Top 10 interior defensive linemen in the 2019 NFL Draft

#7 Dre’Mont Jones, Ohio State

Jones was absolutely dominant in stretches these last few years, but he has to be more impactful and consistent on a weekly basis

This Cleveland native started out as a basketball player and only got into football his last two years in high school. Despite the lack of experience, he was named first-team All-Division I and ended up being a four-star recruit.

It didn’t take him long to make an impact for the Buckeyes either, being named Freshman All-American having started all but one game. After a rather disappointing sophomore campaign statistically, he blew up last season when he recorded 13 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, an interception and three fumble recoveries.

At 6’3”, just under 300 pounds, Jones is an extremely fluid athlete and his quickness is ridiculous. His first step, in particular, is off the charts and puts offensive linemen at an instant disadvantage. Jones can dip his shoulder, turn his pads and smoothly redirect.

He really stepped up his game once Nick Bosa decided to shut it down for the year. He loves the arm-over swim to get into the backfield instantly, especially against angle- and zone-blocks, and he gets there plenty of times.

Jones can get skinny to get through cracks on the O-line or step into the gap while slapping away the hands of the blocker and showing up for the running back to cut back inside.

I was blown away at the start of the 2017 season, when Jones absolutely destroyed the Indiana Hoosiers in their week one meeting, picking up seven quarterback hurries. When he knows the pass is coming to his upfield burst is up there with the very best and he has club-arm ready.

Jones flashes a breath-taking quick spin move for a big guy, which can save him even when his rush completely stalls. He doesn’t work in a proper bull-rush with extended arms, but when he has blockers on their heels, the Buckeye D-tackle can push them out of the way.

While he did finally put up some sacks last year, those numbers still don’t nearly do him justice, as he has some games where he puts a lot of heat on opposing signal-callers. The inside penetrator also had a crazy pick-six off a shovel pass against TCU.

Jones was absolutely dominant in stretches these last few years, but he has to be more impactful and consistent on a weekly basis. While it is fine that he prefers to penetrate instead of using stack-and-shed when he misses that initial club on his swim move he gives up his chest and leverage, which offensive linemen can take advantage of and drive him back.

Moreover, he fails to disengage a lot. His pad-level is extremely poor, especially when you consider that he should have a natural leverage advantage. I don’t want to see him use spin moves against the run that often before the ball-carrier is even past the line of scrimmage either, especially against double-teams.

Unless he goes with that go-to club-rip or club-swim combos, Jones is more of a reactive pass rusher and he can get pretty wide when he tries to get around his blocker.

To me, this guy is probably a pure three-technique at the next level. Overall I just want to see him on the turf less and not have people get in his frame that often.

However, his talents are off the charts and if you single him up he is a hard guy to keep up with. Jones was the only player in the nation last season to play over 600 snaps and earn a PFF grade of over 90, as he recorded 52 total pressures.