Chandler Jones had one of his best seasons as a pro, and he was rewarded Friday by being called one of the best pros in the NFL this season.
The outside linebacker, who had a career-high 19 sacks in 2019, was named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press as an edge rusher. It is the second time Jones was named All-Pro, after he was voted on in 2017.
Jones' big year in 2019 helped him surpass his own franchise record for sacks, which was the 17 he notched in 2017. Jones also tied for the league lead in eight forced fumbles and led the NFL with seven strip-sacks, and finished second by a half-sack to Tampa Bay's Shaq Barrett.
Jones earned 32 votes among the 50 total voters, the most of any edge rusher. Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt was the other first-team edge rusher with 22 votes. Jones also received two votes at linebacker.
The only other Cardinal to receive any votes was safety Budda Baker , who notched four.
Jones had four-sack games against the Giants and Seahawks, both on the road, and became only the third player ever and first in 33 years to have two four-sack games in one season. The last to do it had been Philadelphia's Reggie White in 1986. Denver's Karl Mecklenburg also did it in 1985.
No one in the NFL has more sacks (96) or forced fumbles (27) than Jones since Jones was a first-round pick of the Patriots in 2012. But Jones has taken his game up since arriving in Arizona in trade in 2016, piling up 60 sacks in just 64 games, already just 6½ shy of Freddie Joe Nunn's franchise record for a career.
Jones becomes the fifth Cardinal defender ever to earn more than one first-team All-Pro nod. Three are in the Hall of Fame: safety Larry Wilson (five times), cornerback Roger Wehrli (three times) and cornerback Aeneas Williams (two times). The other is cornerback Patrick Peterson (two times, plus once as a punt returner.)
