The Arizona Cardinals were excited when they were able draft tackle Josh Jones in the third round in 2020. They couldn’t believe he was still available in the third round.
As he enters his third NFL season, he isn’t slated to be a starter, but the team is still very high on him as a player and future starter.
He has been working exclusively at tackle this offseason after playing guard last year for the first time in his career.
Playing Jones at guard last season wasn’t necessarily a failed experiment. It was by design.
“Last year, he was one of our best five (linemen),” said offensive line coach and run-game coordinator Sean Kugler on Saturday. “My job as an offensive line coach is to get the best five guys on the field.”
Since Kelvin Beachum and D.J. Humphries were engrained as the starting tackles, the way to get Jones on the field was to use him at guard.
“He was out of position last year, I’ll be the first to tell you that,” Kugler said. “He had some ups and downs.”
There good games and struggles for Jones but now, with the addition of Will Hernandez, Jones is the leader to be the primary backup swing tackle.
But being a backup isn’t what the team envisions for him long-term.
“Tackle is his natural position, his long-term, ” Kugler said. “He’s a future starter here at tackle. He could start this year, so I feel confident of that.”
While Humphries and Beachum are healthy, Jones will be the guy on the bench, but should he get called into action, the Cardinals believe he is capable of being a starter.
“If your third tackle is capable of starting, you’ve got a good tackle,” he said.
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