Spencer Brown vs Dawand Jones, request for analysis

[Chaos]

I was pretty high on Dawand Jones in the draft, and was stunned he dropped to the fourth round.  Due to injury, Jones is being pressed into service against TJ Watt tonight.  For those who are skilled at evalutating lineman, please provide feedback on how well you think Jones does tonight. 

[mrags]

Following 

[EmotionallyUnstable]

Holding call on Jones

[gonzo1105]

Overall Dawand Jones did really well in my opinion against Watt. He had the Fumble Recovery for a TD but that’s cause Highsmith destroyed the LT

[Buffalo_Stampede]

He had his hands full. Won a lot, lost some. From watching live he looked the part. Massive guy. I didn’t see a ton of help.

 

[GunnerBill]

Meh. I thought the whole Browns line was pretty overwhelmed. But given Jones was against Watt I thought he did better than you might have feared.

[Coach Tuesday]

45 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Meh. I thought the whole Browns line was pretty overwhelmed. But given Jones was against Watt I thought he did better than you might have feared.

It almost looked like the Steelers knew the snap count.  Could not believe how quick of a jump their entire d-line got, on nearly every play.  The Browns had no chance against that front for some reason.

[GunnerBill]

14 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

It almost looked like the Steelers knew the snap count.  Could not believe how quick of a jump their entire d-line got, on nearly every play.  The Browns had no chance against that front for some reason.

 

Agree. And the oline is supposed to be the strength of that offense. If they can't hold up the Browns are in serious trouble, even before we factor Chubb's injury in. 

[SoCal Deek]

I was just amazed at the size of that dude! I didn’t think humans got to be that large. 

[Chaos]

I know it is impossible to really believe what is reported in the press.  But the common understanding of why he fell from projected early second rounder to fourth rounder seemed to be “attitude” issues.  His pre-steelers game interview did not seem consistent with a guy with attitude issues.  He seemed like a solid rookie in the game. Browns may have gotten nice pick in the fourth.  

[Ralonzo]

1 hour ago, SoCal Deek said:

I was just amazed at the size of that dude! I didn’t think humans got to be that large. 

 

 

"humans" he says.

[GunnerBill]

44 minutes ago, Chaos said:

I know it is impossible to really believe what is reported in the press.  But the common understanding of why he fell from projected early second rounder to fourth rounder seemed to be “attitude” issues.  His pre-steelers game interview did not seem consistent with a guy with attitude issues.  He seemed like a solid rookie in the game. Browns may have gotten nice pick in the fourth.  

 

I'll confess I hated him as a prospect. His technique is sloppy, and still is.... but he has played reasonably so far. His size wins him a lot of battles.

[gonzo1105]

5 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I'll confess I hated him as a prospect. His technique is sloppy, and still is.... but he has played reasonably so far. His size wins him a lot of battles.

 

When your that big, with that long of arms, and your feet aren't made out of cement, technique doesn't have to be as precise. For a man as large as he is he can get out of his stance. That's why I was higher on him. He can be taught technique. You can't teach the raw size and athleticism he has. 

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, gonzo1105 said:

 

When your that big, with that long of arms, and your feet aren't made out of cement, technique doesn't have to be as precise. For a man as large as he is he can get out of his stance. That's why I was higher on him. He can be taught technique. You can't teach the raw size and athleticism he has. 

 

You can't. But it will take more than a couple of okay games to convince me his technical issues can be overcome to give him long term success.

[Shaw66]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Meh. I thought the whole Browns line was pretty overwhelmed. But given Jones was against Watt I thought he did better than you might have feared.

I didn't watch individuals, and in fact I was only half watching the game, but "overwhelmed" is the impression I had, too.  It seemed like a perpetual jailbreak.  I chalked it up to the talent and style of the Steelers, but the Browns struggled to hold up to it.  

[FireChans]

26 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I'll confess I hated him as a prospect. His technique is sloppy, and still is.... but he has played reasonably so far. His size wins him a lot of battles.

I know the adage is you can’t teach size, but these physical specimens with terrible technique almost never pan out at the NFL level at the level they are projected at. The best OL players are usually much more technique than physical gifts, especially in pass pro.

