Seahawks Summer School: Breaking Down Dre'Mont Jones' Toolbox

Despite his size, Denver frequently slid Jones to wide-9 alignment in a two-point stance, showcasing his excellent burst and versatility. Overloading the right side with him and Chubb both pinning their ears back from wide alignment, Jaguars guard Brandon Scherff tries to pick up Jones coming straight at him with a full head of steam, but the defender delivers a powerful initial strike that knocks the blocker off balance. Already beaten, Jones discards Scherff and devours Trevor Lawrence for a quick sack off the bull rush.

In a similar example against the Colts, the Broncos mixed things up with edge defenders Baron Browning and Chubb inside sugaring the B-gaps in two-point stances while Jones slid outside in wide-9 alignment. All five defenders on the line of scrimmage wound up coming on a blitz and while Indianapolis managed to pick up Chubb and Browning, rookie tackle Bernhard Raimann couldn't handle Jones power, as the defender collapsed the pocket in an instant and forced quarterback Matt Ryan to step up and settle for a short dump off completion.

While Jones has had no shortage of success shooting out of his stance and immediately using power to overwhelm blockers, he also incorporates an effective stutter step at times, disguising intentions of attacking either shoulder with a counter move before dishing out the bull rush.

When using a stutter step, the main goal is to force the opposing blocker to open his chest expecting a hard move inside or outside, leaving them susceptible to a bull rush. Though Chargers guard Matt Feiler stays square in this example, his hard step inside with his right foot left him vulnerable against power and Jones quickly went into attack mode, driving the blocker back several yards to apply pressure on Justin Herbert, who ultimately was sacked by teammate Matt Henningsen.

In a more impressive example against the Colts, Jones again slides outside to wide-9 alignment and takes several hard steps upfield before transitioning into stutter steps, causing Raimann to take a small step forward with his right foot during his pass set thinking the defender was planning to shoot inside. Instead, having the tackle right where he wanted him, Jones exploded out of his hesitation step and steamrolled the blocker like a freight train, running through and over him and forcing Ryan to unload the football quickly.

Counter Club

Though Jones has had no shortage of success imposing his will on blockers with bull rushes, he's far from a one-trick pony and has developed other viable pass rushing combos in his four seasons in the NFL. Among his favorites to deploy, he frequently utilizes a counter club move, capitalizing on blockers who are aggressive with their punch or get caught lunging.

With his hand in the turf in 3-tech alignment against the Chargers, Jones initially shoots upfield out of his stance into the B-gap. With Feiler turning his shoulders slightly and throwing a firm punch expecting the rusher to keep going upfield, Jones caught him off-guard with a quick side step and club to his inside shoulder, slipping past him and forcing a quick throw from Herbert for a five-yard completion.

Like many teams in the modern NFL, the Broncos mixed in stunts quite often aiming to create chaos along the line of scrimmage and Jones caused problems for opponents, often executing the looper role working behind hard-slanting linemen or blitzers. Head up on the tackle in 5-tech alignment against the Colts, he takes two steps towards guard Quenton Nelson before linebacker Josey Jewell takes the blocker out on a blitz, setting Jones up with a favorable one-on-one against backup center Danny Pinter as he twists behind.

With Pinter caught leaning to his right off balance, Jones throws a club to his left shoulder and quickly crosses face, going into pursuit mode to chase down Ryan with Jewell for a split-sack.

Power Spin

In terms of frequency, when Jones isn't able to create push with his initial bull rush or his first move doesn't work in his pass rushing plan, the power spin has become his go-to counter of choice.

Revisiting his standout performance against the Colts, Jones reduces inside to 1-tech alignment shading the A-gap and bull rushes Nelson, only for the rush to stall out two yards in the backfield. With the guard on his heels, he spins back inside to escape the block and forces a pressured Ryan to vacate the pocket to his left, leading to a holding penalty committed against teammate Nik Bonnito.

Earlier in the same game, the Broncos send four rushers, including Jones coming out of a three-point stance from wide-9 alignment on the right side. Transitioning to the counter in quick fashion, Jones power spins to his right outside after making initial contact with Raimann, losing his footing as he turns the corner trying to beeline to Ryan in the pocket. Still, his rush is a disruptive one, leading the quarterback to try to scramble and wind up in the arms of Browning for a sack.

When Denver dialed up twists and stunts, Jones demonstrated his light feet and balance spinning off blocks to come through with clutch plays. In a two-point stance in 6-tech across from the tight end versus the Jets, he loops back inside behind defensive tackle Deshaun Williams on a TED stunt, working back upfield in the opposite A-gap between the center and left guard. Taking a shot from the guard, he spins back inside past both blockers and shows off his motor hunting down Zach Wilson from behind for a hard-earned sack.

Secondary Counters

A polished rusher with an extensive array of counters in his arsenal, Jones has gradually increased his pressure totals every year he has been in the league due to his ever-expanding pass rushing palette. Developing into a technician to go with his physical tools, his film is littered with disruptive plays featuring a bevy of pass rush strategies.

In the first half of Denver's season opening loss to Seattle, Jones flashed his quality hand usage on a second quarter rush from 3-tech alignment. While attacking Haynes' outside shoulder, he fired a quick stab punch with his right arm before extending his left arm on the other side of the guard's frame, then used the same arm to rip past him to zero in on Geno Smith, who alertly stepped up in the pocket to avoid pressure and make an excellent first down toss to Marquise Goodwin along the sideline. 

One week later against the Texans, Jones took an initial stutter step out of his three-point stance from 4i-tech alignment. With the left guard trying to get hands on him to help set up a running back screen, he knocked both of the blocker's arms away with a swipe move, helping him slip past him with relative ease as quarterback Davis Mills threw the ball into the ground on a dead play, setting up a fourth down punt.

While Jones won't be mistaken as the second-coming of Michael Phelps and tends to use swim and arm-over moves more as a run defender than pass rusher, he has proven himself capable of using these counters to find his way to the quarterback.

Lined up in 3-tech alignment against the Chargers spread four-receiver look, Jones loops outside behind a hard-slanting Chubb on an E-N stunt where the end crashes first. Matched up one-on-one with tackle Jamaree Salyer, he executes a perfectly-timed swim move with his right arm and makes himself narrow, shooting inside past the block and coaxing Herbert into an ugly underthrow over the middle for an incompletion.

As a demonstration of Jones' raw strength and power, the former Ohio State star has found success with long arm moves used in combination rushes.

Saving one of his best rushes for last, working from 4i-tech alignment against the Chiefs, Jones fires off the ball and exhibits incredible muscle with a devastating right long arm move. Sending guard Trey Smith backward on his heels behind the brute force of his extended arm into the blocker's chest, he manages to get a piece of quarterback Patrick Mahomes as he collapses in on him, leading to the quarterback tripping to the ground for a key second half sack.