Benito Jones: What the Lions are getting in their new DT
There is a new addition to the defensive line in Detroit. The Lions claimed DT Benito Jones off of waivers from the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday, a day after he was part of the wave of roster cutdowns across the NFL.
Jones is the Lions’ only waiver claim. The 24-year-old has been with the Miami Dolphins for the last two seasons, primarily on the active roster as a rookie in 2020 and then exclusively on the practice squad in 2021.
What are the Lions getting in Jones?
Jones is a large man at 6-foot-1 and a listed 329 pounds by the Dolphins. He played collegiately at Ole Miss at a listed 316 pounds and that appeared to be more in line with his appearance this preseason in Miami.
Despite the girth, Jones is a gap-shooting type of lineman and not an interior anchor-type of nose tackle. He has a nice initial punch when attacking, using his leverage and quickness to get up into the pads of the blocker. Jones showed a nice understanding of how to follow up the initial move, too. He can rip, spin or swim effectively around a single blocker.
He ran into issues when asked to two-gap, being responsible more as an absorber of blocks than someone trying to shed them. He plays lighter than his size would suggest and it shows in run defense and against more physical interior OL play.
If that sounds familiar, it should. The Lions have themselves a type at nose tackle, and Jones is a similar style of NT to Alim McNeill. Jones is a more natural fit as a direct backup to McNeill, who has been seeing more reps as the 3-tech in Aaron Glenn’s 4-man front later in the preseason and training camp. There is potential for the duo to play together, but expect Jones to be McNeill’s backup and rotate in a mix that also includes rookie Demetrius Taylor. Isaiah Buggs is more of a run-stuffing type and not a real threat to infiltrate the opposing backfield on his own.
For some good clips of Jones in action with the Dolphins, check out this Twitter thread from Brett Whitefield of Fantasy Points Data:
Lions fans, I’m the nerd who just watched all of Benito Jones’ last two preseasons worth of reps.
Jones is not a player without blemish (hence his availability) but he does some things well and solidifies the backup NT spot nicely, giving the Lions some much needed girth.
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— Brett Whitefield (@BGWhitefield) August 31, 2022
