Ravens sign offensive tackle Josh Jones

The Ravens announced they’ve signed right guard Josh Jones

The Baltimore Ravens announced on Thursday they’ve signed former Houston Texans offensive lineman Josh Jones.

Jones, 26, has been in the NFL for four seasons after being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round (No. 72 overall) in the 2020 NFL Draft. In Jones’ rookie season, the Cardinals had Jones play left tackle in eight of nine games, but on a small snap count. In total, Jones played 54 snaps.

In his second year, they moved Jones across the offensive line, playing 11 games at right guard, four at right tackle and one game at left tackle for five snaps. In all, Jones played 852 snaps and didn’t produce to the level the Cardinals would’ve liked, allowing four sacks, three quarterback hits and 22 quarterback hurries. He graded out as the No. 271 offensive lineman in pass-blocking, with a 48 grade.

Then, things appeared to come together in his third season as he was moved to left tackle. Jones excelled, playing 13 games in 2022 and earning a 75.9 pass-block grade and 74.0 run-block grade from Pro Football Focus, ranking him No. 38 among left tackles for pass-blocking and No. 22 for run-blocking.

After a respectable third season, the Cardinals decided to send him and a seventh-round pick to the Houston Texans in exchange for a fifth-round pick. In Houston, Jones struggled to stay on the field, playing in only five games, four at left tackle. His numbers suffered from the lack of reps and a poor performance at left guard in Week 1 against the Ravens, who last season finished No. 1 in the NFL in sacks.

Jones seems best suited to play tackle, and has in his time excelled at left tackle more than any other area at the NFL level. Bringing in Jones is an interesting addition for the Ravens as they’re set at starting tackle with Ronnie Stanley, though his ability to stay on the field has been murky due to lingering injuries and misfortune.

Purely from a positional standpoint, Jones is best suited at left tackle. He’s not appeared to find a home at any other spot. But with Stanley manning the starting role, left tackle isn’t necessarily the need for Baltimore. They have numerous spots available elsewhere after the departure of both starting guards and trading right tackle Morgan Moses.

By bringing in Jones, this could free up versatile offensive lineman Patrick Mekari to get a starting role at either guard spot or right tackle. But, nothing is set in stone as the 2024 NFL Draft lingers just a month away.