Mike Gesicki's return highlights Patriots' Tuesday practice
Stop me if you’ve heard these things before: the Patriots have offensive line issues, and they also have a lot of players with the last name Jones (four at present).
Imagine this, a scenario where they both address their glaring issue at right tackle AND add another Jones? Sounds crazy, right? So crazy it just might be possible.
The Arizona Cardinals, a team in transition with growing pains to come (they have a win total projection of 4.5 games in 2023) have depth at a position the New England Patriots do not: offensive tackle. Veteran left tackle DJ Humphries, injured for half of 2022, is back for the Cards, as is Kelvin Beachum, another dependable vet. They added massive and athletic Paris Johnson Jr. out of Ohio State in the first round, sixth overall, this April. Johnson projects to start at right tackle, Humphries at left tackle, with Beachum the top sub. They also have Jackson Barton as a backup, a seventh-round veteran who’s played well in limited action for Arizona.
This all leaves fourth-year veteran tackle Josh Jones in a tricky situation. Jones, taken in the third round out of the University of Houston in 2020, has proven at the pro level to be a starting-caliber tackle on both sides. He filled in very well in 2022 for Humphries at left tackle, scoring a solid grade from Pro Football Focus. He has said left tackle “feels like home” for him, but he can definitely play right tackle as well.
Right tackle has proven this offseason, from minicamp to preseason, to be a problem spot for the Patriots. The approach of throwing veterans like Riley Reiff and Conor McDermott, not to mention rookie guard Sidy Sow, at the spot in hopes someone emerges as the answer, has not gone well to date. Perhaps instead of trying a quantity over quality approach, the Patriots could flip a Day 2 2024 draft pick to the rebuilding Cards and take a chance on a player with proven Sunday talent who’s stuck on a line with the tackle depth the Pats currently lack?
In addition to addressing the Patriots’ current right tackle issue, acquiring Jones would give them a first look at a player in a contract year looking to secure a long-term deal for his future. The Patriots have only Conor McDermott locked up at tackle beyond this season. Veteran left tackle Trent Brown is in a contract year himself and is no guarantee to stick around, let alone deliver the kind of consistent play he’s capable of this season.
Jones could come in, potentially seize the right tackle job, audition for a tackle job in Foxboro for the future, and swing to left tackle should Brown have injury issues this season. Options galore for a team with a quarterback in Mac Jones looking to have a bounceback season. Jones is in a good place right now, working hard to return to, if not exceed his rookie form. Best way to help out there? Keep him upright and off his backside.
There’s no guarantee the Cards are looking to deal Jones. Perhaps having depth galore at tackle is part of their plan, or a strength they’re looking to play with in 2023. But if they’re happy with the other tackles they have and want to stockpile picks for their rebuild, dealing Jones would make sense. Just as it would for the Pats to part with a pick and add a fifth Jones to the squad and help out their line, QB and offense on the whole.
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