Miami is up against the wall in a tough Saints game, and Jones will be key in a win
Reshad Jones was paid big time to be a leader in production
As far as Miami Dolphins Defense goes, only Cameron Wake is more respected for his leadership and play than Reshad Jones.
That’s why the Dolphins brass paid Jones a fortune even by NFL standards to the tune of $60 million over 5 years, including $35 million guaranteed, with an average annual salary of $12 million.
Despite his talent and a history of excellent production, Jones enters the first year of his contract coming off shoulder surgery and 29 years old, which adds risk to the financial considerations.
This is a big game for Miami, and it doesn’t take a great per head sportsbook to figure out that in order or Miami to get a win this week Jones must play a big part.
So while it’s only been two games, the question is, how’s the big payout going so far?
With only a couple of minor exceptions, I recorded every play Jones has been–or should have been–a part of in the Jets ad Chargers games.
Going over the film, the Chargers game had Jones playing a lot of clean up like a good Safety should. The last play in the clip was one of his two very good plays in the game that represent why he was paid so handsomely.
Jones did seem out of tune with the passing game and a beat behind in his coverage. But, he did come up with a huge play that put the Chargers out of field goal range. So he was absolutely a difference maker in the game, albeit a rusty one.
Jones has a history of making plays all over the field
In the game against the Jets, Jones played far less clean up, but his coverage continued to be slightly behind. This game also saw a fair share of poor angles and tackling, given his standards.
BUT, he was a monster at the line of scrimmage and created many negative plays for the offense and nearly had his first pick.
#20 was always better in the box and attacking than in his coverage, even though over the years his coverage has become very good. So this seems like a natural progression given he started the year with a calf injury, the first game was a scratch, and they’ve covered an insane amount of distance in travel. All the indications are that he’s on track for another excellent year. The question now is how many more games will it take for him to peak? And will it be a good year or a great year?
I expect his pass coverage to take a step forward this Sunday and most of the rust to be knocked off his tackling. But given Miami’s situation, and the amount he is being paid, Jones needs to be the Jones we know as a difference maker from front to back of the defense ASAP… if not sooner. And with Drew Brees on deck, a really good time for Jones to hit his stride would be this week. Go Fins!!!