Seahawks tackle Josh Jones isn't someone fans want to see, but we have to prepare for it anyway
The Seattle Seahawks finally got an offensive tackle from the loaded 2020 draft class. Now they just need to trade him for Tristan Wirfs because he’sthe only tackle left from a“great supply of future starters” per Lance Zierlein who any team still actually trusts to start at tackle.
Until then the Seahawks will have to settle for Josh Jones.
Five years ago, a draft class leading with Joe Burrow and Chase Young was expected to help at least four teams solve their issues at tackle. In the end, five of the first 18 picks were tackles but surprisingly Jones,who was at times cited before the draft as the fifth-best in the class, wasn’t one of them. Jones had to wait far longer than predictions, not hearing his name called until pick 72, three picks after the Seahawks took Damien Lewis.
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Given what we’ve seen in the past five seasons from Jones, being a third rounder doesn’t exactly make him a “bust”, but that probably would have been the case if he had gone much earlier than that. It is the case for most of the tackles drafted ahead of him:
4th overall Andrew Thomas (over Justin Herbert): Good player has missed 17 games in last two seasons
10th overall Jedrick Wills: Unsigned free agent missed 21 games in the past two seasons, not viewed as starter anymore
11th overall Mekhi Becton: Failed at tackle, now rebuilding career as a guard
13th overall Tristan Wirfs
18th overall Austin Jackson: Decent run-blocking right tackle missed 15 games in 2022 and nine games in 2024
These players may have also been pushed higher up because the NFL knew that the offensive tackle class was frontloaded and anything but deep: After Isaiah Wilson (one of the worst first round picks in history) went 29th, the next tackle didn’t come off until Ezra Cleveland at 58, and then it was Jones at 72.
Remarkably out of 22 “tackles” drafted in 2020, the only ones expected to go into 2025 asstarting tackles (a couple have moved to guard) are Thomas (if he’s healthy), Wirfs, Jackson (if he’s healthy), and Colton McKivitz, a fifth round pick by the 49ers.Thomas is the only left tackle in the group.
And then you’ve got Josh Jones, a player who Seattle may be forced to start at right tackle if anything happens (again) to Abraham Lucas.
The Seahawks were “too late” to draft a tackle in 2020, so they had to settle for Jordyn Brooks. But in the end, they were lucky to not be in position for anyone but Wirfs and at least got four years of a decent linebacker and a compensatory pick when Brooks left in free agency.
How excited or worried should Seahawks fans be about potential appearances by Jones?
3-star prospect in 2015 recruiting class
Usually ranked somewhere between the 60th-70th best offensive tackle recruit in the country in 2015 and just outside the top-10 in Texas, Josh Jones first committed to Oklahoma State in August of 2014 but he continued to take visits through his senior year and eventually decommitted from Oklahoma State to sign with Houston.
Unlike most of the other origin stories that I write, there isn’t much to say about Jones as a high schooler because a) he plays tackle, b) it was over 10 years ago, and c) he wasn’t that special relative to the many elite NFL-caliber offensive line high schoolers.
He wasn’t an All-State player or a five-star recruit. He was a “pretty good” prospect who went to Houston.
And although Jones was able to witness Houston have their best season in over 25 years when the Cougars went 13-1 in 2015, he didn’t see the field as a true freshman. Jones would then start 45 games at left tackle in the next four seasons in a career that can only be described as “there”.
Jones the draft prospect
Without trying to sound harsh, there is simply not much to say about Jones as a college player or even as a draft prospect. Being pushed towards the top of the second tier in a class with so many top-20 picks at the position is probably the result of him having the size, length, and athleticism to potentially be molded into an average starting tackle.
Bleacher Report’s pro comparison of Andre Dillard was more apt — and unfortunately so — than anyone could have predicted.
Jones’s biggest accomplishment at Houston, besides manning the left side for four years, was being namedsecond team All-AAC as a fifth-year senior. Jones was called a dominant pass protector in his final season, but he rarely if ever faced an NFL player while doing so in the American Conference and Houston finished the season 4-8, their worst record since 2004.
Draft analysts gave Jones a little bit of buzz for a strong showing at the Senior Bowl, but at the time the Senior Bowl was still only meant forseniors. That means that Jones was actually the best offensive lineman in Mobile because those first round tackles I mentioned earlierwere ALL 21-year-old underclassmen.
Jones dominated at the Senior Bowl because of his competition, and that showed itself when Jones’ competition leveled up at the combine and he disappeared from first round mocks.
Starting 45 games at left tackle, Jones may have some work to do in terms of cleaning up his technique, but he has steadily improved over his four seasons for the Cougars. Jones continued that positive momentum with astrong week in Mobile, although he didn't test as well in Indy as I had expected. Light on his feet, Jones has the movement skills that allow him to reach blocks at the second level with ease. Jones has the athleticism and length to remain at left tackle in the NFL.
