?
If Braxton Jones keeps this up and doesn’t have too many repeat performances like the one he had against Washington then GM Ryan Poles (who needs serious credit for finding Braxton Jones) and the rest of the Bears front Office won’t have to worry about the left tackle position for the foreseeable future.
Jones has held his own against some solid players such as Nick Bosa and Za’darius Smith, guys who are known for tearing up backfields. This is especially impressive when you think about the massive jump in competition Jones had to adjust to. He played against teams in college such as San Jose State and Weber State and is now throwing down head to head with some of the NFL’s best.
The truly scary part of all this is the fact that Braxton Jones is only a rookie. He has no business being this good early on his career. 5th round lineman are usually backups and or special team players not starters who can slow down the leagues best. Most guys from his college level never even make it to the NFL and if they do they are there for a quick cup of tea. Braxton Jones could be star and something tells me Justin Fields will be buying him many steak dinners in the future.
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