DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Dawand Jones

I’ve been reading a little about him, hearing good things about this monster-sized OT. How soon until he’s starting?
He went to OSU so you guys must know him.
He’s been getting a lot of reps and has been holding his own, according to the reports.

How scary he would be for a LB or DB, when he gets to the second level in a bad mood.

I believe he didn’t give up a sack at all last season. He was an All-American. I think his run blocking is behind his pass blocking. He should be able to get much better with his size and feet.

I think he's going to be our RT if/when Conklin is out ... and then our LT when Wills is gone after the season

That could happen . Wills will prove his worth, one way or another

I hope someone got vid of him during that joint practice skirmish. I heard he was tossing Eagles like they were Pop Warner players.

There is always the chance Wills could be moved to RT and Dawand could be our LT if he is capable. Conklin may have to be replaced because of injuries and could become a back-up.

Digression alert: People bag on Wills (not that you are necessarily) but the fact remains, even a mediocre LT is very valuable and worth keeping, and he’s better than mediocre. I don’t know who was on the chat boards for all those years before Joe Thomas, during the Butch Davis, Robiskie, Crennel years when we couldn’t find an LT better than hot garbage to save our souls but we were all pulling our hair out for an LT. We’ve been very lucky since then. For lots of teams the LT position is one of constant need and truth is good ones are about as rare as good QBs. Like QBs, in the best of times, half the leagues starters are ok to great and the other half are place holders at best. Most years it’s like a 1/3rd. Unless they have a solid alternate plan or have truly dark feelings about Wills’ health I’d expect them to try to keep him next year.

I definitely agree that Wills is average (could be much better with more effort), but we also have to remember that he's going to be asking for a lot more money than he's made thus far ... so we'll have to weigh that into the equation.

A good indicator might be how he played against Georgia, since they always seem to have so much defensive talent. Anyone recall how he fared in that game?

Good stuff there, thanks.

he just looks massive compared to the other guys

When at the games, seeing him in the huddle, he makes the other o-linemen look tiny. He is a mountain of a man.

He is a zip code.

What is new, what is the point, Jones is no different in size today than before, the difference is in the gameplay and techni@ue, because this is the NFL, it is a benefit to be big, but there is more to being a really great NFL tackle than that.
If the point is only to highlight someones' size then I don't get it for anything other than mocking, and if so, then whatever.

What does anyone think about moving Jones to LT and Wills to RT if Wills continues to have trouble pass blocking? Is it a feasible idea?

if it ain't broke, don't fix it until it is.

I'd be worried that Jed might effectively be starting all over again as far as muscle memory/"re-wiring" his brain to do everything backwards again. It could very well make things worse instead of better. To make it worse, Jones might go through a similar step back.

Between seasons it might be worth trying. In the middle of a season, I lean towards no.

THAT is the perfect nickname. 🤣

Good thing the Browns have a QB that's 6'2

Or Jones might be getting whacked in the back of his helmet

Or shoulder pads

I saw someone say this: to get Moore, Emerson, and Jones for a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th is such a good turnout

If Conklin was healthy, something tells me Jones would be our starting LT.

He's huge and moves like a man half his size.. Lock him up for the long haul...

Maybe.

Probably not, at least mid season. I think you would want to start that transition during mini camps and regular training camp.

No doubt he is on a good progression, but lets don't get too over the top just yet. He still has a lot to learn.

So far so good.

Plus, we got Moore and an early 3rd for a 2nd. So we ended up with Moore, Tillman, Emerson, and Jones for a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. Tillman hasn't shown much yet, but he is a big, physical receiver.


As far as Jones goes, can't complain at all. He is excellent in pass protection. He is good for going the wrong way on run plays about once a game so far. He doesn't have the run power you'd expect at his size, but he isn't bad either, so hopefully that improves with experience.

I think Tillman will be DPJ's replacement after this year

Honestly since 1999 we've done much better drafting after the 1st round. I've mentioned this before. I value 1st round picks but we haven't done a very good job in that round. Joe Thomas, Alex Mack and Myles are, IMO, the only 3 we drafted in the 1st that played like 1st round picks. The rest were average or worse. I would give a nod to Joe Haden but his production for us could have been had in the 2nd or 3rd round.

I was surprised and excited when we drafted Jones. If he would've been from any other team besides Ohio State, I wouldn't have known much about him. Funny enough, the drafted player I was most excited about getting and expect to be an excellent player for us in the future is Wypler. I was surprised he fell that far and excited he was available to us that late.

Something is telling me that he wasn't penciled in as the starter at LT before Conklin went down.

what?

I'm not sure what part of that you didn't understand. He wasn't the starter in the first game before Conkiln was injured. He wasn't the named starer on the roster before the season ever began. If they thought he would be the better LT none of that would have happened to begin with. If the Browns coaching staff felt he was the best available player to play the LT position he would have been the starter in the Bengals game in which Conklin was injured.

Yeah, I never said he was the starter. I was saying that Wills has played so poorly that Jones would have been moved to LT if Conklin was not injured.

So that's what a "feeling" means. Good to know.

"something tells me" = opinion

Something tells me if they thought Jones would be better at LT, they would have made Jones the LT and moved Willis over to RT.

That could be the future plan.