Packers Claim CB Derrick Jones

August 11, 2019 at 08:13 pm

Why not? You can never have too many guys who can cover and tackle. We can take a look at him and see what he's got.

Counting the practice squad, I think you'd want 12 guys who can play in the secondary. You need five or six of them on the field pretty much every play.

August 11, 2019 at 08:42 pm

Jones had been working primarily with the Jets second team and was slowed down by a knee injury this summer. On Thursday, he gave up a 39-yard completion down the left sideline to Giants WR Alonzo Russell.

Pro day:
Ht: 6-2
Wt: 189
225 Bench Rep Max: 9
Vertical: 41
Broad: 11-0
40-Yard Dash: 4.44
Short Shuttle: 4.34
L-Drill: 7.03

NFL scouting Summary

Strengths
Has explosive leaping ability. Posted monster numbers in vertical (41 inches) and broad jump (11 feet 8 inches) at pro day. Has played both cornerback and wide receiver. Uses length, ball skills and pattern recognition to his advantage. Displays some talent and ball production from trail position. Aggressive sprinter down the field in kick coverage makes him an early responder.

Weaknesses
Stringy, gangly frame. Posted just nine reps on bench press and will need to add muscle to hold up in the league. Takes the worst of it as a grab and drag tackler. Doesn't play with the instant trigger on the throw that is expected. Below average footwork for short area change of direction. Could be limited in scheme fit.

Draft Projection
PFA

Bottom Line
Jones' limited reps at cornerback may work in his favor as secondary coaches could see him as a moldable prospect they can try and develop from scratch. He's got the length and explosion traits that will appeal to teams looking for tall, press corners. However, his play strength must improve. Jones is unlikely to get drafted but could be an interesting project for a team looking to use him in a press-and-trail coverage.

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August 11, 2019 at 08:40 pm

Nine reps? Nine? Seriously? Kickers can do 9 reps. How'd this guy ever graduate from a college program only able to do 9 reps?

dblbogey

August 11, 2019 at 09:46 pm

I get the feeling you don't believe this signing will lead us to the Super Bowl.

mamasboy

August 12, 2019 at 12:21 am

I could do 9 reps with 225 when I was I 7 , and weighed 185. There must be something they like about him, though. No one can argue that they;ve been really good at spotting defensive backs with talent.

August 11, 2019 at 08:44 pm

Maybe he can do 10 after a year in the NFL? Anyway he can certainly jump.

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August 11, 2019 at 08:48 pm

At the combine, don't most of the DBs do about 20 or more, and the really good ones more like 30? How are you going to tackle Ezekiel Elliot if you can only do 9 reps? He's going to run you over and stomp your face into the ground.

How many reps did Jackson do? I'm going to check.

JonathanSpader

August 11, 2019 at 10:04 pm

He's not going to be expected to tackle Ezekiel Elliot. He's going to be asked to cover. We lost Owen Burks not Blake Martinez. You can never have too many people that can cover in a passing league.

August 11, 2019 at 11:09 pm

Covering is great, but you’ve got to get guys on the ground. That’s Defense 101.

JonathanSpader

August 11, 2019 at 11:25 pm

You don't have to tackle a player if you break up the pass or intercept the ball. It's called creating roles for your players and putting them in positions to play to their strengths. It's called coaching 101. You got guys on the ground when you played on the ground. You stop guys through the air when the league turns into a passing league. No wonder your name is Old School lol.

August 12, 2019 at 09:10 am

Look at any team in the league and look at how many tackles the secondary people are making in comparison to your guys on the Front 7.

Yes, people in the secondary tackle. Cornerbacks tackle. Alexander, for example, was SECOND ON THE TEAM in tackles.

Under the current rules, it's pretty damn hard to stop completions, and that's why every QB is throwing 60% completion rate or better. Completions will happen. But those freakin' runs AFTER the catch are backbreakers.

You're usually pretty astute, Mr. Spader, but if you don't think tackling is important, and that secondary people have to tackle, then we're going to have to disagree.

JonathanSpader

August 12, 2019 at 12:47 pm

The dropoff between Blake Martinez and any other Packer for tackles is ridiculous. You call Alexander the next leading tackler and he is but it's 144 for Blake and 66 for Martinez. My hope Old School is that 2018 was an anomoly. That we have more Packers who can tackle but based off the 1 preseason game they haven't really inspired confidence.

The point I was making is that we need more people who can cover. I'm hoping that the tackling void is filled by the Smiths. My argument isn't that secondary players don't have to tackle if a completion os made the way to stop the player is to tackle him. My argument is to stop the pass from being completed in the 1st place. This kid has an amazing leaping ability and great size but he was cut by the Jets for a reason. I'm arguing that he won't be able to tackle efficiently but that he could still bring value if he can cover well. I don't expect either to happen but you never know.

August 12, 2019 at 01:29 pm

I agree that we need more cover guys, but every single swinging dick on that defense has to be able to tackle or you aren't going to be a very good defense.

Here's a fact: People are going to complete passes on us. I don't care if we line up a bunch of HOFers in their prime, under the rules you can't stop an accurate QB from completing better than 60%. In fact, only one team, the Ravens, held opponents to less than 60%. The Packers at 63.8% were still above the median, which is around 64.5%.

Call it two out of three. So if a guy throws it 40 times against us, he'll complete about 27. The other 13 incompletions will be throwaways, or a drop, or occasionally a defended pass.

So catches are going to happen. The key is getting that guy on the ground, pronto. Occasionally, the contact might cause the receiver to lose control and that's good, but those runs after the catch are killer.

Davante Adams, for example, got almost 500 of his almost 1400 yards after the catch. Other top WRs are doing the same thing. Diggs, over in MInnesota, gets 45% of his yards after the catch.

I think if you just tackle these guys after the catch, you've solved 40% of the problem.

August 11, 2019 at 11:13 pm

More like 10+ to 20 would be my guess.

King did 11 as did Ento. Alexander did 14. Jackson did 18 and Josh Jones did 20.

EddieLeeIvory

August 11, 2019 at 09:35 pm

Sounds like another skinny fraile CB like brittle Kevin King

jyros

August 11, 2019 at 10:35 pm

Kevin King 0.5

JHitTheB

August 12, 2019 at 05:41 am

Honestly GB should have just kept Breeland to play opposite of Alexander. That would have been Alexander/Breeland/Savage/Amos and whoever plays in the slot. Would have been curtains.