Colts' Rookie Defender Playing at Historic Pace

Next Gen Stats posted on X: "Colts seventh-round rookie CB Jaylon Jones has excelled in coverage since making his NFL debut in Week 4 this season.

Jones has allowed the lowest completion percentage over expected (-12.6%) of any rookie CB in a season in the NGS era (min. 35 targets).”

What this stat translates to in Layman’s terms is Jones essentially removes pass-catchers from the offensive play. Similar to his style at Texas A&M, Jones brings a physical variation to coverage that makes route running and getting open trivial, resulting in fewer pass attempts toward #40.

For Jones to be playing so well as a seventh-round selection is not what anyone expected. So far, Jones is making the Colts look like geniuses for not letting him slip into undrafted free agency. He’s also likely the reason Indy felt comfortable with letting go one of their other rookie corner picks, Darius Rush.

Per Pro Football Focus, Jones has a coverage grade of 63.2 on 258 coverage snaps. The coverage snaps are second out of all CBs on the Colts, only trailing mainstay defensive back Kenny Moore II, who is having arguably a Pro-Bowl/All-Pro type of season.

Jones currently sits at a non-glamorous stat line of 22 tackles (17 solo) and two passes defended. However, as was the case during his college days at Texas A&M, it’s due to him not seeing a high quantity of passes come his way because his receiver isn’t open.

With the Colts having playoff aspirations to finish the 2023 season, they will need Jones to continue playing at a high level for the next six games. With fellow rookie JuJu Brents recovering from a quadriceps injury, Jones will need to keep this pace for Indy to have a chance at the postseason.

We’ll see if Jones still has the top NGS spot of lowest completion percentage over expected when the dust settles on the 2023 season.