Dre’Mont Jones making strong early impression with Denver Broncos

Denver Broncos third-round, pick Dre’Mont Jones, was one of the more underrated prospects in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was a productive defensive end at Ohio State and was a big reason why the Buckeyes defense remained productive despite being without Nick Bosa for most of the 2018 season.

Jones (6-3, 281 pounds) is likely to slide between defensive end, defensive tackle and nose tackle in the Broncos’ 3-4 scheme, one that coach Vic Fangio deployed with the Chicago Bears over the last few seasons. His versatility is a big reason why he projects to have a successful NFL career.

Jones ended his junior season at Ohio State with 8.5 sacks and was described by NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein as a guy who plays a disruptive brand of football. He’s proving that assessment to be accurate at the club’s offseason team activities.

“He’s coming in and just busted his tail so far,” Broncos defensive lineman Adam Gostis said after OTAs last week. “He’s kept his head down and just working hard and it’s awesome to see.”

Jones will begin training camp as a likely second-teamer behind Gostis, Shelby Harris and  Derek Wolfe, but if he continues his high-energy style of play, it’ll be hard to keep him on the sideline.

“Everyone’s helped pull him along,” Gostis said, “so he’s going to be an impact for us this year. I’m looking forward to seeing him out on the field.”

Jones came off the board at the top of the third round (eighth pick of the round). Teams hope to find big-time contributors, if not starters, in the first, second and third rounds, so there’s no reason to doubt anything but a huge role for Jones right out of the gate.

It would be pretty astonishing if Jones ends up the best Ohio State defensive lineman from the class of 2019, considering Bosa went second overall to the San Francisco 49ers. It would be shocking if that happens, but players who work hard and stay healthy always have a chance to become stars.