Chris Jones is dominating from... defensive end?

Examining how Kansas City has experimented with the star pass rusher at DE over the last 3 weeks, with impressive results

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Last season, Steve Spagnuolo and the Chiefs tried an experiment that received a great deal of press, moving star defensive tackle Chris Jones to defensive end. It was talked about at length in training camp and the preseason, and was one of the primary focuses of conversation as the season began.

After seeming to be a smashing success in Week 1, though, the experiment rapidly soured. Jones was unable to hold up against read option looks as a run defender, lacking the ability to break down in space that Spagnuolo asks for from his ends in those situations. He also (though there was a great deal of debate as to whether this was about him or the defense as a whole) wasn’t collecting the expected hits/sacks from the position in a way that appeared to move the needle for the defense. The experiment was largely scrapped midseason, and Jones returned to dominating form down the stretch from his traditional 3-tech spot. The idea of “Chris Jones at DE” was, it appeared, dead.

Except apparently no one remembered to tell Spagnuolo or Jones about the death of the experiment.

Here’s Jones, rushing from the left defensive end spot and forcing a fumble against the 49ers. It was one of his two sacks on the day, and both of them were from defensive end.

Over the last three weeks, (and a little before), Spagnuolo has revived the idea of moving Jones outside. Only now, it’s been utilized as a changeup rather than as his primary position, and it’s only being utilized in certain (but not all) obvious passing situations. And the results are considerably more successful than what they were last season.

I thought it might make sense to see just how often and how effectively Jones is being moved to the edge. With that in mind, I charted every one of the snaps he’s taken from there over the last three weeks, looking at the down and distance and doing the usual win/loss/neutral charting along with pressures/hits/sacks and effective double teams. And what I found was a changeup that is absolutely destroying opposing teams. We’ll get to those numbers in a second.

First, it’s worth noting that Jones has taken 18 snaps from the edge over the last three weeks, a little higher than I’d expected (it was 7 against LV, 3 against BUF, and 8 against SF). All of them were on obvious passing downs, broken down most easily this way:

-9 of the 18 snaps came on 3rd down and 5 or more yards to go.

-the other 9 snaps all came with either under 3 minutes to go in the half or the game, OR (all against SF) once the score was out of hand to the point that the opponent had no choice but to throw (his final 3 came with under 6 minutes left in the 4th against SF, once the lead was multiple TD’s)

In other words, Spagnuolo learned from last season’s failures on 1st and 2nd down and isn’t trying to use Jones as a pure defensive end, or even primarily as a defensive end in passing situations. Instead, he’s utilizing it as a way to free up Jones and mess with what opposing coordinators are trying to do. And the results have been exceptional. Here are the numbers.

It’s hard to describe just how phenomenal this is. Over the course of 18 plays (all but 2 of which were pass rush snaps), Jones has won on half of those snaps. For frame of reference, only the very best players in the league win 25% of their snaps. Further, those wins have come in a fashion that have led to directly affecting the quarterback, with 2 pressures, a hit, and 4 sacks (one of which was called back due to an absolutely abysmal roughing the passer call that we need not re-litigate here).

The first thing one can see, when looking at the above clip, is that Jones’s strength is just too much for tackles to deal with along the edge when matched up 1x1. And the Chiefs are utilizing various methods to grab that matchup.

First of all, one can see the obvious power mismatch Jones enjoys against most tackles. Generally speaking, NFL tackles are built a little longer and more lean than guards/centers, leaving them with less “low man wins” leverage to try and utilize against a bull rush. This doesn’t hurt them as much because they’re generally facing players that they outweigh by anywhere from 30 to 60 pounds.

With Jones, that size advantage is nonexistent, and even a tackle who sets up well and keeps his feet underneath him is prone to being driven back right into the quarterback’s lap. It’s a constant threat that they have to deal with if they don’t have any help. On this snap, the Chiefs prevent that help with their alignment, something they have more flexibility with when Jones is on the edge.

Here, the Chiefs lines up rookie defensive end George Karlaftis as a “zero tech,” meaning he’s lined up directly across from the center. It’s something they’ve done repeatedly when moving Jones to the edge. Karlaftis is a unique edge in that he has high level functional strength that makes him a legitimate threat inside, not to mention a first step and quickness that’s explosive enough to leave interior linemen behind if they’re not careful. He’s also a threat to run stunts/twists with fellow defensive linemen, something he and Dunlap try to set up here.

That unique interior threat messes with the protection plan for offensive linemen. Additionally, here, the Chiefs ensure the right guard can’t help the right tackle by threatening (and then sending) Nick Bolton on a blitz. It’s a dressed-up plan that has the basic goal of getting a mismatch, and one that wins. We’ll return to alignment and how this has helped the Chiefs counter the way teams are playing them shortly, but let’s get back to what a nightmare Jones is to contend with on the edge.

