This week's Classic Jurassic Meat-Eater Matchup is a true eye-of-the-hurricane meat-eater who operates in the heart of the trenches.
Travis Jones is the nose tackle for the Baltimore Ravens. A true classic nose tackle, a position that, like running backs, have been somewhat devalued in today's NFL.
Jones is a throwback to the Casey Hampton era of prodigious, ginormous run stoppers. He is primarily a two-down run-stuffer who is able to push the pocket on a pass rush, but is somewhat limited by his size and athleticism.
Standing 6-foot-4 and checking in at 340 pounds, Jones works is the heart of defending the running game. Playing nose tackle is a selfless occupation, often requiring the nose to battle two, and sometimes even three guys, per play.
To date, Jones has recorded just 3.5 career sacks, which totally hides the enormous value of the work he does in protecting the second level linebackers who flow to the ball. Eating up double teams is as common for him as lunch.
He's powerful, hard to move off his spot and has enough lateral mobility to get outside of the phone booth where he's a drop-anchor-and-hang-on guy. His range is not huge, but he can be effective laterally.
In sub-package football, Jones will move to a 3-tech and operate there. Using strong and violent hands, he matches them well with his ability to move his feet.
Jones plays with a low pad level which gives you little opportunity to gain leverage. He's a forehead-first guy who uses tremendous ham hock strength to neutralize any 4th down "Tush-Push" attempts.
While he can effectively push the pocket in pass rushing and shorten the depth of the pocket, he lacks closing speed in nabbing quarterbacks.
For the Steelers to crown themselves AFC North champs with a win on Saturday, they are going to have to win the battle in the trenches. To do that, they will have to effectively deal with Jones. He certainly won't be hard to find.
