Craig Stout: Chris Jones has been lining up at DE a TON at OTAs.

[Direckshun]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Honestly, I’d rather keep him along the interior where he is elite. But Stout mentioned that the base DL is Jones and Clark on the edges with Reed and Nnadi along the interior.

That’s a big risk the team is taking, and the early returns in spot duty last year were not encouraging.

But Stout mentions that Jones has slimmed down a ton as well, clearly prepared to take a stronger role at RDE.

Maybe the most important thing to watch for our defense.

He also mentions Humphrey is your starting center.

[Chiefs=Champions]

Jones is basically Justin Tuck's height and weight, he played both positions for spags.

[duncan_idaho]

If they’re switching to more of a 4-man under front, the strong side DE lines up in the same technique Jones played and excelled at in the odd front run by Sutton.

His most productive pass rushing season was in that role. Color me not concerned if that’s where he aligns against 12 or 21 offensive sets.

I think against 11 personnel we’ll see Jones inside next to Reed.

If you assume they’re going to use Jones as a 7 or 9 tech at E, yeah, that seems weird and unlikely to work. It also seems incredibly unlikely. I would bet he lines up as a 4-tech or 5 tech whenever he’s at DE (depending on where the TE ends up).

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

If they’re switching to more of a 4-man under front, the strong side DE lines up in the same technique Jones played and excelled at in the odd front run by Sutton.

His most productive pass rushing season was in that role. Color me not concerned if that’s where he aligns against 12 or 21 offensive sets.

I think against 11 personnel we’ll see Jones inside next to Reed.

If you assume they’re going to use Jones as a 7 or 9 tech at E, yeah, that seems weird and unlikely to work. It also seems incredibly unlikely. I would bet he lines up as a 4-tech or 5 tech whenever he’s at DE (depending on where the TE ends up).

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

A Spags DE bodyshape is roughly 30 pounds lighter than Jones, give or take, actually. I haven't seen any pictures of him, however; just reading reporting. So I think they've put their eggs in that basket.

Which, personally, I think is a big deal. If he's throwing a third of his snaps away at DE, which I fear he will be, then we may have issues getting a rush going.

Time will tell, though. I don't want to put the cart before the horse here.

A Spags DE bodyshape?

He's already employed stuff in KC he never deployed in St. Louis or New York.

Stop putting Spags in a box. That might help you quite a bit to see things more clearly.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

Hey Chris,

I'm not remotely sure if you are properly processing the points I'm making here. Like, I'm literally not sure if you're reading my posts or if you're scanning them and hitting reply.

You say: "of COURSE they moved Kpass in -- why is this news!?" and then you gas on a bit.

I literallly did not say it was news, I was simply describing the system that we're sliding Jones into, in order to set the foundation for my perspective. So I literally don't know where your exasperation is coming from on that point -- or on many of your points.

Tell you what, it's OTAs and we won't know Jones' role until the snaps are live. So let's start with the basics here.

What do you think Jones' role is going to be? Because we're just reading tea leaves at this point.

I think we're looking at him playing roughly 35-45% of his snaps at DE on the strong side. The rest will be in his usual interior habitat.

Do you agree with that prediction, or not?

No, man, I'm reading your posts.

and I think you're looking at everything through an incorrect lens. You're looking at this all wrong.

You're looking at this like we run a typical base 4-3 and concluding that this is a weird personnel fit.

And I'm saying 1)no we don't really 2)Spags loves versatility to exploit mismatches 3)Spags historically has moved his best 4 pass rushers inside and outside so there is precedent 4)This is mostly much ado about nothing.

You're not going to see Jonesy lining up in a wide 9. I seriously doubt that.

He's been lining up in a DE spot occasionally in the past, and we'll see it more frequently this season.

This is not something to get all worked up about. It will happen when the Chiefs feel like it's a mismatch worth exploiting; and it won't when they don't think it is. It's literally another chess piece for the coordinator to play with. It's a big-assed Honey Badger on the line.

Don't get so hung up on the position labels. They're not as cut and dried as what they were twenty years ago. Just like calling Mathieu a safety is not really accurate. Sometimes he is, sometimes he's a slot corner, sometimes he's a freakin' linebacker.

Now sometimes Jones will be inside, sometimes outside, he'll be something the offensive line will have to locate and deal with on every snap.

I really see no downside here.

[Chris Meck]

It's kind of like how Andy Reid's offense is a West Coast offense.

But not really. I mean, kind of, but this is nothing like Bill Walsh's west coast offense.

And now Spags runs a 4-3, only not really, not very often, and he does all kinds of weird stuff that's not typical.

He's trying to find creative ways to best utilize his best players.

[staylor26]

Direckshun questioning the Chiefs at every turn is both hilarious and pathetic.

[O.city]

If they're moving him out there because they think he can be as good out there as inside and can expand what they can do on defense, it's a great calculated move.

If it's more desperation because they're lacking at DE, it's not ideal.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by O.city

If they're moving him out there because they think he can be as good out there as inside and can expand what they can do on defense, it's a great calculated move.

If it's more desperation because they're lacking at DE, it's not ideal.

I think it's pretty obvious that it's the former and not the latter, because they could easily go sign a veteran DE. There are a few out there still that would be helpful.

And they may well do so before the season starts. But it seems clear that they are not super worried about it.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

I think it's pretty obvious that it's the former and not the latter, because they could easily go sign a veteran DE. There are a few out there still that would be helpful.

And they may well do so before the season starts. But it seems clear that they are not super worried about it.

Exactly.

[O.city]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

I think it's pretty obvious that it's the former and not the latter, because they could easily go sign a veteran DE. There are a few out there still that would be helpful.

And they may well do so before the season starts. But it seems clear that they are not super worried about it.

They aren't gonna say either way at this point because they don't have to. I don't know how you could say it's obvious at this point one way or another.

[Chris Meck]

One thing too-

I realize it's a small sample size, but for the Chiefs staff, they watched the kid in practice all season long.

Tim Ward looked really good in week 17 against the Chargers' starters. He was disruptive with a non-stop motor. He looked like he belonged.

It may well be that the team sees his practice growth and game 17 as something they're comfortable with him playing significant snaps in 2021.

Small sample size for us, confirmation for The Chiefs.

Just sayin'.

I think if they don't sign a vet it's an indication that they're comfortable with Jonesy, Charlton, Danna, and Ward as their LDE rotation.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by O.city

They aren't gonna say either way at this point because they don't have to. I don't know how you could say it's obvious at this point one way or another.

You don't think if they thought DE was a big enough weakness that they'd move Chris Jones over that they wouldn't have devoted more resources to the position in March and April?

[O.city]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

You don't think if they thought DE was a big enough weakness that they'd move Chris Jones over that they wouldn't have devoted more resources to the position in March and April?

I'm not sure the opportunity ever presented itself.

With the OL being the priority, it kind of had to take a back burner.

I also think it's overblown to worry much about this at this point. They're not dumb. They'll figure something out.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by O.city

They aren't gonna say either way at this point because they don't have to. I don't know how you could say it's obvious at this point one way or another.

uhh, actions speak louder than words.

They've had Ingram in for a visit. If they were viewing LDE as a hole wouldn't they have signed him? There are others out there too, viable starters, and no word that they've so much as kicked the tires.

They had a clear need at O-line and were aggressive about it all off-season. I think it is OBVIOUS that they don't feel the same urgency about the LDE position.

If they were, they'd have done something about it.

I don't see how that's a controversial statement.