Datone Jones was brought in to defend the “new age” quarterbacks (remember when Colin Kaepernick was going to revolutionize the game?). Datone did a solid job at that. The only problem is there isn’t really a new age anymore. Pocket passers like Brady, Roethlisberger, Matt Ryan, and (best of them all and the true MVP) Aaron Rodgers still dominate the game (see how that was all the conference finalists?). Kaepernick, RG3, and other such flash in the pan nonsense (including Joe Webb) are all done.
So now what to do with Datone Jones, our horse buggy whip?
For reasons mentioned above, he’s one of TT’s most interesting draft choices. Never a star, it’s hard to call him a bust because he was drafted for a specific purpose, filled it, and then no one needed a pony who did that trick anymore.
Depending on what happens with Peppers and Perry, he could be a reasonably priced role player. But I don’t know if he’d ever be more than Mike Neal, a guy who plays a ton of snaps, never makes a splash play or royally mucks anything up, but somehow manages to be invisible in neither a good or bad way.
If Perry and Peppers are gone, we just might need some clown to suck up snaps and not make an #ss out of himself.
… or we could just get a 30 year-old to replace him.