If recent history is any indication Braxton Jones’ small school experience will not hurt his ability to grow into the Chicago Bears starting left tackle spot. The question remains does Jones have the talent to win the job?
The Chicago Bears don’t have a starting caliber left tackle to start the 2022 season, but they may put fifth round draft pick Braxton Jones into the starting role if mini-camp is a sign of things to come. Jones was bumped up to the first team in OTAs and veteran mini-camp, the move isn’t without precedent. In 2014 the Bears drafted Charles Leno Jr in the seventh round out of Boise State.
Leno worked his way up the depth chart into the starting left tackle role by the end of his rookie season and didn’t relinquish until he was cut by the Bears just after they drafted Teven Jenkins in the second round.
Leno was a rock solid starter for eight years with the Bears before he was inexplicably cut in favor of Jenkins who immediately went on the IR. Leno never missed a game during his eight years with the Bears, that in and of itself speaks to the value he brought to the Bears.
Terron Armstead, who the Bears pursued in free-agency, is another middle round drafted small school offensive tackle who has gone on to have a strong NFL career. Armstead also grew into a starting role as a rookie drafted out of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. While not an ideal situation to start Jones in week-1 against the 49ers and Nick Bosa, it may not be long before Jones works his way into the starting lineup.
Jones is 6-foot-5 310-pound offensive tackle from Southern Utah. Jones started three seasons and only allowed three sacks in the three years he was a starter.
The Chicago Bears pick Southern Utah Tackle Braxton Jones at No. 168 overall.
93.9 PFF grade in 2021 (1st among Big Sky Tackles, 2nd in FBS) ♨️ pic.twitter.com/OmOQKeWgDg
— PFF College (@PFF_College) April 30, 2022
That’s a pretty solid pass protection standard the rookie set for himself when he was in college. Jones is also a very strong fundamental run blocker with a nasty streak where when he locks onto guys he continues to walk them down the field or he consistently looks to drive them into the ground. You can see the fundamentals the Bears were excited about with BraxtonJones.
He has very good feet a solid focused base where he doesn’t over extend or get out of position in his pass set. He also has the proverbial vines for arms with 35-3/8-inch arms that will also give him a leg up in the competition against Larry Borom and Teven Jenkins.
Jones brings solid athleticism to the table running a 4.97 official time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Any time a 6-5 310-pound offensive tackle runs under a 5.0 in the 40 that’s a sign of a very explosive athlete in terms of size speed ratio. He has a lot of quality traits to his game that could lead to him becoming a solid starter in the NFL.
His negatives are that he’s not experienced against high level pass rushing competition, so if he’s inserted into the starting lineup, expect a ton of growing pains. The Bears may not be able to afford risking getting their franchise QB hurt while dealing with those growing pains.
But then the Bears don’t have much to play for and your QB can get hurt at any point regardless of how good or bad your starting LT is. So the question may be is starting Braxton Jones out of the gate with a baptism by fire worth his immediate development now and into the future?
As far as the opportunity to start Jones has as good of a chance as any on the roster. He has better overall length and athleticism than either Borom or Jenkins. There isn’t enough of an experience gap between the three to say that the other two have an edge over him. Borom started eight games last year and Jenkins played in six games and started two.
All these are basically equal at the NFL level regardless of what any of them did in college. The NFL is an entirely different animal and what your draft status was or is doesn’t matter once the pads go on.
That much seems to be evident as Braxton Jones may be the early leader to start the 2022 season at left tackle. If he does ultimately win out as the starting LT the guess is he’ll be there for a long time to come.
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