It’s been a while since we’ve done this, but the Thomas Jones signing was such a big one we wanted to bring in someone who saw T.J.’s every touch as a Jet to comment on the pick-up. Brian Basset of The Jets Blog was nice enough to chime in. Brian is a long-term blogosphere buddy of mine, and one I had the pleasure of meeting last year in New York. The Jets Blog is one of the better NFL team blogs in existence, so definitely check it out. Here are his thoughts…
I’m a big fan of Thomas Jones. But for as good as a player as Thomas Jones has been on the field for the Jets, he’s been better as a veteran leader for the Jets away from it. During the course of the 2009 season with a rookie QB, Jones was the driving voice on gameday in the locker room, though rarely to the press.
The problem with Jones was that for the Jets he played as well as his line allowed him and we saw that diminish greatly at the end of the 2009 season. In 2007, his first year with the team when the offensive line was a shambles, Jones rarely got into the end zone, once the team added LG Alan Faneca, RT Damien Woody and former Chief FB Tony Richardson, those numbers jumped, but over the course of the 2009 season, I was troubled by his inability to create a spark for the running game down the stretch. While the coaching staff let him still start, it was clear that Shonn Greene made the running game tick as the Jets went on their postseason run. Jones benefited from some fairly soft running defenses in the second half of the season.
In a lesser role, I think that Jones can still contribute, but if I were a Chiefs fan, I wouldn’t expect him to be putting up another 1400 yard / 14 TD season for the Arrowhead faithful.
Both some good and some bad in there for all of us with the rose-colored glasses on. Big thanks to Brian again.
Addicts, what are your thoughts on The Jets Blog’s take on T.J.?
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I’m not expecting another season like he had this past year,that line in New York is incredible. I’m just happy we have a legitimate short yardage back that other teams will take seriously.
T-Train:
I agree. He may not rush for 1000 yards this season but with Charles, we don’t need him to. But if he wants to that is fine too. =)
I think it’s a fair, and accurate write-up and agree with T-train. Brought in to help with the load, not carry it all. I think everyone in the Chiefs organization, including Jones, fully understands this. Great sign IMO.
Sounds about right, but we need his leadership and ability to get tough short yards when needed.
Should we bring back Richardson? Mike Cox is no Tony Richardson
I am ecstatic about Thomas Jones. The fact that he will not be getting the majority of touches, I believe, will keep him performing when he does get them. Also we really need him to just be productive while charles takes his break and his leadership is the most important thing for the future backs of the franchise. $5 million for a rb coach that also plays is a great bargain lol.
Unrelated question here. The Chiefs get ATL’s pick in round 2. The Falcons finished tied with PIT and HOU. By tie-breaker the order of those 3 teams in the 1st round was PIT, ATL then HOU. In all other tie-breaker situations in the NFL, the team that drafted 1st in the 1st round gets moved to the back of the pack in the second round. So it should be ATL, HOU then PIT in round 2. Meaning KC, HOU then PIT. Why do most of the drafts orders (ESPN – NFL Network) show the 2nd round order as HOU, ATL then PIT?
An example of this working the other way is SEA, CLE then OAK in round 1. Round 2 is CLE, OAK then SEA. As it should be. Seems to me that KC is getting screwed there and should be picked 50th not 51st. Is there some weird tie-breaker rule coming in to play?