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Bengals' Jones deserves Pro Bowl nod

by Don Banks

In an effort to make the most anticlimactic game of the season the slightest bit more relevant, the NFL this year took the unprecedented steps of delaying the unveiling of the Pro Bowl rosters until tonight (7 p.m. ET, NFL Network) -- a full week later than usual -- bumping the all-star game up two weeks to Jan. 31, and moving the contest from Honolulu to Miami, where it will be played in the same stadium as Super Bowl XLIV.

Will those moves create the excitement and anticipation the league has long coveted for what theoretically should be one of its showcase games? Probably not. The Pro Bowl has some inherent flaws that likely can't be fixed, and no matter when or where you play it, it'll take on the look, feel and pace of an exhibition game, even if those are big stars dotting both rosters.

But I know one sure-fire way to make me more eager to watch the NFL's all-star game, and that's if the voters this season did the job of rewarding the most deserving players in the game. Not just the superstars who have more name than game in any particular year, but the less-celebrated types who have earned their trip with the kind of play that befits the all-star designation.

If I were NFL commissioner for a day, I know who would get the nod from me: Cincinnati middle linebacker Dhani Jones, one of pivotal cogs in the success of the playoff-bound Bengals.

Jones, now in his 10th NFL season, has never been what you would call star material. He was drafted by the Giants in the sixth round in 2000, 177th overall (22 spots ahead of his Michigan teammate, Tom Brady), is playing with his third NFL team, and likely hasn't come within three time zones of a trip to Honolulu.

But he's one of the most indispensable Bengals this season, and his rock-solid play in the middle of a Cincinnati defense that ranks second against the rush (87.7), fourth in total yards (300.1), and fifth in points allowed (16.9) has not been overlooked by those within the league who know defensive football. Though he leads the Bengals in tackles for a second year with 106 through 15 games, Jones doesn't have the type of gaudy personal stats that attract Pro Bowl votes. But know this: His 3½ sacks, two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and five passes defensed tell only a fraction of the story.

Ask Mike Zimmer, who may just be the defensive coordinator of the year this season, what Jones means to his defense. Zimmer's unit has been the backbone of Cincinnati's 10-5, division title-winning season, and no one has earned more of his respect and praise this year than Jones, who was voted the team's defensive captain for the first time in 2009.

"When you watch him play, no one's going to get wowed by his big sack totals, or his big hits, but in my mind, he's a Pro Bowl player,'' Zimmer told me recently. "He's a guy who makes the plays when he's presented with the opportunity to make them. It's tough to make the Pro Bowl in this league if you don't have the sacks and interceptions, but he does so many things for us. He's a big part of the reason we've been playing fairly well this season. The things he does, they don't show up in the stats. But they show up in the wins.''

Jones was an outside linebacker for the first eight seasons of his NFL career, but Zimmer asked him to slide to the middle and assume the key leadership role in his defense when the veteran coordinator took over in Cincinnati in 2008. Jones has thrived ever since, but where are the Pro Bowl votes going to come from with the likes of inside linebackers like Ray Lewis, DeMeco Ryans, Gary Brackett and David Harris also in the AFC?

"I just had a feeling he could play the middle,'' said Zimmer, who thinks highly enough of Jones that he asked him to serve as a pallbearer for his wife, Vikki, in October. "I had a guy in Dallas, Dat Nguyen, who was very similar to Dhani. Very smart, instinctive, a tough guy who could communicate with everyone and just get it done. And it ended up working out pretty good. He's never been a mike [middle linebacker] before, but he's a pretty darn good mike.

"He's as smart a guy as I've ever had playing in the middle for me. He asks tremendous questions, understands everyone's role, and he wants to be leaned on by everyone on the field. The kid really loves football. And I respect guys like that. I like those kind of guys.''

I like those kind of guys, too, even though Jones's brand of team-oriented play is destined to leave him snubbed by Pro Bowl voters. I spoke with Jones the other day, and it's almost impossible to get him to pub his own Pro Bowl candidacy, even though he's not the shrinking, wall-flower type. He's comfortable enough around the media and the TV cameras to host his own show on the Travel Channel: "Dhani Tackles the Globe,'' and he's done plenty of work for both ESPN and the NFL Network in the offseason.

"It would mean a lot to me, and I'd be remiss if I said I wouldn't be appreciative of it,'' said Jones, 31, of a potential Pro Bowl invite. "It'd be humbling to know people respect me like that. But it's not something I talk about. My whole approach toward football is sort of a blue-collar mentality. I try to work harder than the next person, and the things that come from that happen because they're meant to happen.''

Alas, a trip to Miami, at least for the NFL's all-star game, is probably not meant to happen for Jones this year. It's too bad. To the winners are supposed to go the spoils, and the Bengals and their defense have been one of the feel-good stories of this NFL season. Jones has been in the middle of all that success, and he's the type of veteran who would truly savor and appreciate the honor of pulling on a Pro Bowl jersey for the first time, rather than finding a convenient injury to beg out of playing in the game.

I know I'd be more inclined to watch if Jones makes it to Miami, and isn't that the kind of relevance the Pro Bowl is trying so hard to create?