San Francisco 49ers: 5 injured players from 2019 who’ll make a difference in 2020
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: Nose Tackle D.J. Jones
While tight end George Kittle was the star of the 49ers 2017 NFL Draft class, nose tackle D.J. Jones is arguably the biggest “diamond in the rough” find.
Jones was money for San Francisco’s defense over the course of 2019. And like Weston Richburg, one can only wonder how the Niners would have fared in the Super Bowl if Jones didn’t suffer a season-ending ankle injury in Week 13 against the Saints.
The 49ers tried experimenting with a various combination of base-down defensive tackles in Jones’ injury wake, generating less-than-adequate results.
San Francisco’s defensive line was, with little doubt, the strongest position on the team over the course of the season. And while big-name players like DeForest Buckner, Nick Bosa, Dee Ford and Arik Armstead commanded much of the attention, it’s impossible to overlook the work Jones put in among this crop of former first-round draft picks.
Getting Jones back will help the rotation a lot in 2020, and it will also shore up the interior strength of the line over the course of the upcoming season.