Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones may be Chiefs defensive end Chris Jones for much of this season.
Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said Jones is practicing on the outside and that the Chiefs think they can benefit from using him as an edge rusher this season.
“He is an imposing player inside,” Spagnuolo said, via ESPN. “We all know that. . . . Hopefully, we will gain something on the edge. When somebody changes a position, obviously the first part of it is the mental part of it. Chris is working through that. That’s important when you change a position. It’s just not that easy to pick up a whole new spot. There are some different things with a defensive end. He’ll play out there a little bit. We’ll move him back inside when we have to.”
Jones will still line up plenty at tackle, but the Chiefs believe they can create matchup advantages by moving Jones around on the defensive line.
“Maybe it will come down to who we’re playing and where maybe we can find a weakness and expose that weakness in the five offensive linemen,” Spagnuolo said. “We’ve just got to get him used to playing the two spots right now and figure out the rest of it.”
Jones is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, and the Chiefs think they can make him even better by making him more versatile, and lining him up all over their defensive line.