**evad04 here -- been away far too long. Have tried to e-mail Kevin/figure out how to log back in, it hasn't worked. Anyway, I'm back. And damn glad to be**
When I was going through my amateurish draft notes earlier today, the name I kept saying was "Datone Jones" -- as in dat one, I want dat one. So I'm feeling pretty skippy right now. I won't lie -- when Sharrif Floyd was falling down the board my teeth were getting a bit sweaty. When pick 22 came along and he was still on the board I was gettin' the butterflies. But when Minnesota took him and I knew we'd have a shot at our pick of quality ILB, CB, RB, S and most importantly -- D-line -- I felt great about the Datone Jones pick.
Let me lead with the singular reason his selection excites me: Far too much is made of 3-4 fits. Yes, a dominant five-technique 3-4 DE would be great. But scour the available field and you don't find much. Margus Hunt? Jesse Williams? William Gholston? Do you really want to spend a first-round pick on a second-round grade?
I don't.
No, I want Datone Jones. I want a "violent" (as some scouts have referred to) player. A disruptive, athletic, passionate workhorse.
I think entirely too much is being made about scheme fit. What scheme do we run? Last time I checked we're in the sub packages, uh, 65-75% of the time. This guy is a dream in the nickel -- where we're most often looking to disrupt the quarterback, not stop the run. Adding a big bruiser who can soak up blockers? That's kinda outdated thinking, I think. That's the 3-4 defense from the year a-while-ago.
These days we live in the world of attack the quarterback. And when our defense takes the field, much more often than not we have 5 DBs on the field, and we're at least trying to get after the quarterback. Datone Jones fits that. He's not perfect, of course. Gets a little too high, doesn't always play with the right leverage. But he is athletic and strong. He provides inside pressure. He's the guy the pushes the QB back into an edge monster like Matthews.
I am very high on the pick. And I think you should be too.