Dawand Jones 2023 NFL Draft Profile
As the NFL moves towards a pass-happy league, teams look to add quicker, more agile offensive tackles to hold up against speed rushers in pass protection. However, this past season, the roles flipped. NFL teams ran the ball at a historic rate. With this in mind, offensive tackle Dawand Jones out of Ohio State is massively underrated as a first-round prospect.
Jones is a mammoth of a human being. Standing at 6-foot-8, 374 pounds, make him a mauler in the run game. Massive hands and an absurd 36″ arm length make his size some scouts dream of when looking for an offensive tackle. Albeit, Jones logged a 5.35 second 40-time at the combine, that comes with the sheer size he possesses.
Jones plays opposite standout tackle Paris Johnson Jr., who plays wildly differently. Johnson Jr. is a smaller, more agile tackle who doesn’t possess the same kind of size and power. Teams may prefer Johnson Jr., as he can keep up with the more common speed rushers like Haason Reddick. However, the ceiling of Jones is higher if he can learn how to use his arms to his advantage and get ahold of edge rushers.
At the Senior Bowl, Jones put on an incredible show. On Day One, he showed out in pass protection drills. After the dominant performance, Jones sat out the rest of the Senior Bowl. And rightfully so, Jones proved his worth in pass protection, which was his main question mark going into the Draft process.
Dawand Jones will not be plugged into a zone-blocking scheme. His size simply does not allow him the quickness necessary to succeed in that role. But if you want a man who can take on any edge player one-on-one in the run game and create pancakes, Jones is your man. He is a plug-and-play right tackle who will have some difficulties with faster guys on the edge. However, that will be cleaned up as he works on using his massive hands and wingspan to shut down pass rushers. What can be said is that he will never be overpowered, and that will show in the run game.
I expect several teams like the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs to look at Dawand Jones as a potential first-round selection. Both have holes at right tackle and are in need of a guy like Jones. This is assuming the Patriots don’t become enamored with a pass-catcher like Jones’s teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
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