Jarvis Jones

[pittpete]

Rookie guys....
Some time in the weight room next year and he'll look a lot stronger.
Again strength isn't everything, but it helps...
I mean Ziggy is the strongest man on the team and he is ridden off the line like Jenna Jameson

[hawaiiansteel]

LeBeau pleased with Jarvis Jones' growth

DEC 14
By Scott Brown | ESPN.com

PITTSBURGH -- Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau has given Jarvis Jones several votes of confidence this season.

LeBeau added to his total earlier this week, a day after the rookie outside linebacker acknowledged that he has been disappointed about his production this season.

“I’m very pleased with his progress,” LeBeau said Thursday of the Steelers’ first-round pick last April. “His out-of-position arrows have diminished. He almost is never in the wrong place now. I think the more comfortable he gets, I think you’re going to see that this guy is going to be a really good football player.”

Jones became the Steelers’ starting right outside linebacker after the second game of the season, but he struggled to consistently put pressure on opposing quarterbacks and gave way to Jason Worilds.

Jones is now playing behind LaMarr Woodley, who flipped sides with Worilds because of how well the latter has played at left outside linebacker.

Jones’ development is critical for the Steelers because it is unlikely that they will keep both Worilds and Woodley beyond this season.

Worilds, who is having a breakout campaign, will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. The Steelers probably won’t be able to re-sign Worilds unless they part ways with Woodley, who signed a six-year, $61.5 million contract in 2011.

The offseason will be a key one for Jones, who is 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds. He knows he has to get bigger and strengthen his grasp of the defense.

Jones is the first rookie to start at outside linebacker since the Steelers went to a 3-4 defense in 1982, and that distinction shows how steep the learning curve is for a young player at his position.

Jones has just one sack and 30 tackles this season, but LeBeau is anything but discouraged with the progress the 17th overall pick of the 2013 draft has made.

“He’s been asked to play a little bit more than what we normally ask our first-year linebackers to play,” LeBeau said. “In the end, that’s going to be a big benefit for him because he’s got that on-the-job training and in-game experience.”

When told that LeBeau said he was on the right track, Jones smiled.

“He’s right,” the former Georgia star said. “I’ve just got to continue to work hard and continue to take advantage of my opportunities to get better.”

[URL]http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/76999/lebeau-pleased-with-jarvis-jones-growth[/URL]

[Captain Lemming]

Exactly. JJ is as "true" of an 3-4 OLB as you'll see in college.

Problem is that most successful 3/4 NFL olber are not 230 pound 3/4 olbers in college, they are bigger 4/3 DEs.
Never mind his college position, Jones "looks" like a 4/3 olber

[steelsnis]

Problem is that most successful 3/4 NFL olber are not 230 pound 3/4 olbers in college, they are bigger 4/3 DEs.
Never mind his college position, Jones "looks" like a 4/3 olber

Maybe you're just trying to exaggerate, but Jones is 6'2 245 lbs, not 230.

Give him an offseason of NFL-level weight training with the Steelers coaches and watch his size/strength next season. You can almost guarantee that he'll be stronger and heavier. Add to that, the fact that he'll be able to just react next season instead of constantly thinking about where he's supposed to be every snap, and I think we'll see a great player developing for this defense.

[flippy]

I get that JJ's a rookie and the D is complex. But we should be seeing some raw pass rushing talent when he's going after the QB and it's just not there. Not only is he weak, but he's kinda slow too.

I really think they shoulda tried to move him inside when Foote went down and didn't have a backup. We're all the way thru the season and we still don't have a viable ILB or ROLB. At least with Woodley there's a chance he can rush the passer from ROLB. Still nobody inside.

[Vader]

Jones is NOT an ILB. The ILB is often matched against RBs and TE in the passing game. Jones has a horrible change of direction and would be eaten alive inside against bigger guards.

[hawaiiansteel]

Steelers' rookie linebacker Jones redeems himself in finale

By Mark Kaboly
Published: Sunday, Dec. 29, 2013

For a first-round pick, you probably shouldn't be able to count Jarvis Jones' significant plays on one hand.

However …

• A hit on Titans running back Chris Johnson in the season opener.

• Pressuring Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith into a throwing an interception four games later.

