Broncos Believe DL Dre'Mont Jones is Poised for a 'Breakout' Year

Entering his third year, there are high expectations placed on Dre’Mont Jones and early signs from training camp suggest he is on the verge of meeting them.

During his rookie year with the Denver Broncos, Dre’Mont Jones really flashed his potential, especially towards the end of the season. In 2020, the Broncos added to their defensive line and had Jones primed for a big role as a depth piece. Then injuries occurred upfront, and Jones ended up becoming the starter.

It led to a good year for him, but he wasn’t quite as efficient as a player as he was in his rookie year. Fast forward to 2021 and Jones is projected to be a starter on the defensive line as he tries to be a breakout player, but he needs to be more efficient. 

There is no doubt he has the talent to do it, and those around him see that potential from him. Broncos head coach Vic Fangio highlighted a key point about Jones

"He’s doing good. Dre improved a lot from Year 1 to Year 2," Fangio said recently. "He should make another big jump this year. Hopefully, we’ll be healthier in the d-line and he doesn’t have to play as much as he played last year, and we can pick our spots with him even more so."

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Fangio's hope that the line stays healthy so that Jones doesn't have to see as many snaps is very astute. Jones was not efficient in 2020 when he had to deal with injuries to himself and others and subsequently had a high snap count. Denver being able to pick its spots with him should help Jones have a bigger, more efficient campaign. 

Jones is on the verge of being a top-10 interior defensive lineman in the NFL, but he needs to have that highly productive season. He is poised for it, and he has shown the needed areas of improvement in training camp. He just needs to carry that over to games.

One thing is for sure; Jones has a fan in GM George Paton who gave him good praise at the start of camp.

"Dre'Mont is a breakout player," Paton said. "You just watch the tape last year and how he's improved in the run game. I think he has good inline pass pressure. He has great hands in the run game and great quickness as a pass rusher. He plays hard and works hard. He's everything we want here. I thought he broke out last year to tell you the truth.”

So what can the Broncos really expect out of Jones this year, provided the team can stay healthy in the front seven? Looking at what he has done so far, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him push for 10 sacks this season, likely notching around eight or nine, and getting close to or breaking 50 total pressures.

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