Arizona Cardinals: 5 burning questions in 2018

3. Does Chandler Jones have another gear?

Jones might be the biggest mistake of Bill Belichick’s career. He is the lone player who has really elevated his game after leaving New England. The talented defensive end has posted two double-digit sack seasons since arriving in the desert.

2017 was by far Jones’ best season as a pro. He put up 17 sacks and was named a first-team All Pro. No other member of the defense got to the quarterback more than 5.5 times. Certainly Wilks will try to find more players to rush the passer, but Jones is still going to be the team’s defensive star in 2018.

The question is whether or not Jones can really take his game to another level. The Cardinals’ coaching staff would likely be happy to see him simply replicate the 17 sacks he notched last year. Expecting him to do anything else would be asking him to have one of the greatest seasons in the history of the game.

On the other hand, Jones will just be 28-years-old next season. It’s not out of the question to believe he hasn’t reached his physical peak as of yet. It might be more reasonable to expect him to have a larger impact against the run. Jones wasn’t bad in that regard last season, but he certainly wasn’t a star. Rounding out his game could increase his effectiveness even more.