• His first and only sack of the season against the Bills in Week 9.

• Batting down a 2-point conversion attempt by Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton late in a Week 14 game.

Jones might have caused his biggest stir when he was benched after a Week 8 game in Oakland that allowed Jason Worilds back into the starting lineup — until Sunday, that is.

With LaMarr Woodley on injured reserve and Worilds out with an abdominal injury, the Steelers turned to Jones on Sunday against the Browns.

Jones had a career-high nine tackles and forced Browns quarterback Jason Campbell into an interception.

He finally showed why the Steelers drafted him 17th overall in last spring.

“I think I played well,” Jones said. “I think I ran around and made some plays today, but I still have a lot to work toward as far as building strength and speed, technique — become a student of the game.”

Jones made a splash early against the Browns. He pulled down Josh Cooper for a 2-yard loss on the second play of the game, then pressured Campbell into an incompletion on the next play.

During the next series, Jones made two of the first four tackles.

“He played great,” linebacker Lawrence Timmons said. “For a young guy to come in at this stage of the NFL and do what he did as a rookie, speaks volumes. It shows you that he has a lot of potential and growth. When you think about it, we don't start rookies … ever. I can't wait to see him go out there and grow more.”

It is highly unusual for the Steelers to start a rookie at any position under defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Because of the Steelers' lack of experience and injuries at linebacker, Jones was thrust into the starting lineup by Week 2.

“It is tough to come into this league as a rookie and be a great player, especially as complicated as the systems are,” defensive end Brett Keisel said. “When you are out there thinking and not reacting, it slows you down.”

Jones found that out against Oakland. He didn't start that game, but when he got his chance, his undisciplined play forced the Steelers to go with Worilds for the majority of the second half. The next week, it was official: Jones was benched.

“(Linebackers coach Keith) Butler is just trying to make me more disciplined, more technically sound,” Jones said. “Preparation has been great, and it is transferring over the field. You have to continue to do it.

“I knew coming in that nothing is given in this league. You have to work for it and continue to chop wood, and that's what I am going to do. I have all the confidence in the world in myself and my coaches and teammates. I understand the things I need to work on.”

At 6-foot-2, 245 pounds, Jones is undersized for what the Steelers are looking for in an outside linebacker.

“Look at me: I need to get stronger, I need to get faster and I need to become a better student of the game,” Jones said.

Jones finished the regular season with 14 games played, eight starts, 42 tackles and one sack.

“From Day 1, Jarvis got better,” defensive end Cameron Heyward said. “It shows that he wants to be great. He is not a finished product, but he has the right mindset. I look forward to seeing what Jarvis can do in the future.”

[URL]http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/...#ixzz2oxVrd64q[/URL]

[SteelerOfDeVille]

he needs:
1. weight training
2. a variety of pass rush moves. his only move is beat you around the edge. don't see a spin, or bull-rush, or arm-bar to rock the tackle off balance with a dip inside... he needs to simply work to improve on his craft....

[steelsnis]

he needs:
1. weight training
2. a variety of pass rush moves. his only move is beat you around the edge. don't see a spin, or bull-rush, or arm-bar to rock the tackle off balance with a dip inside... he needs to simply work to improve on his craft....

DeVille,

I agree with you that he needs to work on improving his craft. I disagree that he doesn't have a spin, bull-rush or dip inside move. I've seen all three from him this year, and in fact have seen him apply pressure using all three. I think when he hit Geno and forced the INT he spun and came from the interior of the line to hit him. What I haven't actually seen, is a "beat the LT around the edge" move actually work for him so far. He seems to go too wide and the LT just lets him take himself out of the play.

I've read and heard NOTHING but positives from his teammates and the coaches about how hard JJ works and how much he wants to be great. As is stated in the article above, he's still in the thinking stages of learning this defense. Once he's purely in the reacting phase, he'll be a stud.

[hawaiiansteel]

On the Steelers: Offseason weights await rookie Jones

By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Shortly after the Steelers completed their 8-8 season Sunday, Jarvis Jones struck the kind of pose in their locker room you might find in a muscle magazine.

There was just one thing missing: Muscle.

The rookie linebacker posed that way to emphasize one of his goals before his second NFL season — to get stronger.

