Did Miami Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones have a season that lived up to the free agent contract he signed in 2020? No, but then again given that the Dolphins paid him out a record-setting contract to bring his services to South Florida, almost no level of play was going to be able to live up to those expectations. Jones was not even the best cornerback on his own team — a mantle that was also doomed to never be his unless he managed to pull in double digit interceptions in 2020.
For the record, Jones came to the Dolphins with two career interceptions in five seasons in Dallas. And finished his first season in Miami with two interceptions this year alone — so relative to his body of work previously, Jones did well enough in that regard.
But he didn’t play well enough to avoid being named the most disappointing starter in the NFL at cornerback by Football Outsiders this offseason: Jones was named to the annual “All-Keep Choppin’ Wood” team.
What exactly is that?
Football Outsiders’ Andrew Potter defines it as follows:
“The All-Keep Choppin’ Wood select names the players who made the least of their ample opportunities, who did the most to hurt their franchises either on or off the field (sometimes both!). Whether by underperforming a massive contract or a high draft pick, blowing games directly by their mistakes, or simply being very bad, very consistently, there are many ways to become immortalized as a member of one of these select groups.”
Jones makes the list along with Vernon Hargreaves of Houston at the corner position. Here’s their justification:
“Byron Jones signed a five-year contract with Miami this offseason, making him the fifth-highest paid cornerback in football. It is safe to say that, so far, that has not worked out as well as the Dolphins might have hoped. Jones allowed 10.6 yards per target and 17.6 yards per completion, both worst among starting cornerbacks in 2020. His two interceptions are misleading; he set a career low with just three pass breakups and 42 tackles and tied his career high with 10 broken and missed tackles, and his 82.5% deserved catch percentage was the highest SIS has recorded for him as well. Now, to be fair, some of those high average numbers come from the fact that opposing quarterbacks were more likely to challenge Xavien Howard or Eric Rowe; Jones had just 73 targets per Sportradar. But when he was targeted, Jones gave up far too much for someone of his caliber and paycheck. I’d expect him to bounce back next season, but those are not numbers you want to see out of your $82.5-million man.”— Football Outsiders
This is a hard sell for us. The impact Jones had on the field was undeniable relative to the other alternatives during his early season absence against Buffalo, Jacksonville and Seattle early in the year. But then again, this is the level of expectation that will come with an $82.5M price tag.