JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Abry Jones started six of the Jaguars final seven games in 2018. He replaced Malik Jackson as a starter at defensive tackle.
Position: Defensive Tackle
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2018 Stats: 29 tackles, Sack
2018 season in review: Before getting the starting nod, Jones averaged about 30 snaps per game this past season. In addition to the financial benefits of him starting (which I’ll address later), at 6’4” and 317 pounds he takes up more space than Jackson.
On the back half of the season the Jaguars went with Jones and Marcell Dareus as their starting defensive tackles. Between them that’s over 600 pounds of man that has to be moved if an opposing team wants to establish a running game.
Jones doesn’t have the pass rushing ability of Jackson but the Jaguars feel he’s better at stuffing the run.
Abry Jones defensive MVP pic.twitter.com/bis3sNDedu
— Jeff Lageman (@logs56) December 17, 2018
Status for 2019: Jones is penciled in to start or at least compete for one of the Jaguars starting positions at defensive tackle in 2019. With a cap hit of just $4 million he’s a relative bargain compared to the cap hits of Dareus and Jackson, which are both north of $10 million.
In all likelihood either Dareus or Jackson will be released at some point this offseason. That would leave one of the two along with Jones and Taven Bryan as the Jaguars top three defensive tackles going into the 2019 season.