“Absolutely, look at me,” Jones said, raising two arms that no one would mistake for those of his predecessor at right outside linebacker, James Harrison. “I need to get stronger, I need to get faster, I need to become a better student of the game. There’s a lot of stuff I need to work on.”

The Steelers knew that when they drafted him in the first round from Georgia. They also knew something else, that starting Jones as a rookie was not ideal but perhaps necessary with the loss of Harrison.

“Everybody talks about Jarvis coming in and stuff like that, and is Jarvis going to start his first year?” linebackers coach Keith Butler said after the draft in April. “We’ve never started a [rookie] linebacker since I’ve been here.”

Butler just completed his 11th season coaching the Steelers linebackers, but their history of not installing a rookie as one of the starting outside linebackers stretches back to at least the time when they switched to a 3-4 defense in 1982.

Neither did they start Jones, at least not in the opener. Jason Worilds started at right outside linebacker that day. But Jones was promoted for the second game and started four before losing that job back to Worilds.

Those were the early growing pains of a team struggling to win, and Mike Tomlin cited Worilds’ knowledge of the defense for going back to him. Jones was out of position too often in a defense in which few rookies have ever understood.

The coaches knew it was not ideal to press Jones into service when other rookies were permitted at least one season of apprenticeship at outside linebacker before they took over as starters. Those include some of their greatest defensive players in the 3-4 defense: Mike Merriweather, Greg Lloyd, Jason Gildon, Joey Porter, Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. It took Worilds until his fourth season to shine.

Jones went on to play several series a game until he started four more times when Worilds moved to the left for an injured Woodley.

Because they likely must decide between Worilds and Woodley this year, Jones should be their starting outside linebacker from the beginning of the 2014 season.

The season’s final game Sunday was his best, and he showed what might be ahead for him. Starting on the right side, he led the Steelers with nine solo tackles (one for a loss), two deflected passes and a quarterback hurry in their 20-7 victory against the Cleveland Browns.

“Coming into this, I knew nothing is given to you,” Jones said. “You have to work hard for it. You just have to continue to chop wood and that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

The Steelers have a little different exercise in mind for Jones than wielding an axe. They likely sent him back to Georgia with a thick plan of what he must do to become stronger, so that next year when he strikes that pose it will be more imposing.

Should they stay or go?

The Steelers have 21 players who will become unrestricted free agents March 11 if the team does not sign them before then, one of the largest groups since true free agency began in the NFL in 1993.

There are no restricted free agents, as that designation was rendered virtually extinct by the 2011 collective bargaining agreement that required all draft picks to be signed to four-year contracts (a player became a restricted free agent if his contract expired after three years).

A handful of free agents should become priorities, such as linebacker Jason Worilds and receiver Jerricho Cotchery, along with others such as halfback Jonathan Dwyer, safety Will Allen and defensive linemen Ziggy Hood and Al Woods.

Such decisions and signings will not be imminent and will depend on other personnel moves as the Steelers manage a salary cap they now are projected to be above.

Their list of unrestricted free agents:

Wide receivers — Plaxico Burress, Cotchery, Emmanuel Sanders.

Running backs — Dwyer, Felix Jones, LaRod Stephens-Howling.

Tight ends — David Johnson, Michael Palmer.

Offensive linemen — Fernando Velasco, Cody Wallace, Guy Whimper.

Defensive linemen — Hood, Brett Keisel, Woods.

Linebackers — Stevenson Sylvester, Jamaal Westerman, Worilds.

Defensive backs — Allen, Ryan Clark.

Special teams — Punter Mat McBriar, long-snapper Greg Warren.

A familiar name or two

The team signed seven players from its practice squad to the offseason roster: Halfback Alvester Alexander, wide receivers Justin Brown and Kashif Moore, guard Bryant Browning, safety Ross Ventrone and linebacker Kion Wilson.

Wilson started the second and third games of the season at inside linebacker after Larry Foote’s biceps injury. He lost that job to rookie Vince Williams in the fourth game.

Brown was the Steelers’ first sixth-round draft choice in 2013, taken ahead of Williams. He spent the entire season on the practice squad.

[URL]http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/s...#ixzz2p8k5Y8ZU[/URL]