Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Josh Jones enters his fourth NFL season after being drafted by the team in the third round. He has had varied levels of success.
He started at right guard for part of 2021 and struggled. He played well at right tackle when given the opportunity and he played well at left tackle last season, filling in for an injured D.J. Humphries.
He was in line to start at right tackle in 2023, but the Cardinals agreed to re-sign right tackle Kelvin Beachum, who has started there for the last three seasons.
So what will Jones do in the final year of his rookie deal?
Because Beachum’s contract is not big, perhaps the expectation is that the two of them compete for the starting right tackle job.
Maybe Jones will be used a trade bait, although having a quality tackle on the bench is always good.
He didn’t do well at right guard, but former Cardinals guard Justin Pugh suggested on Twitter that Jones could play left guard and be more successful than playing right guard.
Jones is a natural left tackle, so playing left guard would be easier than right guard.
Whatever the case, it would be idal if the Cardinals could get starting snaps out of a player they were extremely excited to draft in 2020.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
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