The Kwami conundrum – Bulldogs’ defensive end is back in lineup, but with a redshirt rule twist
Fresno State has defensive end Kwami Jones back on the football field and the timing could not be better for the injury-depleted Bulldogs as they head into their final three games with a chance to win out and return to the Mountain West Conference championship game.
But Jones’ return does come with a twist and presents an interesting dilemma for coach Jeff Tedford and the defensive coaching staff, as long as they win games down the stretch.
Jones, who missed the first eight games rehabbing a back injury, is a senior with a redshirt year available. He can play in up to four games and still come back for a full senior season in 2020.
He played in his first game last week against Utah State. His second will be on Friday at San Diego State, a game he could return to the starting lineup. A third would be Nevada in the Bulldogs’ final home game. A fourth would be at San Jose State in the regular-season finale.
If the Bulldogs win out, a fifth game — taking away a potential redshirt for Jones — would be for the conference championship. But the staff also wants Jones back next season in a position group that has talent but will lack experience.
So, if Fresno State beats San Diego State, does it sit Jones against Nevada?
If it beats San Diego State and Nevada, does it sit Jones at San Jose State?
If it wins all three games, does it pull back on Jones when playing for a conference title?
The easy answer is to worry about next week next week and next year next year.
“It’s immediate right now, playing our best players,” Tedford said. “What we’re guaranteed is three more games, so we have to make sure we’re doing what’s right, right now.
“It’s one game at a time. This week is the most important thing. If we’re fortunate enough some time to go further or whatever, we’ll deal with that at that point. But right now it’s immediate, and we have to make sure our best players are playing.”
Jones is in that group and with Isaiah Johnson now out for the season with a knee injury the Bulldogs need Jone. Johnson started seven of the first eight games at end and is tied for third on the team with 4.5 tackles for loss and tied for second with 2.0 sacks.
Junior Leevel Tatum II started against Utah State opposite senior Mykal Walker, but Jones was in on six tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss and had the Bulldogs’ only sack on Aggies quarterback Jordan Love.
It’s one of the most productive games by a Bulldogs defensive lineman this season.
“Kwami came in and gave us great results,” defensive line coach Will Plemons said. “He’s such a smart guy and he’s a veteran, and we need that as much as anything right now.”
Jones’ take? “We’ll see what happens,” he said. “We have this week ahead of us. You can’t look too far ahead. This is a juggernaut team we’re paying so you can’t really think about all that right now. We’ll worry about all that later.”
But 2020 does complicate that equation.
A breakdown of the Bulldogs’ defensive ends group by class (*has used redshirt season):
Seniors
▪ Mykal Walker-*
▪ Kwami Jones
Juniors
▪ Leevel Tatum II*
▪ Andrew Wright*
▪ David Perales
▪ Nikko Thomas
Sophomores
▪ Alex Cruz-*
▪ Isaiah Johnson
Freshmen
▪ Devo Bridges
▪ Colby Warkentin
Walker hopes to be playing in the NFL next season, and Tatum and Wright will be fifth-year seniors. Tatum has played in all nine games this season with the one start, has 10 tackles including 1.0 tackles for loss. Wright has played in only six games this season, getting no snaps at Air Force and against UNLV then again last week in the loss to Utah State.
Perales is sitting out this season under NCAA rules as a transfer from FCS Sacramento State. Thomas came back from a fall camp injury to play at Air Force and against UNLV. He is in line to redshirt, and Perales and Thomas next season will both be fourth-year juniors with no and limited action at the FBS level.
Cruz has played in eight games this season, racking up 16 tackles, and will be a fourth-year junior. Johnson next season will be a true junior.
Jones — who has played in 28 career games and made 10 starts last season when the Bulldogs went 12-2, won the Mountain West championship with an overtime victory at Boise State and the Las Vegas Bowl against Arizona State — would be one of the most experienced players in the group.
The Bulldogs need him now, and want him later. But Friday and the Aztecs are front and center.
With Jones and Walker at end, the Bulldogs hope their pass rush picks up. The sack by Jones against Utah State was only their third in five conference games, and Mountain West opponents have sliced up the Fresno State pass defense – it is ranked 11th in conference play, allowing 278.8 yards per game.
The Bulldogs also have allowed 17 explosive pass plays of 20 or more yards to Mountain West opponents – last season they allowed 18 in nine games including the conference championship.
“It’s the first time those two have been together all year,” Plemons said. “It’s the right time. There’s no better time than this week and these next few games going forward. We need every war daddy we can get, and those two guys have done it.”