What CB Jonathan Jones brings to the Washington Commanders

Examining what the Commanders are getting in CB Jonathan Jones

The Washington Commanders signed former Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones to a one-year deal worth $5.5million with incentives that could raise that number to $6.5million. It appears as though the Commanders pivoted to Jones as a fall back option after former Jets cornerback D.J. Reed revealed he picked Detroit over Washington. Jones offers a very similar profile to Reed so it makes sense that he would be the alternative option.

So what are the Commanders getting in Jones? Jones is an experienced player with the 31-year-old corner entering the league in 2016 as an undrafted free agent and sticking with the Patriots for nine seasons, winning two Super Bowls in the process. He did all of that despite being undersized at 5-foot-9, 185 pounds.

The Commanders want the ability to play more man coverage, but to do that they need corners they can rely on to stick tight to receivers. Jones has lots of experience playing man coverage as the Bill Belichick Patriots were masters of man coverage. Jones’s skills might not quite be what they once were, but he still shows the ability to hold up well in man coverage.

On this play, Jones lines up across from 49ers receiver Brandon Aiyuk. Aiyuk initially lines up on the outside of a three receiver set to the left of the formation, but goes in motion before the snap. That motion takes Aiyuk from being the outside receiver to being the inside receiver in the bunch set. Jones follows him in motion but the ball is snapped quickly and Aiyuk takes off running on a crossing route over the middle of the field. Crossing routes are hard for any corner to follow because it’s tough to recover the leverage advantage a receiver gains, especially after a motion like this one.

Despite the advantageous position for Aiyuk, Jones does extremely well on the play. He navigates through traffic well to avoid getting even further behind Aiyuk, and then shows off his speed to catch up to the receiver. Most receivers are able to run away from corners on crossing routes, but Jones does a great job making up ground here. The quarterback still attempts to find Aiyuk on the crosser, but Jones positions himself perfectly for the undercut. He undercuts the route and reaches out with his right hand to tip the pass away from Aiyuk, causing it to fall incomplete.

This wasn’t just a one off either, Jones showed a remarkable consistency in being able to run with crossing routes.

Here, the Bengals attempt to hit a crossing route off a play-action bootleg concept. The quarterback fakes a hand off to the right before rolling out to his left. Jones is tasked with trailing the receiver running the crossing route, but like we saw with Aiyuk, he does a great job following it. He starts from off and quickly works across the middle to try and close the gap. He looks just a step behind the receiver, so the quarterback attempts the throw, but Jones is again in a great position to undercut the route. That’s exactly what he does, getting his hand in at the catch point to ensure the receiver can’t complete the pass.

It’s not just crossing routes that Jones shows a proficiency for covering. Despite being undersized, Jones shows a good ability to play press coverage. He’s not someone that will look to jam receivers at the line and disrupt their release, but he does show good patience at the line and can be physical when he needs to be.