The place did Chris Jones go to college_ How Chiefs star rose from Mississippi State to NFL Draft steal
‘s powerful to contend for a championship with out nailing a number of Day 2 and Day 3 draft picks.
Sure, the Chiefs have one of the gifted quarterbacks in NFL historical past and an offensive wizard in coach Andy Reid, but it surely takes a whole staff to win a Tremendous Bowl. Would Kansas Metropolis’s observe report be totally different if defensive sort out Chris Jones wasn’t drafted in 2016?
Jones did not come off the board till the second spherical, after then-GM John Dorsey traded out of the primary spherical in a cope with the 49ers. San Francisco would choose Joshua Garnett with the choose acquired from Kansas Metropolis, so the deal labored out tremendously for the Chiefs.
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Jones rapidly proved to be an indispensable a part of Kansas Metropolis’s future because the anchor of its defensive position. Here is how Jones ascended from ignored to Professional Bowler with the Chiefs.
The place did Chris Jones go to varsity?
Jones spent his faculty days at Mississippi State, serving as a three-year starter. He took over a beginning function as a real freshman and made his presence felt with three sacks and 7 tackles for loss.
Jones did not pile up bug sack numbers with the Bulldogs, totaling solely 8.5 throughout three seasons, however he was disruptive sufficient as an inside defensive lineman to place his identify firmly on NFL radars. Jones selected to skip his senior season and declare for the NFL Draft after 2015.
When you do not keep in mind Jones for his time at Mississippi State, you would possibly keep in mind his notorious wardrobe malfunction on the NFL Mix.
Jones was solely 21 when he was drafted, and Chiefs’ gamble on his excessive ceiling has paid off. He opened his rookie season as a backup however grew to become a starter by October, registering two sacks and 10 quarterback hits. After a stable second season, these numbers exploded in 2018 with 15.5 sacks, 29 quarterback hits, and 19 tackles for loss in a breakthrough marketing campaign.
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Along with being a disruptive presence at Mississippi State, he was additionally one of many nation’s top-ranked defensive prospects when he dedicated to play in Starkville.
Contemplating how younger he was on draft evening, that meant one thing to NFL evaluators who are inclined to draft based mostly on potential greater than they drafted based mostly on faculty manufacturing. Jones has refined his strategies within the NFL, gotten stronger, and turn out to be maybe the NFL’s most disruptive inside defensive linemen not named Aaron Donald.
Chris Jones stats
Season Video games Sacks TFL QB Hits 2016 16 2.0 5 10 2017 16 6.5 5 13 2018 16 15.5 19 29 2019 13 9.0 8 20 2020 15 7.5 3 28 2021 14 9.0 8 17 2022 17 15.5 17 29 Whole 107 65.0 65 146
Jones tied career-highs with 15.5 sacks and 29 quarterback hits this season, incomes a first-team All-Professional choice in the most effective seasons of his profession on the Chiefs’ protection.
Jones is eighth in Chiefs historical past with 65 profession sacks. Simply 10 extra sacks would skyrocket him to fifth in franchise historical past, and he would not seem able to decelerate.
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Chris Jones contract
Jones is three years right into a four-year, $80 million contract extension he signed in 2020. The Chiefs labored out the long-term cope with Jones simply forward of the deadline for franchise-tagged gamers a number of months after their Tremendous Bowl 54 win, retaining one in every of their defensive stalwarts.
Jones made $23.6 million in 2022 and is ready to make a good $20 million in 2023. Kansas Metropolis might get out of his contract this offseason with solely a small cap hit, however there is no cause to try this after such a productive season. Extra seemingly, the Chiefs will look towards one other extension with their franchise defensive lineman.
Jones’ $20 million common annual wage trails solely Donald and DeForest Buckner amongst all defensive tackles.
