Breaking: Rams Ernest Jones gets slap in the face…….read more.

PFF projects Rams veteran ILB Ernest Jones outside of their Top-25 NFL linebacker forecasts for 2024, despite Jones being a dependable defender.

The Los Angeles Rams defense of 2024 will follow veteran inside linebacker Ernest Jones wherever and however he ends up playing. Ernest Jones’s play will determine this team’s success in the following season, even with all of the money the front office has spent to revamp the Rams 2024 defense. Therefore, it is a little offensive when any ranking based on projected performances for 2024 puts Ernest Jones in the category of minor players.

That is precisely what author Gordan McGuinness of Pro Football Focus predicts when he places LA Rams Jones in 30th place according to his most recent rankings. If this were a list of NFL players, that 30th spot would be rather noteworthy. That’s approximately right if it were a ranking of defensive players for 2024. However, that is a glaring insult to intelligence as this is a ranking of NFL linebackers.

Let us go over a few fundamental facts. Ernest Jones was eleventh in 2023 with 145 tackles. His 4.5 QB sacks tied for second-best in the NFL among the Top-20 tacklers. So a man who can rush the quarterback and get a sack in less than thirty seconds? Jones had a total of six pass breakups in 2023. He now ranks fifteenth out of all NFL linebackers as a result.

So how can Gordan McGuinness of PFF defend Ernest Jones’s so-called pedestrian ranking? This is what he had to say, though:

“Jones finished seventh at the position with an 86.2 PFF run-defense grade last season, and he led all linebackers in quarterback pressures (37).” He is a very effective run defender, but his 57.5 PFF coverage grade shows his limits, which is why he isn’t ranked higher on this list.”

Grades are sometimes given incorrectly because of this concentration. Pass coverage grades for a 3–4 inside linebacker can be quite challenging because they are based on the assumption that the player knows exactly what their role is on every play. We are aware that Jones only wants to play the defense in the heat of battle. This implies that Jones would adjust his role to make up for colleague Troy Reeder’s positional inadequacies in coverage. How would the play grader know that Reeder, not Jones, was responsible for a comparable completion if Jones was closer to the receiver?

Jones is unquestionably considerably superior to a position ranked thirty-th, even though he may not yet be the top inside linebacker in the NFL. In fact, I contend that he should be ranked in the Top-15 at the very least.

Will Ernest Jones be slightly more motivated to perform this season as a result of this degree of disrespect? Maybe. However, I don’t think he’s the kind of player that requires further inspiration. This season, he understands that this club and this defense depend on him, and he is ready to deliver.

Even though he might not be the greatest at what he does, he is undoubtedly getting better and will soon be competitive. It obviously depends on what is expected of him. His performance appears to have delighted the Rams coaching staff.

Ernest Jones finds that sufficient.