Christian Jones opens up on his change from defensive to offensive line

Christian Jones arrived at Texas in 2018 as a three-star offensive lineman recruit. His development has been impressive as he is now a staple of the Longhorns offensive line in his sixth year with the program, protecting Quinn Ewers and playing a key role in the high-powered offense.

But he wasn’t always on that side of the ball. As a high school athlete at Cy Woods (TX) High School, Jones played on the defensive line. However, coach Trent Faith opted to move him over to the offensive line.

Initially, Jones didn’t necessarily want to make the move. Even he admitted he didn’t have a good reason, looking back on it, because the offensive line doesn’t normally get the attention defensive linemen get.

“To be honest, I really wasn’t looking forward to playing o-line in high school at all,” Jones told On3’s Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “Playing d-line was fun. You get a sack — ‘Christian Jones with the sack.’ You don’t get any of that when you play o-line. I was young. I just wanted to feel like I was doing something amazing.”

It’s safe to say things worked out for Jones. He put together two strong seasons in 2021 and 2022, and he’s back for one last go-round thanks to the COVID year. After moving from left tackle to right tackle, he became an honorable mention All-Big 12 selection last year and is picking up where he left off this year.

Christian Jones shares message to coaches who helped him transition to offensive line: ‘Thank y’all’

It wasn’t an easy transition for Jones. He was going from defensive line, where he had to pressure the quarterback, to the offensive line to protect the quarterback. His left-footedness also made it tough at the left tackle spot, which is why he moved over to the right side.

That’s why Jones made sure to shout out each of the coaches who helped him along the way, too.

“It was definitely very, very difficult at first, understanding the footwork and all the technique and all that,” Jones said. “[The coaches], they all took their time with me and got better throughout the time. I just remember being challenged by them every single day. Thank y’all. Thank y’all for that.”

Jones is now getting ready to help Texas in the Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma this week in a battle of unbeaten rivals. That game kicks off Saturday at noon ET from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.