Can the Dallas Cowboys revive Byron Jones’ career?

Dallas Cowboys’ Byron Jones has had an up and down career since being drafted with the 27th overall in 2015. Can a position change salvage his career?

With the Dallas Cowboys boasting one of the youngest secondaries in the NFL, there’s no doubt it contains plenty of upside. Last year’s rookie cornerbacks– Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie, played exceptionally well when they were in the lineup.

Even Kavon Frazier, a hard-hitting second-year safety, played with a sense of physicality and intellect when he was awarded reps at the strong safety spot.

But perhaps one of the forgotten men was Byron Jones, who’s playing time diminished as Frazier began to make an impact.

After a promising rookie season, Jones hasn’t been the difference maker in the secondary the Cowboys once envisioned. However, this is more of a product of his constant position switches, rather than a lack of talent.

Jones started his career as a slot corner/safety hybrid, who would often times cover the opposing team’s tight end. In his second season, the Cowboys moved him to free safety full time, where he made some plays but was never really an impact player. He finished that season with just one interception.

Last year, the Cowboys moved Jones to strong safety out of necessity, where it was evident he didn’t have the physicality to play the position. He eventually lost playing time to the aforementioned Frazier, and his position status remains up in the air.

Last week, a report surfaced that the Cowboys were considering moving Jones back to cornerback, a move that appears largely influenced by new defensive backs coach Kris Richard, who preferred larger cornerbacks when he was the defensive coordinator of Seattle’s ‘Legion of Boom’.

A position change could bode well for Jones. He hasn’t necessarily been awful at safety– in fact, he was graded as high as the fourth best strong safety by one positional ranking system. But the eye test proves otherwise.

Jones just wasn’t the physical force at safety needed to play the position on a full-time basis. That’s not to say he isn’t a physical specimen, which he clearly is. Rather, the jury is still out on whether his slender frame could last at such a taxing position.

Additionally, it was clear Jones best attribute has been lining up in the slot against physical tight ends and putting the clamps down. Jones has the potential to thrive in man-to-man sets on the outside, or inside, and for a cornerback, he has the change to use some of his size to bother smaller receivers as well.

So while Jones may have been undersized for a safety, he’d be gargantuan amongst cornerbacks.

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Perhaps it would be in the Dallas Cowboys best interest to move Byron Jones to cornerback. Put a hard-hitting safety like Kevin Frazier at Jones’ old strong safety position, and the Cowboys defense instantly becomes a much more physical unit. It’s interesting to see if Richard implements any of his old Seahawks’ scheme on the Cowboys young defensive unit going forward. After all, it could salvage Byron Jones’ once-promising career trajectory.