At 6’5, 319 lbs,Jones “didn’t stand out in any way at the combine” after running a 5.27 40-yard dash with a 1.81 10-yard split and 24 reps on the bench,ranking just 16th among offensive linemen with his athleticism score of 68. He was considered tall enough and long enough with his almost 34” arms, but any athleticism he showed on tape didn’t translate in drills.
Zierlein wrote some of my least favorite words in the NFL draft community:“his issues appear to be coachable”.
Early tape would suggest that Jones is a raw, developmental project in need of substantial technique work, but tape study later in the season suggests a level of improvement that creates additional intrigue for the long, athletic left tackle prospect. To be clear, he needs plenty of work with his pass sets and footwork, but most of his issues appear to be coachable. He's a good fit for a move-oriented rushing attack and has the traits and talent to become a future starter if he continues to develop with coaching.
I simply do not buy that these prospects who “simply need to be coached” have made it this far without really good college coaches attempting to fix these same issues. And Jones was one of the oldest andmost experiencedtackle prospects in the class!
But again, Jones was not a first or even a second round pick. He went where he should have gone, the third round, and to our great joy as Seahawks fans once again made the Cardinals regret a decision:
Jones was drafted over LB Zack Baun, G Jonah Jackson, C Lloyd Cushenberry, and DE Jonathan Greenard, among others
He would only ever start nine games at tackle for the Cardinals…nine games that made them realize he is not a tackle or a starter
Now can the Seahawks squeeze just enough out of Jones to make him serviceable?
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24 career NFL starts
Jones spent his rookie season on the bench, appearing in 55 offensive snaps over 13 games. The Cardinals then moved him to guard in 2021 and he played 853 snaps there with 12 starts,but his performance that season was described as a “struggle”.
Arizona abandoned Jones as a guard and moved him back to tackle in 2022, which actually led to him starting nine games at left tackle that season because of a D.J. Humphries injury.He was cited as the Cardinals “highest-graded player” that season by PFF — noting that he was solid in both run blocking and pass protection —which also tells us everything we need to know about PFF !
Jones was playing in a very unique system for Kliff Kingbury’s final season as Arizona’s head coach (4-13) and looking back was not even one of the 20 best players on that team.**The Cardinals — and the rest of the NFL — seemed to agree because Arizona traded Jones to the Texans in exchange for swapping a seventh round pick for a fifth round pick.**That’s not a very good return for “the highest-graded player on the Cardinals”.
In his lone season with Houston,Jones saw his PFF grades plummet during his 233 snaps, seeing less action than starter George Fant (who he is now replacing in Seattle), as well as Tytus Howardand Charlie Heck, a fourth round pick in that same 2020 draft class.
Jones signed with the Ravens as a free agent in 2024 —making him teammates with Monday’s aforementioned Steven Sims, Jr. — and played in a career-low 46 offensive snaps with a career-high 87 special teams snaps.
Now 28, Jones is in a phase of his career where the dream of being a starter has transitioned into survival mode.
Jones signed a deal with the Seahawks worth up to $4.75 million, and his $3 million guarantee is sizeable enough to believe that Seattle had to do a little bit of wooing to get him to Seattle. They know that even if Klint Kubiak, offensive line coach John Benton, and assistants Rick Dennison and Justin Outten are coaching upgrades, nothing will change Abe Lucas’s knees other than a medical miracle.
Although Jones has not really been dominant at any level of football — perhaps only when the competitionallowed it to happen, which is never going to be the case in the NFL — he hasn’t had many injury problems and he’s large enough to sometimes stand there and get the job done adequately.
The Seattle Seahawks offensive line was ranked 30th by PFF going into the 2025 season, a typical number we see in that regard, but this season feels different because of Grey Zabel, the new coaching staff, and the possibility that maybe this time we won’t have to see the backup right tackle replace Lucas.
I know: This was not a glowing profile of a Seahawks player, which we’d always prefer, but Seaside Joe’s never going to frame that “everything is positive” and “everybody is great” just because a player happened to join the team that we like. Sometimes our favorite teams don’t add good players, that’s just how it works.
When things are positive and great, Seaside Joe will tell you and you’ll know you can trust it. But the evidence tells us that as of today Jones is a necessary move at a position of need and a dearth of quality…that’s basically the exact same pitch that got Jones recruited to Houston in 2015 and drafted in the third round in 2020.Maybe now that expectations are so low, Jones will overshoot them.
I wish I didn’t have to write a profile of Seattle’s backup right tackle…but you know that I kind of have to.
Seaside Joe 2318