Could New Role Unlock Dre'Mont Jones' Full Potential For Seattle Seahawks?

While Dre'Mont Jones has played outside in the past, all signs point towards the Seahawks unleashing him in that capacity full-time with hopes of bringing out his best performance.

Oct 2, 2023; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Dre'Mont Jones (55) / Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Leading up to the start of rookie minicamp earlier this month, in the aftermath of investing a first-round pick in Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald couldn't be more excited about his new team's defensive line.

Joining general manager John Schneider in an interview with Seattle Sports 710, Macdonald gushed about how the addition of Murphy further bolstered an already talented front line featuring Dre'Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, and Leonard Williams. As he began delving into specific players set to team up with the incoming rookie in the trenches, it's not difficult to see why he can't wait to get started with that group, even going as far as saying the Seahawks may have something up front that his past No. 1 ranked Ravens defense did not.

“One thing that’s really neat about who we have and how we’re structured is there’s position flexibility,” Macdonald said. “Where that might not have been the case in rosters that I’ve worked with in the past. It’s going to be a fun process, seeing who works well with who and how we call the games, maybe some different personnel groups that you haven’t seen from us in the past. It’s time to experiment and see who’s good at what and see how it clicks, so it’s going to be really fun.”

Dre'Mont Jones didn't have the sack production Seattle hoped for when the team signed him in March 2023, but a new staff has big plans to unlock his full potential. / Jessica Rapfogel-USA TODAY Sports

Aside from Murphy, who excelled as a nose tackle at under 300 pounds at Texas along with being one of the nation's most disruptive 3-tech defenders, Macdonald and defensive coordinator Aden Durde will have a fun collection of versatile players to mix and match at the line of scrimmage. Like Murphy, Reed and Williams have both seen snaps playing at nose with prior success, giving Seattle a fun three-headed monster to rotate at different spots in the interior.

But as far as positional flexibility goes, no player on the Seahawks current roster may offer more intrigue than Jones, who came over from the Broncos prior to the 2023 season on a lucrative three-year deal. While he didn't dive into specifics, Macdonald indicated to hosts Dave Wyman and Bob Stelton that the team had a great plan in place for the veteran, suggesting a different role than the one he occupied in his first season with the organization.

"Dre’Mont I feel like is gonna have a great year, I think we have a cool role for him," Macdonald remarked.

Thanks to a video posted by his trainer Jackson Hayes via Instagram, Seahawks fans may now have a clearer picture of what Macdonald plans to do with Jones, who can be seen sporting a leaner frame working out of a two-point stance as an edge rusher on the practice field.

#Seahawks Dre'Mont Jones is out here working in the lab👀.

[🎥: @jackson_hayes44 on Instagram] pic.twitter.com/UsPsUCweiE

— HawkMania (@hawkmania4) May 10, 2024

Playing outside wouldn't be brand new for the 281-pound Jones, who has played nearly 700 snaps outside of the tackle in his career according to Pro Football Focus. Interestingly, almost half of those snaps came for Seattle in 2023, as former coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt moved him out of necessity only a few weeks after standout edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu was lost to a season-ending injury.

Though Jones' relocation coincided with the Seahawks second half meltdown defending the run, including finishing dead last in yards and touchdowns allowed in the final 11 games, digging into advanced stats via PFF, a strong argument can be made that he was more effective once the coaching staff went all in sliding him outside.

From Week 1 to Week 10, a blowout loss to Baltimore on the road, Jones logged 24 combined snaps outside of the tackle as an edge, playing more than 90 percent of his snaps inside as a 3-tech defensive end. During that span, he produced two sacks and an 8.4 percent pressure rate as a pass rusher and PFF gave him a pedestrian 59.4 run defense grade with eight tackles and six stops.

Starting in Week 11 against Washington, however, Jones saw a slight uptick in effectiveness harassing quarterbacks when Seattle made the decision to transition him to the edge. Over the final eight games, logging nearly 80 percent of his snaps off tackle, his pressure rate increased more than two whole percent to 10.9 percent with 2.5 sacks and a significantly better pass rush win rate jumping from 9.4 percent to 14.5 percent.

Even as a run defender, Jones only missed on tackle in the final eight contests for the Seahawks and received a 63.4 grade in that department, performing fairly well setting the edge. Unfortunately, without him playing much inside, teams had more success running between the tackles, offsetting the impact of his contributions with a position change.

Looking towards year one of the Macdonald era, the coach's recent comments coupled with the viral video of Jones' offseason training may have provided more clarity on how Seattle wants to deploy him moving forward, albeit in a different scheme. For numerous reasons, such a move makes all the sense in the world for a new coaching staff aiming to maximize a deep, talented defensive line group.

For one, due to his "tweener" build, Jones doesn't necessarily fit the profile of a 3-tech or 4i defender in Macdonald's scheme, which often featured far bigger defenders in Baltimore. Boasting long 33 3/8-inch arms with a high-cut, athletic frame, he looks more the part of a big edge to begin with physically, which would make him an ideal fit to fill Jadeveon Clowney's role with the Ravens last season.

Thriving in Macdonald's defense, Clowney enjoyed a renaissance season of sorts, posting 9.5 sacks, 19 quarterback hits, and nine tackles for loss. Though he isn't on the same level athletically as the former No. 1 overall pick, Jones could be a similar game-changing factor rotating with Nwosu and Boye Mafe as Seattle's top three edge options.

Secondly, as evidenced by the complete self-destruction by the Seahawks defending the run a year ago minus Nwosu, Jones instantly would be an upgrade over Darrell Taylor and Derick Hall in that capacity. After drafting Murphy and signing nose tackle Johnathan Hankins in free agency to pair with Williams and Reed, the team is much better equipped to handle him not seeing much action inside than it was last December and January.

Most importantly, to get the most bang for their buck after investing substantial money and draft capital at the line of scrimmage on defense, Jones seeing most of his snaps lined up off edge would open the door for Seattle to have him, Williams, Reed, Murphy, and Nwosu all on the field together as much as possible, forming a formidable, versatile quintet that should stack up well against any other front line in the league.

Breaking in a new system, it will take Macdonald and his staff a while to figure out how to best utilize all of their players, and as the coach confirmed, they will have to experiment some as they assemble rotations and personnel packages. Luckily, the season doesn't start next weekend, so there's more than enough time to learn which players play best together and explore positional fits.

Coming off a somewhat quiet first season with the Seahawks, while Williams and Murphy will draw big headlines themselves, Jones may be the biggest curiosity of the group heading into OTAs and training camp. Offering plenty of untapped upside and potential, coaxing a breakout year from him would work wonders as the Macdonald and company try to turn around one of the NFL's worst defenses in quick fashion.