Chris Jones is still awesome, even if people aren't noticing

Looking through Jones' snaps against the Patriots to answer some questions about the star DT.

If I had a penny for every time someone has asked me about Chris Jones over the last half-dozen years, I’d have like a hundred dollars. Which doesn’t sound like a lot, but when you think of how many pennies it takes to make a dollar… well, you get it.

There’s something about the Chiefs star defensive tackle that has led to people, for one reason or another, questioning his greatness more often than any elite player I’ve covered while writing about the Chiefs. From his second year on (while his sack count didn’t skyrocket until his third season, he became a high-level pass rusher that second season), I’ve had people ask me about his effort, his run defense, his discipline, his consistency, his impact, his playoff performances, why his sack numbers fluctuate, etc, far more than anyone else who has produced the way he has as a player.

This remained true even after he became recognized leaguewide as an elite player. It remained true after he helped force a pick and knocked down crucial passes in Super Bowl LIV to hand the Chiefs the win (George Kittle catches a first down and the Niners bleed the clock out while extending their lead if Jones doesn’t exist). It remained true after he dominated the AFC Championship last year.

And once again, I’ve had my Twitter/X mentions/DMs start to fill up with people asking me about Jones’ impact. The general tenor of those questions are often some variant of “for a guy who wants to get paid…” and then noting that the questioner doesn’t see Jones making much of an impact. Following a Patriots game in which Jones didn’t record a sack or (per PFR) a QB hit, those questions were frequent enough that it makes sense to talk about Jones’ tape, his role in the defense, and how he’s still the disruptor around which Kansas City’s defensive gameplan is based (and doing it at an elite level, even when it’s not noticeable).

Let’s talk about Chris Jones, the nature of being the center of a defensive (and offensive) gameplan, and how (regardless of how the contract situation ends) Jones remains one of the 5-7 most valuable defensive players in the league.