New England Patriots: 3 Early breakout candidates on defense for 2020
3. Jonathan Jones
The first player who could see a larger role and expanded duties for the Patriots throughout the 2020 NFL season comes at the back end of New England’s defense at the cornerback spot.
Leading up to the upcoming season, the Patriots starting cornerbacks will likely feature veterans Jason McCourty and Stephon Gilmore on the outside of the field in Foxborough, but there are other players that will have the opportunity to play large roles as backups behind those two players.
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That means one player in particular who could have a breakout season in 2020 is Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones.
Since breaking into the NFL with New England in 2016 as an undrafted free agent, Jones has seen his role expand gradually while he enters his fifth season in the league this year. While appearing in a total of 63 of the possible 64 regular-season contests up to this point in his career, Jones has played a role within the Patriots defensive group extensively mainly over the last three seasons.
Most recently in 2019, Jones appeared in all 16 regular-season games in Foxborough, starting in nine of those games at defensive back. He finished with 53 combined tackles, 38 solo tackles and two forced fumbles.
Jones, who will turn 27 years old in September, is currently listed as the No. 19 player at his position by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) and is PFF’s top-ranked cornerback when it comes to attempting to stop the run.
Jones might not get a starting job right out of the gate for New England this season, but as the cornerback enters his fifth year in the NFL in 2020, he will likely play a large role once again at the back end of the defense and could be set up to have a career-best year.