The Arizona Cardinals were linked to plenty of offensive tackles in various mock drafts leading up this April’s NFL Draft. They got one of the top players at the position…just not until the third round in Houston’s Josh Jones.
Jones was projected to be a first round pick or go early in the second, but he slipped down to pick 72, where the Cardinals were quick to select him. According to Pro Football Focus, the tackle was the 14th-rated player in the 2020 draft class and had his 93.2 grade was the highest PFF has ever given to a Group of 5 tackle:
He’s only allowed 18 pressures on 1,282 pass-blocking snaps over the past three years. He’s earned pass-blocking grades over 88.0 each of the past two seasons. Maybe the most encouraging thing though was how massively his run-blocking grade improved this last season from 62.8 in 2018 to 92.7 in 2019.
PFF’s Steve Palazzolo called the Cardinals’ first two picks in the draft “a massive win” for the organization.
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah had him rated as the No. 39 player in the class.
The 6-foot-7, 310-pound tackle could compete for the starting right tackle position with second-year player Justin Murray and veteran Marcus Gilbert, who missed the entire 2019 season after tearing his ACL.
Jones appeared in 45 games over four years within the Cougars’ pass-heavy offense, which should help him in Kliff Kingsbury’s scheme.
Jordan Hamm
