Denver Broncos: Dre’Mont Jones wins AFC defensive player of the week

Denver Broncos rookie defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after his 2.5 sacks against the Detroit Lions.

The Denver Broncos have had two really good rookie classes in a row, and not that we needed hardware to show it, but the players are bringing it in anyway.

After Drew Lock won rookie of the week honors a couple of weeks ago for his brilliant performance against the Houston Texans, third-round pick Dre’Mont Jones won AFC Defensive Player of the Week with this performance against the Detroit Lions.

Only two other Denver Broncos players have been named AFC Defensive Player of the Week as rookies — Von Miller in 2011 and DJ Williams in 2004.

Jones is the third rookie this season to be named AFC Defensive Player of the Week along with Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Devin Bush and Oakland Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby.

Jones’ performance against the Lions included five total tackles and 2.5 sacks, and the most impressive part of it all is that he did it with a bad ankle. The rookie out of Ohio State has been dealing with a pretty bad sprained ankle for the past few weeks, but he told the coaches he wanted to play ahead of the Detroit game with the Broncos down so many guys on the defensive line, and he showed out in a big way.

It has been a tremendous two-year stretch of drafting for the Denver Broncos, especially in the early rounds and on day two of the NFL Draft where John Elway had historically struggled.

In the 2018 NFL Draft, Elway was able to draft Courtland Sutton, Royce Freeman, and Isaac Yiadom on day two. In 2019, he came away with Dalton Risner, Drew Lock, and Dre’Mont Jones.

Not bad.

All of those players are starters on this Denver team right now save for Freeman, who doesn’t start every game but has actually out-snapped Phillip Lindsay in year two. Jones is starting out of necessity at this point, but with a number of players slated for free agency, he could be in line for a starting role in 2020.

Congratulations to Jones for this award. It’s hard to say he is a “forgotten” piece of the Broncos’ stellar 2019 draft class, but with so much attention on the Broncos’ top three picks, that has kind of been the case. He’s put together a tremendous rookie season with a number of big plays including:

• 14 total tackles
• 6 QB hits
• 3.5 sacks
• 3 tackles for loss
• 1 interception
• 1 blocked field goal
• 2 batted passes

You just love to see it.