NFL executives, coaches and players ranked Kansas City Chiefs DT Chris Jones as the No. 2 defensive tackle in the league in ESPN’s recent top-10 rankings.
Jeremy Fowler polls league-wide opinion to create these rankings every year and the defensive tackle rankings this year sang a familiar tune. Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald took home the No. 1 spot, as he has since these top-10 rankings became a thing back in 2020. In fact, if you look at the captions for each previous story on Google, it usually reads something like, “Aaron Donald is the best interior defensive lineman in football. Who follows from 2-10?”
Even in a year where Donald didn’t perform as he usually does, Jones was still left sitting in Donald’s shadow. It didn’t matter that Jones had a career year that ended in a Super Bowl victory. Even though he had no votes lower than No. 3 and had several No. 1 votes, including one from an anonymous AFC executive, who seems to have played the team twice in 2022.
“One-on-one matchups, he has a natural answer for everything,” said an AFC exec who voted Jones No. 1. “Wrecked our games.”
That wasn’t the consensus apparently, as another AFC executive had a vastly different opinion on Jones and his ability.
“I think a lot of his production is inflated,” another AFC exec told Fowler. “And he’s not always consistent against the run.”‘
What’s funny about that is these executives didn’t seem to hold Donald to the same standard. A high-ranking NFL scout admitted to Fowler that Donald was in a “slight decline” and said his performance was “a byproduct of what was around him.”
Basically, Donald had a down year in 2022, but all is forgiven because his team also had a bad year. Jones doesn’t get that type of pass, but instead, he gets dinged for “inflated production.”
When takes like this exist among NFL decision-makers and peers, you can hardly blame Jones for having a chip on his shoulder. It’s understandable why he’s out to earn his respect, looking for a top-tier contract and setting lofty personal goals for the 2023 NFL season.
