Breakout NFL star: Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones
By Jason Marcum
When the Cowboys in the Bengals squared-off in a critical Week 14 matchup last season with playoff implications on the line, Adam Jones held Dez Bryant in-check throughout the game. According to Pro Football Focus, Jones was targeted five times while covering Bryant, and managed to hold the Pro Bowl wideout to just three receptions for 23 yards.
Needless to say, the Bengals sure could have used Jones vs the Cowboys this past week while Bryant ran wild on the Bengals defense, catching six passes for 54 yards and a score while drawing several pass-interference penalties in just one-half of work. The absence of Jones remanded Bengals fans exactly what the team is missing when he is out of the lineup.
In 2012 while logging 626 defensive snaps, he held opposing receivers to just one reception for every 6.3 targets that came his way, and one every 11.5 coverage snaps he played. Those numbers put him in the top 25 in each category among qualifying corners in the NFL.
Pro Football Focus graded his cumulative coverage grade at +10.6, which ranked sixth among all cornerbacks in the NFL last season.