Dallis Flowers vs. Jaylon Jones

The Indianapolis Colts have decided to go with a young player at cornerback again, much to the chagrin of fans who have been clamoring for an experienced player all offseason.

Sophomore cornerback JuJu Brents is set to be the starter on one end of the field, while veteran playmaker Kenny Moore II will be the opposite starter in base defense and the slot cornerback in nickel/dime looks. The only spot left undecided at this point is the other outside starting cornerback in those nickel/dime personnel sets.

The two leading candidates for this role right now are Dallis Flowers and Jaylon Jones. Jones seems to have a slight edge based on minicamp rotations right now, but this camp battle could go either way this offseason.

With training camp set to kick off later this week, we dive into this intriguing battle and predict which player will emerge victorious at the end.

Dallis flowers

Flowers is one of the few veterans in the Colts’ cornerback room, as he joins Moore II and Chris Lammons as the only players in the room who have spent more than two years in the NFL. Flowers enters the third year of his tenure with just 479 defensive snaps to his name thus far.

Flowers was the undisputed starting outside cornerback in last offseason camp, seeing the bulk of the first-team rotation alongside Darrell Baker Jr. on the outside. He carried that offseason work into the regular season, appearing in every defensive snap until overtime against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4.

In that game against the Rams, Flowers suffered a season-ending Achilles injury at the end of overtime. To make matters worse, Flowers was enjoying the best day of his NFL career, as he recorded two pass breakups and a tackle for loss in that game.

Though Flowers saw just 304 defensive snaps on the field last season, he was arguably the Colts’ best cornerback statistically. His 17 percent forced incompletion rate was tied for a team-high, and he was one of two corners to keep opposing passer ratings under 100 when targeted heading into the year. His coverage grade of 70.6 was also second on the team, behind only Moore II, according to Pro Football Focus.

The sample size may have been small, but Flowers made progress with every start last season and was already starting to look like a genuine winger before suffering his unfortunate injury.

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Jaylon Jones

Jones was the Colts’ seventh-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. He spent most of last offseason in a second-string role, but injuries to both Brents and Flowers led to more playing time for the rookie in his first year. His 475 defensive snaps played last season ranked second among cornerbacks on the list as a result.

Jones certainly had his ups and downs for a rookie, but he controlled much of the damage around him on the outside. Opponents had a 54.4% completion percentage when targeting him last season, which was by far the best in the cornerback room. He also kept his yards after the catch to a minimum, allowing just 57 total yards receiving this year.

Another added bonus to Jones’ game is his youth. He recently turned 22, despite playing three years at the college level and spending most of last season as the Colts’ starter. He’s played a lot of football for his age, and there’s likely still room for growth for the young player. His age compared to Flowers (27) may be one of the bigger factors in deciding this race if the on-field conditions are anything like this.

Who will win this battle?

The cornerback battle between Jones and Flowers is perhaps the most exciting of the entire roster this offseason, but I personally think Flowers will ultimately win out (provided he fully recovers from his Achilles injury from last season).

Jones’ age is intriguing, and he certainly improved late last season, but Flowers is simply a better fit stylistically with Brents than Jones was on the outside. Flowers has the long speed that the other Colts cornerbacks lack, and that could help the team roll coverage over Brents instead of worrying about both ends of the field.

Both players will obviously be on the field next season regardless of the outcome of this battle, but Flowers has my vote before training camp begins. However, this intense battle should be one of the bigger talking points of camp, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out over the next month.

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