RENTON, Wash. – For the first half of 2023, Dremont Jones has played almost exclusively at defensive tackle, playing inside for the majority of snaps.
In the second half, he played primarily as a defensive end.
And when his first season with the Seattle Seahawks was in the books, Jones was something of an enigma. He was a talented player whose impact did not match the hype that came with being one of the biggest free agent acquisitions. In franchise history.
Mike McDonald appears.
The Seahawks’ new head coach isn’t installing a copy-and-paste version of the scheme he tweaked in Baltimore over the past two seasons, but he’s bringing in the elements that made the Ravens’ defense perhaps the toughest in the NFL. solve. One way to keep opposing attacks guessing and to put defenders in advantageous positions is to constantly move them forward.
That’s why versatility has become an offseason buzz word among the Seahawks’ defensive linemen, coaches and personnel department.
When asked before the draft about the change in defensive style from former head coach Pete Carroll to McDonald, general manager Nolan Teasley said, “One thing I want to emphasize is diversity.”
“I think they probably dealt with it by keeping it. [Leonard Williams]. His ability to get up and down the line of scrimmage depending on the front and personnel. I know a player we’re really excited about and excited to see around is Dre’Mont Jones. His ability is due to his ability to rush from a 3 to a 6 and maybe even an out. Up to nine.”
Williams, who joined the team via trade in October and re-signed in March, said he has been playing five different positions in addition to his usual three-skill defensive tackle role.
“I think putting our defensive players in the best positions and creating matchups that confuse the offense helps us,” Williams said during minicamp earlier this month.
“It makes it harder for the offense to study us knowing that they can see Dre’Mont using five techniques on film, and when we line up and play against them, he’s probably going to have zero or three. “You’re going to have to use a lot of different techniques, so it’s harder to plan attacks against certain players because we’re moving around so much.”
Could this help Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde unlock the 27-year-old Jones?
His debut season with the Seahawks was solid rather than flashy, at least compared to the expectations that come with his big contract.
The three-year, $51.53 million contract Jones signed with Seattle last March made him the highest-paid free agent signing of the Carroll-John Schneider era. His $17.18 million average was well above the $9.53 million average the Seahawks gave outside linebacker Uchena Nusu 12 months ago, which was the most that regime ever spent on a free agent from another team.
Jones set career highs in tackles (49) and QB hits (12) while playing in all 17 games, and one of his 4.5 sacks came in the final minute of a Christmas Eve game against the Tennessee Titans as the Seahawks put the game away. It helped me do it. A 3-point win that kept playoff hopes alive.
But that was Jones’ lowest sack total since his rookie season with the Denver Broncos in 2019. He hit 3.5 then (he hit 6.5, 5.5, and 6.5 over the next three years). His five tackles for loss were also his fewest since 2019.
One thought inside the Virginia Mason Athletic Center is that the Seahawks coaches haven’t utilized Jones in a way that maximizes his strengths. He played 329 snaps as a defensive tackle and just 45 as a defensive end through the first nine games, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Then, after Nwosu went down with a pectoral tear in October and Williams arrived in a trade eight days later, Jones moved out and played 302 snaps as an end and 61 snaps as a tackle over the final eight games.
So the Seahawks took advantage of Jones’ versatility last season, but not on a game-by-game basis like the new staff intends to do in 2024.
Exact plans for individual players are still being worked out, but there are indications that this could be a home for Jones. This makes sense considering how well-equipped Seattle has at defensive tackles, including Williams, Jarran Reed, first-round pick Byron Murphy II and veteran addition Johnathan Hankins.
During the offseason, Jones’ personal trainer shared video of Jones going into coverage during an on-field workout. During minicamp, he participated in position drills with the outside linebackers. That was after he went from a listed weight of 281 pounds to around 265-270 pounds.
During an 11-on-11 period of the second minicamp practice, Jones lined up on the edge opposite Williams through Seattle’s defense, and a few plays later he was next to Williams in a nickel package.
“I think his skill set helps him play some matchup balls or set up other guys,” Macdonald said. “He can do a lot. We’ve talked about it, but I’m really excited about Dre’Mont.”
McDonald praised Jones for staying up to date on Seattle’s defense and remaining in “great shape” despite leaving the facility during voluntary organized team activities. Jones posted on Instagram earlier this month that he recently became a father for the second time.
“Even though he wasn’t in the building, he knew a lot about what we were doing,” Macdonald said.
The Seahawks converted $9.875 million of Jones’ $11 million 2024 base salary into a signing bonus before leaving for pre-training camp summer break and added two years of gap time to his contract at the end of the season, increasing their salary cap space to $7.4 million. This was a general restructuring to give Seattle some room to work around the spending limit, and no new money was added.
The biggest change for Jones is his expanded role on Seattle’s defensive line.
“If you can have guys that can do multiple things, play different gaps in the running game, rush to different levels in the passing game, and have bigger guys, it opens up more personnel groups, gets more looks. can be created.” McDonald said. “Overall, it’s good for us. … We’re going to see what the spring was like, reevaluate our plans as we get into camp, and see how it evolves throughout camp as camp goes on. I think we’ve got to have that attitude. We’re not just in a rut. “If anything, I think you have to limit yourself to how far you can lead your team.”
