Josh Jones should compete for Arizona Cardinals right tackle

Last year in the third round of the draft, the Arizona Cardinals landed what many considered to be a first-round talent. He hardly saw the field.

For the Arizona Cardinals, nabbing Josh Jones was the right choice. The big left tackle out of the University of Houston possessed great mobility, the ability to move defenders on the line of scrimmage with his 6’5″, 311 pound frame.These are all great qualities until you remember that D.J. Humphries isn’t going anywhere for a long time at the left tackle position. Even in blowouts we didn’t see much of him, as Jones only got 55 offensive snaps all year (PFR source). This means that for the Arizona Cardinals’ right tackle position is an open competition.

The Arizona Cardinals right tackle position flew under the radar this year. Veterans Kelvin Beachum and Justin Murray did a decent job handling their duties. With the competition in place, coaches Sean Kugler and Kliff Kingsbury could see what he truly has against good competition in camp or preseason (if they’ll exist this year, that is). Switching tackle positions isn’t the hardest thing to do, but can be done if the team decides to work him in on the right side of the line.

Jones’ athleticism would benefit Kingsbury’s offense as they could fix the bubble screen issue by sending Jones to the flat, being responsible for the kick-out block that receivers aren’t made for- even if that matchup is against a corner.  When it comes to the run game, his ability to reach, scoop, and get past defenders who are +1 of him will get a man on the backside linebacker, and allow for cuts for potentially more yards.

Of course there is always the possibility that they don’t use Jones in anything more than jumbo/heavy sets. But please don’t put him in shotgun formation with Kyler Murray like they did on the road in Seattle near the goal line. That was his only snap in that game, and I’m not quite sure what that was meant to do.

The Cardinals just are a team that holds their rookies under their wings (pun intended) for a long time. When they get him into the starting lineup, hopefully Jones will be ready and 1reliable as the Arizona Cardinals right tackle for a while.