Seahawks Jamarco Jones proves he’s a full-grown man
The Seahawks desperately needed help on their offensive line against the Rams. Jamarco Jones came through far better than anyone expected.
The Seahawks faced the biggest challenge of the season so far when they hosted the Rams last Thursday. Los Angeles had beaten them in their last three meetings. The division rivals had sacked Russell Wilson 13 times in those games, so it was paramount for the offensive line to give him better protection. Starting guard D.J. Fluker was only in for nine plays, and backup Ethan Pocic was out with back trouble. The Seahawks turned to second-year tackle Jamarco Jones to fill in.
So there are two things you should realize about the assignment the Hawks handed to him. First, Jones was going to have to block Aaron Donald. I’m sure all 12s are aware that this guy is bad news for opposing quarterbacks. He’s the consensus pick as the league’s best defensive tackle. Donald is a five time Pro Bowler, a four time All-Pro, and has won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year the past two seasons. And the Seahawks basically told Jones, have fun kid.
The other notable part of this story is Jamarco Jones himself. Or to be more accurate, his experience. So far this season, he’s only had seven snaps, all on special teams. Last year was his rookie season. After he challenged Germain Ifedi for the starting job at right tackle in camp, Jones was lost for the season with an ankle injury. So we have the setting. For the Rams it’s Donald, the two-time NFL defensive player of the year. For the Seahawks it’s Jones, the player with zero career snaps on offense. Oh, did I mention that Jones had never played guard before? Other than a few snaps in practice, this would be Jones first experience at the position.
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All Jones did was almost completely shut down Aaron Donald. It’s true that the Rams defender is off to a slow start this season. I looks like Los Angeles is missing the presence of bookend tackle Ndamukong Suh more than they expected. Regardless, this is a player with zero game experience at guard, taking on one of the NFL’s very best in his first assignment.
Jones crushed it. Donald finished the game with three combined tackles, one of those for a loss, and one quarterback hit. That’s it. In the three previous games against the Hawks Donald had 6.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits. Throw in six tackles for a loss for another kick in Seattle’s teeth. Jones came close to blanking Donald, all while playing 65 snaps without a single penalty. It was a remarkable performance.
Granted, it ‘s just one game, but Jones now has the highest grade of any Seahawks O-lineman from Pro Football Focus. He graded out at 79.1. Duane Brown is second overall at 67.0, while Fluker ranks second among guards at 63.1. If Jones qualified, this would rank him fourth among the entire NFL. Yes, it was one game, but it was one game against one of the league’s best.
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One more note on the performance of Jones. As I said, he was pushing Ifedi for the starting spot at right guard before his injury last season. Ifedi has definitely improved his play from his abysmal 2017 season, thanks to offensive line coach Mike Solari. On the other hand, he’s certainly not a Pro Bowler. PFF currently ranks him 59th in the league, just 10 spots from the bottom. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see Jones eventually move into Ifedi’s starting role. I’ll trust a shutdown performance over a two-time player of the year over a bad combine performance every time.