Keeping up with the Joneses

The Phins defense really turned it up during the second half of the season last year.  What stood out more then anything was their sure tackling, which was something that has been missing for years now.  They were also very stingy on defense giving up only 19.6 points per game, which was 6th best in the league.  The strength of their defense was definitely their D-line, which should be just as sturdy with the resigning of Paul Soliai, blossoming of Jared Odrick, and tenacity of Randy Starks.  This unit helped the Phins have the 3rd best rush defense in the league, only yielding 95.6 yards per game.

However, the one achilles heel on the defensive side of the ball has been there often porous secondary, which was ranked 25th in the league giving up 249.5 passing yards per game, and too many back breaking plays.  With the release of captain and strong safety Yeremiah Bell, the onus will fall on someone in the young secondary to become a leader and pick up the slack.  Mark my words that player will be 3rd year pro Reshad Jones.

Jones is a hard hitting, ball hawking, play making safety who has lots of potential.  With a significant bump up in playing time last season he was able to put up some solid numbers; 67 tackles, 2 sacks and 1 interception.  They often say that the third year for a receiver is the year when they make a significant jump in production and become comfortable with the speed of the game.  This is also true of the safety position, where a player is getting used to the speed of the game and learning to play against the best quarterbacks in the world.  Jones’ work load this season will increase, and with that his comfort level and confidence.

During his 3 years at Georgia he racked up 11 interceptions and 1 forced fumble.  With the benefit of a full offseason under his belt, there is no reason that his justifiable over/under for interceptions on the year should be 3.5.  (Phin fans what do you guys think, can he get his hands on 4 balls this season?)  The safety is like the quarterback of the defense, so sports wagering fans should not be surprised that the success of the Phins defense will focus on the caliber of Jones’ play.  I hate to take a saying from the jersey shore fist pumping walrus that is Tony Sparano, but if Jones can limit his ‘mental mistakes,’ and continue to have a nose for the football then the release of Bell will make Ireland surprisingly look like he actually might know what he is doing.