****Chris Jones appreciation thread****
 

It's about time we started one of these for Chris.

He's gonna be a huge part of our playoff run.

Also, here's an article written about him today thats getting a lot of run...


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The moment Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones first made a statement to the NFL, and certainly to AFC West rival Oakland, came in the second quarter of their matchup earlier this season.

Up to that point, he was merely a goofy, affable second-round draft pick from Mississippi State rotating among the defensive linemen. He hadn't stood out like fellow rookie Tyreek Hill, and had yet to break into the starting lineup the way he now forces his way into the backfield.

It started with the Raiders' Jalen Richard taking a handoff. It ended with the massive Jones hitting him so hard it was surprising the running back's helmet stayed buckled.

Oh, and it came after Jones screwed up.

''I spiked the gap. I was supposed to contain,'' he said a few days later, while chatting with a small group of reporters. ''Thank God, I was blessed enough to make the play.''

That brutal, hilarious bit of honesty coupled with that brutal, efficient play pretty much sums up Jones, who has become one of the league's standout rookies and a big reason why Kansas City (12-4) has won its first division title since 2010 and earned a first-round playoff bye.

He is witty. He is enthusiastic. And he's become an unstoppable force on the defensive line.

Everything seems to come back to his infamous ''mistake'' in Oakland, too.

His performance that day against the Raiders earned him a starting assignment for the first time the following week against New Orleans. The week after that, the 22-year-old Jones brought down the Colts' Andrew Luck for his first career sack. A couple weeks later, he corralled Panthers quarterback Cam Newton - one of the toughest in the league to bring down - for his second career sack.

Suddenly, he had become a burgeoning star.

''Chris is really starting to come along,'' Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said. ''He's doing a great job of pushing the pocket - that's huge. Some of those don't go as sacks, but when you put a guard right back into the quarterback, hopefully that effects them a little bit.''

In selecting Jones, the Chiefs made a calculated gamble during the draft.

They were high on him throughout the scouting process, even though some teams questioned his desire to compete every play. But they also lost a draft pick to tampering charges, so to recoup that pick and address other needs, they wound up trading their lone first-round selection.

Their hope was Jones would still be available on Day 2.

When he was still sitting there, the Chiefs snapped him up with the 37th overall selection - and he promptly told the world that he was deserving of not only that pick but one much higher. Asked for a self-scout, he replied on draft day: ''A very dominant player. Has the ability to be a Pro Bowler. Needs to work on a few things. Could be one of the best of all time. It's up to him.''

That assessment has turned out to be fairly accurate.

Jones has wreaked havoc in offensive backfields throughout the back half of the season, and has played at a Pro Bowl level even if he didn't receive the recognition. He has also spent extra time working on his footwork, hands and all the other nuances that come with playing the position.

In other words, Jones is doing everything that is ''up to him.''

''I like what he's done. He spends a lot of time in the building studying,'' Chiefs coach Andy Reid said this week. ''He does everything right - not right now - but he's sure getting there.''

It helps that the Chiefs have a group of veterans.

Defensive tackle Dontari Poe has become one of his closest friends, and Allen Bailey and others have provided pointers. Even longtime outside linebacker Tamba Hali has been impressed, saying recently, ''We've never had such a dominant player at the three-technique.''

''He kind of stays in Poe's hip pocket there and makes sure he's not missing anything from that standpoint,'' Reid said. ''He watches a ton of tape. He's getting better as he goes.''

That's a scary thought for whomever the Chiefs play in the divisional round of the playoffs.

For everyone they face farther down the road, too.

''He's one of the leaders of quarterback hits, negative plays, in the league right now,'' Reid said, ''as a rookie. So he's got production there and he's gotten better every week, and that's a tribute to him and the hard work that he's put in.''

He and Reek may be the two biggest steals of the draft..

You just cannot say enough about the job Dorsey has done.
Out ****ing Standing work by one the best GMs in the league.
I would not be the least bit surprised if he's considered THE best GM in the league in a few years

Well after Dak at least.

I agree with you on Dorsey. He's an elite scout through and through and he's ours. What a time to be a fan

he seems nice!!!

I remember a Tweet about a Reid comment that he was always in the building, working an studying or something. He is steal :arrow:

If you follow him on Instagram, he is a new father. That was probably the impetus for him to declare early. He is smart, glad we got him.

He really is coming along. Our defensive line should be dominant next season. Hopefully Dorsey finds away to keep Poe and Berry. Our starters would be Howard, Poe and Jones, with RNR and Allen Bailey rotating in. The starting experience that RNR has gained this year and Allen Bailey's starting experience are going to be a nice luxury. OLB is set with Houston and Ford, with Hali possible to return as well. ILB still needs a thumper that can help with run support. Hopefully DJ can return. But even if he does, he is close to done. March, Alexander and Wilson aren't bad, but I would like to see a stud ILB in there. The secondary looks pretty solid for the most part since adding Mitchell. We surely keep Berry after the year he's had, right? Peters, Mitchell, Nelson, Parker, Berry Sorenson. That's 6 solid guys right there. Murray and White have some growing to do, but they show promise. Gaines can DIAF for all I care. I think we usually keep 10 DB's. so I expect to see a couple of picks in this draft there, one or 2 at ILB, and maybe one at OLB. Really sucks about Dadi. He probably sits out all next year. Hopefully he is ready to go for the 2018 season and can still be what he was flashing before.

Yep. Should have most or all of the pieces in place to be a SB contender year after year. At least, the next few years. :)

I don't yet see the full picture on cap room, but can the team realistically keep both Berry and Poe? and at what point can Peters start squawking about a huge contract? :hmmm:

give em each a billion bucks cash, under the table

I still want to know what happened with KeiVarae Russell. He got a pick the other day against the Ravens. It was a Ryan Mallet thrown pass, not Joe Falcco, but a pick nonetheless.

Why you dirty, sneaky sneak!!!!

( me likes ) :D

he probably didn't seem nice enough

my wild guess is, he had some highly immature and ****ed up verbal dispute with someone high up on the food chain. Something that they felt was a huge red flag, and something that was likely to cause more problems, if not handled as it was. :hmmm:

A recent NFL.com "do over" draft listed both Tyreek and Chris Jones as first-round picks, which is quite impressive. I'm shocked that they weren't higher, particularly Tyreek. They listed him as the 24th pick and Jones as the 31st pick.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...-prescott-no-1

Would anyone here pick Sheldon Rankins or Eli Apple or Deion Jones or Noah Spence or Deforest Buckner over either of our guys? I sure wouldn't.

I don't know, but I really hope that we can. Berry showed his value to this team this season and is a must keep. But Poe is very valuable to us at NT. He is always drawing double teams, and that helps free up others to make plays. I know that some on here thinks that he will get crazy money, but I looked it up the other day and Dareus was the only 3-4 NT getting big money. Everyone else was around $5 million or less per year. Jaye Howard was actually one of the highest paid, and we all thought he was cheap. In the 3-4, you just don't have the sacks, and that's what gets the big money. So, if I'm correct,(I could be way off base) then we can lock up Poe for 5-6 million per year. We do that, and keeping Berry should not be a problem.