[warrior9]

2 hours ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

He had his hands full. Won a lot, lost some. From watching live he looked the part. Massive guy. I didn’t see a ton of help.

 

He really is MASSSSSIVE. I agree with you, I think he won a lot but of course Watt is going to get his. 

[BADOLBILZ]

42 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

You can't. But it will take more than a couple of okay games to convince me his technical issues can be overcome to give him long term success.

 

 

I also just assume his body won't hold up either.   Guys that big who even have a few really good years.......like Trent Brown......are rare.   But some fans just ignore that reality and want to use early picks on them because they are big.   They are the fans who wanted the Bills to draft Aaron Gibson early.   Every time one of those behemoths washes out those fans forget all about it.   Gotta' learn from the league's mistakes.    Hard enough keeping Spencer Brown on the field and he's relatively fit at his overgrown height.

 

 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

2 hours ago, Coach Tuesday said:

It almost looked like the Steelers knew the snap count.  Could not believe how quick of a jump their entire d-line got, on nearly every play.  The Browns had no chance against that front for some reason.

 

Home-field advantage.  If you watch enough film of their silent counts you'll see the guard give go ahead, and the center snaps shortly thereafter.  Do that enough times and you kinda see the tells on when the snap is coming.  

[NewEra]

I liked him as a prospect based on his play.  I was hoping we’d draft him in rd 3 or trade up into rd 4 for him.  
 

that said, there aren’t that many guys close to his size have successful nfl careers.  Some do, sure, but I think staying healthy is a much bigger issue when you’re THAT big

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

I thought he got in trouble when he didn't move his feet and tried to reach for his block.  This is a common problem for inexperienced tackles.

[NewEra]

8 minutes ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

I thought he got in trouble when he didn't move his feet and tried to reach for his block.  This is a common problem for inexperienced tackles.

There was one play in the 4th qtr where Watson was scrambling and Jones was literally just standing there watching him, meanwhile his man got back to the play and laid a lick on Watson 

Edited September 19, 2023 by NewEra

[billsfan89]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

I liked him as a prospect based on his play.  I was hoping we’d draft him in rd 3 or trade up into rd 4 for him.  
 

that said, there aren’t that many guys close to his size have successful nfl careers.  Some do, sure, but I think staying healthy is a much bigger issue when you’re THAT big

Similar to NBA players above 7 foot 2 always seem to have issues staying healthy consistently. Yao Ming was very good to dominant when he played but he was 7 foot 6 and had such a hard time staying healthy. 

 

More recently Kristaps Porzings is 7 foot 4 a good player when he plays but he has had a hard time staying healthy being significantly hurt 4 out of the past 5 seasons.

 

Dawand Jones fell in the draft largely because of health concerns and some off field concerns. He was a late first to mid second round talent. But if you can’t stay healthy that’s always going to be an issue.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

I thought he got in trouble when he didn't move his feet and tried to reach for his block.  This is a common problem for inexperienced tackles.

 

It has been a common problem for him in particular

 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

 

[TheBrownBear]

Holy cow that man is enormous!!!

[Utah John]

I'd say Spencer Brown had a better game against Maxx Crosby than Jones did against Watt.  But then again Watt >> Crosby.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

I watched him specifically at times, and thought when he got his hands on TJ Watt, his momentum stopped immediately. 

 

I think the Browns entire offensive line, including Jones, tired as the game went on and the entire unit started to allow pressure. 

 

Also, a fair amount of plays where Jones would block into the DT instead of taking Watt, leaving Watt 1-1 verses Tight Ends. That went about how you'd expect. 

[Buffalo_Stampede]

1 hour ago, Utah John said:

I'd say Spencer Brown had a better game against Maxx Crosby than Jones did against Watt.  But then again Watt >> Crosby.

Brown got help most of the game.

[gonzo1105]

7 minutes ago, Buffalo_Stampede said:

Brown got help most of the game.

 

Yup, there were numerous times during the game that Knox stayed in and chipped and sometimes where Harris was lined up in the slot to chip before releasing as well. 

 

I also noticed and I would have to watch more of Crosby, but he was lined up ungodly wide. I'm not talking Wide 9. I'm talking there were time where the man was in a 3 point stance where a slot WR would line up.