Datone Jones' weight loss could leave Packers’ defensive line light in Week 1

[Da-news-now]

With Datone Jones spending more of his time at outside linebacker and Mike Pennel suspended for the first four games of the season, the defensive line could suffer.

At the outset of the offseason, Mike McCarthy made his intensions for Datone Jones clear.

McCarthy's Green Bay Packers, unable to extract the quality of play from Jones they anticipated after selecting him 26th overall in the 2013 NFL Draft, decided to make his shift to outside linebacker permanent. In order to handle the unique strains and responsibilities of his new position, the former interior defensive lineman had to shed some weight.

According multiple accounts, Jones has put in the necessary work to remake his body.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported Jones' weight loss as a 15 pound loss. ESPN's Adam Caplan gave a similar figure, adding that the fourth-year man dropped his body fat percentage from 25 to 16.5. On the field, Jones looks a lot closer to teammates Nick Perry and Jayrone Elliott than Dean Lowry, a rookie expected to play Jones' old 5-tech position.

While Jones' new physique should serve him well in his new edge-rushing role, it could leaves the Packers perilously thin along the defensive line early in the season.

When Week 1 rolls around, Green Bay already knows it will take the field without B.J. Raji (retirement) and Mike Pennel (suspension). That leaves veterans Mike Daniels and Letroy Guion as likely starters with rookie first-rounder Kenny Clark the presumptive nose tackle. Unless Jones continues to work along the interior at his lighter weight, the team currently will have just two defensive linemen on the opening-week roster with NFL regular-season snaps on their résumé.

Can Jones continue to take snaps at the 5-tech after losing 15 pounds? In the Packers' base defense, doing so presents considerable challenges. Even before the body makeover, Jones fell on the lighter side for a 3-4 defensive lineman, often taking fewer snaps in the trenches near the end of the season as he fell below 280 pounds. In Green Bay's base defense, 5-techs must control two gaps instead of one, placing a priority on mass to clog up lanes and free up the linebackers. Jones could perhaps contribute along the interior on obvious passing downs -- the Packers move Julius Peppers up to the line in such situations -- but he remains an unattractive option there on early downs.

Still, the Packers may have to play Jones along the defensive line anyway. On Wednesday, head coach Mike McCarthy specifically stated that the team plans to give him opportunities to play the all over the defensive front. That may say more about Green Bay's lack of experienced alternatives early in the season than it does about Jones, who has disappointed since entering the league.

Conversely, Jones' weight loss and the Packers' lack of proven depth opens the door for the handful of young defensive lineman on the 90-man roster. Lowry possesses the best physical build for the 5-tech as well as a nearly peerless athletic profile. Christian Ringo cuts a similar image to Daniels and has a full year of practice-squad service under his belt. The team also signed a handful of undrafted free agents along the defensive line, including Tyler Kuder and Brian Price. Of the group, half or more could make the opening-week roster.

And if the Packers receive quality play from any of them, Jones can continue to focus on his transition to outside linebacker, a best-case scenario for both player and team. Jones certainly possesses the physical gifts to become a difference maker, especially with Peppers likely to see another snap reduction as he nears his 37th birthday.

But if the youngsters don't step up along the defensive line, the defensive line will look awfully thin, at least until Pennel returns from his four-game ban. With Chris Ivory, Adrian Peterson and Ameer Abdullah on the schedule, the lack of defensive-line depth could Green Bay plenty of headaches.

[BCOLOR=#FFC20E]Jason B. Hirschhorn is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and covers the NFL for Sports on Earth and SB Nation. He also serves as the senior writer and editor for Acme Packing Company, a Green Bay Packers blog.
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[realitybytes]

i know that i have mentioned this before but i'm surprised it hasn't been discussed more. the packers have only two defensive ends listed on their roster. one of them is datone jones (who wasn't supposed to be a defensive end any more), and the other one is dean lowry (a rookie). i'm very surprised that they haven't brought in anyone else even when they have had open slots on the 90-man roster. maybe we're just not going to use defensive ends in our alignments any more?

95 Jones, Datone DE 6-4 285 26 4 UCLA
94 Lowry, Dean DE 6-6 296 22 R Northwestern
60 Anderson, Demetris DT 6-1 312 24 R Central Florida
97 Clark, Kenny DT 6-3 314 20 R UCLA
76 Daniels, Mike DT 6-0 310 27 5 Iowa
98 Guion, Letroy DT 6-4 322 29 9 Florida State
90 Kuder, Tyler DT 6-3 307 24 R Idaho State
64 Pennel, Mike DT 6-4 332 25 3 Colorado State-Pueblo
96 Price, Brian DT 6-3 318 22 R Texas-San Antonio
99 Ringo, Christian DT 6-1 298 24 1 Louisiana-Lafayette

 

[57packer]

I agree it seems like a concern, but I think part of it is that the terms DT and DE don't really describe things adequately for a 3-4 defense, let alone the Packer 3-4. Of more concern is that they don't list a single NT . (j/k on the NT concern)

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I almost think it's just the Packers playing games with the position titles. They seem to use DE to describe the 5-technique guys and Jones and Lowry are essentially "strictly" 5-technique guys. That doesn't mean guys like Guion or Pennel can't fill that role for some snaps but they'll probably spend more time at NT and 3-technique. Plus they play so much nickel and dime that this may not matter as much. They'll just have the 2 best "bigs" rushing from the inside with CM3 and whoever is playing elephant lined up outside 60-70% of the snaps.

The thing they need to figure out is how many they need to start the season. Daniels, Guion, Clark and Lowry are locks it would seem. I'm thinking they would keep at least a 5th one, perhaps Ringo. Then they get Pennel back for game #5 at which point they would be at 6. They may need Jones for some snaps those first 4 games, but there should be little or no need to use Jones on the line once they get to 6.