Ex-Buckeyes OL Dawand Jones Expected to Make First Career Start

Former Ohio State Buckeyes right tackle Dawand Jones is expected to make his first start for the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

During the Cleveland Browns season-opening blowout win against the Cincinnati Bengals, they suffered a big loss when starting right tackle Jack Conklin went down with an injury. Conklin, the seven-year veteran, went down with is now being reported as a season-ending injury as he tore both his ACL and MCL. 

Which means with Conklin sidelined for the rest of the season they will have to call on rookie offensive tackle and former Ohio State Buckeye Dawand Jones when they face T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. 

Jones, the fourth-round pick in this past April's NFL Draft, did see playing time in the win for the Browns versus the Bengals after Conklin went down with the injury, and by all accounts seemed to hold up. 

Brian Baldinger, a former NFL offensive linemen in his own right and now-turned-analyst said the former Buckeye looked like a "seasoned veteran" during one of his film breakdowns posted to Twitter.

.@browns @dawandj79 played like a seasoned VET; and when he took over the #Brownies offense took off #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/rNvnhvhiuk

— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) September 11, 2023

That is big praise for a rookie fourth-round pick who came off the bench unexpectedly in the second quarter, which doesn't mention the task of blocking a Bengals' defensive front that includes another former Buckeye in Sam Hubbard. 

Despite having to face a veteran like Hubbard, Jones didn't allow so much as a quarterback pressure in the 20 pass blocking snaps he took in his debut, according to NFL Rookie Watch.

"I know some of those moves that I saw from Sam [Hubbard], [because] I've seen some of those moves from Larry Johnson, ..." Jones said after about his debut. "So I kind of had a little advantage, I felt like down there but honestly it was well-rounded."