The problem for tackles is that Jones isn’t just a threat to win with power. He also has excellent hand usage and is consistently able to swipe away the hands of opposing linemen and win the edge.

Josh Allen was correctly infuriated by the uncalled trip here, but the reality is that there was an uncalled hold as well as the right tackle desperately tried to prevent Jones from immediately swallowing his quarterback whole. And it didn’t come with pure power, but instead with Jones grabbing/controlling the outside hand of the tackle and then thrusting it aside. He’s strong enough to completely discard the OL’s hands and then fast enough to burst through the opening that creates.

This quick grab/swipe of the hands is one of Jones’ favorite techniques both on the edge and inside, and he’s used it multiple times to gather a fast win and pressure on quarterbacks when Spags has him at DE.

You can see here what makes Jones uniquely capable of winning on the edge in a way that most defensive tackles can’t. He not only has the heavy handed power required to control (and then discard) the hands of an opposing tackle, but he has the ability to actually corner and close without losing his balance. Guys like him and Aaron Donald (one of the few DT’s who can line up on the edge with similar results) are unique in this regard in that they have explosion and balance through contact that most players pushing 300 pounds could only dream of.

That athleticism means that tackles can’t “cheat” towards his power rush. If they don’t stay light on their feet and get even slightly off balance with their punch, Jones can go right by them and corner for pressure that happens so much faster than a player his size should be able to. It affected multiple plays where he didn’t collect the sack, forcing hurried throws on multiple occasions (watch how the QB turns his body expecting the hit post-throw here, one that ended up incomplete).

The RT is expecting some help form his RB chipping here, and because of that he tries to deliver a punch to counter Jones coming inside. But Jones is so nimble he’s able to slap away the punch and dance around the corner. And because of his strength/balance through contact he’s barely slowed by the running back’s chip (he also makes a nifty cut inside while cornering faster than he has any right to).

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Look at where this is when the QB hits the top of his drop. Keep in mind this is a 3rd and 7, where routes need a moment to develop ideally.

The QB is just starting to set himself after planting his last foot and Jones is already bearing down on him, having beaten the tackle and avoided the chip WHILE cornering. It’s a freakish snap, and it sums up well the problems facing him on the edge. He can destroy you with power, but he’s not limited to it.

The Chiefs utilizing Jones at edge more hasn’t gone unnoticed, nor the way that it affects how opposing offenses have to gameplan for them. As Geoff Schwartz explained, they’re looking for better matchups and to avoid some of the help offenses have been sending his way. Mitch Schwartz went into even more detail.

Mitchell Schwartz @MitchSchwartz71

To take it a step further, teams aren’t looking to Chip against the Chiefs DEs that often right now. If they’re game-planning us they’ll slide to Chris. So when you put Chris out there you get him more 1-on-1s, and you aren’t worried the play carries a Chip either.

Seth Keysor @RealMNchiefsfan

Is it my imagination, or are the Chiefs using Jones on the edge more frequently in recent weeks on obvious rush downs?

Mitchell Schwartz @MitchSchwartz71

Taking it yet another step further, maybe now teams will say “oh man, we gotta think about keeping someone in to Chip in case Chris is at DE in their 3rd down package.” So now the unpredictability might help alter the Offense’s 3rd down package and it may not be as dynamic.

In other words, the Chiefs are utilizing Jones at edge more to adjust to how teams were combating him as their sole consistently dangerous pass rusher. As I talked about following the Raiders game, teams were constantly sliding an extra blocker towards Jones and sending extra help his way constantly. That can be harder to do on the edge, where there is only the tackle AND help can only come from a TE or RB when the Chiefs line up a defender opposite the guard.

As Mitch Schwartz points out, this moving Jones to edge is a chess move that takes advantage of how teams are game planning for KC (without many chips for the edges). When that’s how it’s been drawn up for opponents, it’s hard to just shift to have the RB in protection, and even more so with a TE, as it messes with the entire play design.

And now, teams have to start accounting for the possibility of Jones at DE, which means they’ll have to draw things up with chips designed and force themselves to be more limited in routes run. Whether Jones lines up outside or not, that will have an effect on (as he phrases is) how dynamic they can be.

Long story short, Jones has been one of the very best defenders in football yet again this year, and by utilizing him at edge as a changeup rather than their fastball, the Chiefs are using his considerable talent to its fullest potential AND making themselves significantly harder to gameplan for despite their lack of a second consistently above-average pass rusher.

More importantly, it’s been incredibly fun to watch.