Chicago Bears advanced stats review: Justin Jones

When the Chicago Bears signed Justin Jones a lot of fans saw it as a plan B and a quick pivot away from Larry Ogunjobi, who they failed on his physical. So, it was not the fans' or front offices' first choice, but Justin Jones ended up being the best defensive lineman on the Bears' front.

The question is whether that is because there was nobody else worth anything on the front, or if Justin Jones was actually having a good season. With the help of PFF, we can look into some advanced stats and see how he looks.

Chicago Bears advanced stats review: Justin Jones

Pressures per snap

Justin Jones recorded pressure on 6.8% of his defensive snaps. Among interior linemen with at least 300 snaps, that would rank him 53rd out of 89 linemen. Names around him include Jerry Tillery, Alim McNeil, and DaQuan Jones slightly above him with Poona Ford, Broderick Washington, and Bilal Nichols right below him. These are not the big names that you want to see Justin Jones with.

At the top of the list is Chris Jones at 13%, and Javon Hargrave at 12.9%. That is a bit of a stretch away from Justin Jones. For what it is worth, Ogunjobi was at 7.8% last year, so it was better than Jones but 41st overall. Also, Andrew Billings was at 4.6%, good for 74th, but he was signed for his run defense.

Pass Rush Win Rate

Justin Jones was below average at creating pressure, and it showed by also being below average in beating his opponent. He had a pass rush win rate of 11.3%, which was good for 47th out of 59 qualified rushers. Ogunjobi was only at 12.6%, which is better than Jones, but was good for 44th. Some of the best names include Dexter Lawrence, Vita Vea, Javon Hargrave, and Chris Jones, All of them are over 25%.

Run Stops Per Snap

Justin Jones records a run stop on 8.2% of the run defense snaps he plays. That puts him 53rd amongst 89 qualified defenders. Christian Wilkins leads the NFL at 15.2%, and Aaron Donald is not far behind at 15.1%.

While Billings is supposed to be a better run defender, he was only at 8.4% with his run stop rate, which is marginally better than Ogunjobi. Billings' job is more about taking up space than anything. Unfortunately, once again this is an area where Larry Ogunjobi was better than Justin Jones. He recorded a run stop on 9.1% of his snaps.

Missed Tackles

One area where Justin Jones was above average was his missed tackle rate. He only missed a tackle 7% of the time, which had him ranked 21st among the 89 qualified players. We finally saw him top Ogunjobi as well, as he was at 11.5%

Overall

Justin Jones was the best defensive lineman on the Chicago Bears, but that had a lot more to do with how poor the line was than how good Justin Jones is. The Chicago Bears failed Larry Ogunjobi on his physical, but he stayed healthy, had a better year than Jones, and now signed an extension with the Steelers. That move appears to be biting them right now.

Fans were surprised that the team drafted two interior defensive linemen so high, but the Chicago Bears cannot feel comfortable about Justin Jones and Andrew Billings being anything more than short-term helpers that can set up the transition to the future. Perhaps if one or both of those lieman emerge Justin Jones could shine in a reduced role, but he is not impactful enough to be the top rusher on a unit.