{"id":329053,"date":"2025-08-30T12:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T12:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/329053\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T12:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T12:27:10","slug":"why-broncos-saivion-jones-may-succeed-john-franklin-myers-on-d-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/329053\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Broncos’ Sai’vion Jones may succeed John Franklin-Myers on D-line"},"content":{"rendered":"

The call came just as Ed Orgeron was pulling into a Taco Bell drive-thru, and the legendary LSU head coach quickly decided Sai\u2019vion Jones was more important than a taco.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoach!\u201d said Robert Valdez, then Jones\u2019 coach at St. James High in Vacherie, La. \u201cI got Sai\u2019vion Jones on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, hell, baby!\u201d Orgeron exclaimed in his unmistakable Cajun drawl.<\/p>\n

A few months after LSU had put together one of the most dominant seasons in college football history, the now-ex head coach was trying to win another recruiting race in spring 2020: Jones, a four-star edge rusher who\u2019d sprouted into a top Louisiana prospect. Jones decided he wanted to stay in his home state. So he told Valdez to call Orgeron.<\/p>\n

At this moment, though, the Taco Bell kiosk crackled to life.<\/p>\n

Can I take your order?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on the phone with Coach Valdez and Sai\u2019vion Jones!\u201d Orgeron barked at the cashier.<\/p>\n

Jones told Orgeron\u00a0he\u2019d talked to Valdez. He\u2019d talked to his mother. He wanted to commit to LSU.<\/p>\n

Orgeron burst out screaming in the middle of the drive-thru.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even think he ordered Taco Bell,\u201d Valdez remembered. \u201cI think he just left.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five years later, the Broncos traded back up into the third round of April\u2019s NFL draft to take the kid who\u2019d once made Orgeron turn down a Burrito Supreme<\/a>. You don\u2019t need to squint to see why. Jones\u2019 raw traits have always been jaw-dropping \u2014 a 6-foot-6 defensive end who can combine an edge rusher\u2019s twitch with an interior lineman\u2019s power. And the LSU product would have \u201ctime to develop,\u201d as Denver general manager George Paton noted after the draft\u2019s second day, behind a stacked defensive line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like he can continue to grow in that role,\u201d Paton said.<\/p>\n

Three months later, though, Jones\u2019 timeline may have accelerated.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, he does the dirty work inside,\u201d Paton told reporters Thursday on a conference call. \u201cHe\u2019s developing a pass-rush arsenal. He\u2019s right on track to play this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Jones rounds into more of a tangible NFL force than a raw idea over the coming months, it\u2019ll have massive implications for the future of Denver\u2019s defensive line. On that same call where he lauded Jones, Paton brushed off any direct confirmation that the Broncos view John Franklin-Myers as a part of their long-term future, simply saying he was one of a few vets on expiring deals who Denver would \u201clike to\u201d have back.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a puzzle, kind of like your roster management, like the 53-man,\u201d Paton said. \u201cSo we\u2019re working through a lot of that now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Broncos didn\u2019t directly engage Franklin-Myers in extension talks this offseason. The veteran defensive lineman could reasonably command $20 million a year on the open market. But the Broncos just shelled out a massive extension for Zach Allen that\u2019ll increase in cap figure for the next four years, and are now likely tasked with paying OLB Nik Bonitto upwards of $30 million a year<\/a>. They also have to account for a possible extension for quarterback Bo Nix after the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, they have a third-round rookie defensive lineman in Jones who\u2019s under four years of team control, and one inch taller and a pound heavier than Franklin-Myers. It\u2019s not difficult to connect a few dots.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s young right now,\u201d starting nose tackle D.J. Jones (no relation) said of Jones in June. \u201cHe\u2019s eager to learn.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut he will be very special one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the notion of replacing Franklin-Myers isn\u2019t so simple. The 28-year-old interior pocket-mover has long felt undervalued. But he\u2019s far from undervalued around the league, said Cowboys defensive line coach Aaron Whitecotton, who had Franklin-Myers for three years with the New York Jets.<\/p>\n

Quietly, Franklin-Myers has racked up 50-plus pressures and 30-plus QB hurries for five straight seasons, per PFF. When he arrived in Denver in 2024, defensive line-mate Allen\u2019s production blossomed. When he left New York, defensive line-mate Quinnen Williams\u2019 production dropped.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have two inside rushers does balance things out for us,\u201d defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said in August. \u201cSo, someone\u2019s getting a one-on-one. It\u2019s just math, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Also math: Jones\u2019 2025 cap number is $8 million less than Franklin-Myers\u2019 number.<\/p>\n

The development path for Jones is clear after he gradually shifted from the edge to more interior alignments at LSU. He can play \u201cacross the line,\u201d Jones asserted on his draft call in April, and he has shown an ability to create pressure up the middle in his few months in Denver. He broke out a nasty swim move for a would-be sack in camp. He pushed an Arizona center back into Cardinals quarterback Clayton Tune in Week 2 of the preseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you get those defensive end guys that can transition to playing interior guys and still maintain the weight, then you\u2019ve added an extra, better athlete to the field \u2014 I think that\u2019s what he brings to the table,\u201d said Valdez, who both coached Jones in high school and later coached against him as an offensive line coach at Grambling State.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at him, you project. You look at the athleticism, and then you look at the height and the potential that, with your training regimen and your meal plan, to make sure that he has the proper weight to really control and set the interior,\u201d Valdez continued. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes him so attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is still potential right now. Jones\u2019 length (33.5-inch wingspan) could make him a plus against the run. He was decidedly a minus in 2024 with LSU, with a 26.1% missed tackle rate, according to PFF. But Broncos head coach Sean Payton noted Jones had made progress across the last 10 days of preseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s getting there,\u201d Payton said when asked if he felt Jones was ready to play as a rookie.<\/p>\n

When Jones left Louisiana to report for Denver\u2019s rookie minicamp in May, he passed Valdez on the highway, coincidentally. He called his old coach, who\u2019d seen him zip by.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou better slow your ass down,\u201d Valdez told him, he remembered.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, man, I gotta catch a plane, man!\u201d Jones replied. \u201cCoach, I gotta catch a flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denver doesn\u2019t need Jones to be in a hurry. But he\u2019s still speeding up.<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The call came just as Ed Orgeron was pulling into a Taco Bell drive-thru, and the legendary LSU…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2062],"tags":[925,232,3899,231,258,2426,7,1272,2318,929,926,6,1625,1813,9,60339,2832,1626],"class_list":{"0":"post-329053","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-denver-broncos","8":"tag-bo-nix","9":"tag-broncos","10":"tag-d-j-jones","11":"tag-denver","12":"tag-denver-broncos","13":"tag-denverbroncos","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-george-paton","16":"tag-john-franklin-myers","17":"tag-latest-headlines","18":"tag-more-broncos-news","19":"tag-nfl","20":"tag-nik-bonitto","21":"tag-sean-payton","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-taco-bell","24":"tag-vance-joseph","25":"tag-zach-allen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115117715822675167","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}