Chris Jones will offer the 49ers' offense a battle in San Francisco’s Super Bowl LVIII clash with the Kansas City Chiefs on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
When talking to reporters on Friday, 49ers tight end George Kittle weighed in on Jones, who racked up 10.5 sacks this season, and the level of difficulty it is to block and contain the Chiefs' star defensive tackle.
“I don’t block him very often, maybe once in a while,” Kittle told reporters. “I would just say … He is a very dominant player. He is incredibly physical. He’s huge. He’s very hard to block one-on-one.
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“Like I say, when you have a guy on the interior that is as dominant as that guy is, you have to account for him with, like, three hands or two sets of hands. When you’re doing that, it just allows all these guys to get all these one-on-one opportunities. And then when you throw in, they’ll put five guys on the line or they might blitz somebody else.”
The praise from Kittle for Jones didn’t stop there.
Kittle added that he sees Jones as one of the NFL's best players, drawing comparisons to All-Pro defensive tackle and Super Bowl champion Aaron Donald.
San Francisco 49ers
“And then, ‘Hey, it’s leaving someone one-on-one with Chris Jones,” Kittle added. “And it’s like, ’Hey, good luck.’ Like, he’s amazing, one of the best players in the NFL, like a top 10 in the NFL 100 multiple years in a row. There’s a reason he is: you have to account for him in every play. And I think you have to treat him kind of Aaron Donald-ish, where he can wreck any drive. You say, ‘Hey, we're going to leave him one-on-one.’
“And all of a sudden he swims through and tackles the running back from the back for minus five. You’re looking at 2nd and 15, and it ruins the drive. He’s just very, very good at wrecking plays. When you have to account for someone like that it just kind of leaves other people open.”
Only time will tell how the Kittle and Co. will approach Jones on Feb. 11.
The fact of the matter is it won’t be an easy task.