Early in 2019, the San Francisco 49ers elected not to keep going with veteran nose tackle Earl Mitchell, parting ways with him and opening up the door for third-year pro D.J. Jones to assume the starting 1-technique role in base formats this upcoming season.
Jones had been making solid headway in this direction ever since the Niners selected him in Round 6 of the 2017 NFL Draft. His rookie season, Jones saw just over 13 percent of defensive snaps. That number increased to over 22 percent last season.
With Mitchell out of the picture, Jones should get an even bigger uptick in 2019.