Taiwan Jones could fit Kansas City Chiefs needs
By Matt Conner
The Oakland Raiders released Taiwan Jones, a player who could fit nicely with some minor needs for the Kansas City Chiefs.
If we’re discussing potential additions for the Kansas City Chiefs at this time of year, there’s a reason why someone might point to running backs and returners as a likely spot. The Chiefs have a potential need for someone to step into a role being vacated by a few players, which means someone like former Oakland Raiders running back Taiwan Jones could come into play.
Here’s the set-up for the Chiefs at this point. Jamaal Charles has been released, only to resurface with the Denver Broncos. Darrin Reaves, a longtime practice squad player, has also been let go. Knile Davis became a free agent and signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s a shift of moves that left the Chiefs with a core of holdover running backs in Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West.
One of former general manager John Dorsey’s first moves this offseason was to bring in C.J. Spiller, a former top 10 pick who hasn’t been productive since 2013. The move was a zero-risk flyer on a guy with a once-high ceiling. Certainly nothing to count on, but Dorsey saw something and trusted his instincts—something we’ve all learned to do as well. Then came the drafting of Kareem Hunt, a man who already looks ready for a considerable amount of carries at the pro level.
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Hunt will take over the top of the depth chart at some point in the near future. Spiller is a signing for the bottom, the place where we’re more concerned for this article’s purposes. After all, Taiwan Jones isn’t going to step into any team ready to take on the lion’s share of carries. But if we’re comparing players like Jones and Spiller and De’Anthony Thomas, another player on the Chiefs who could conceivably take over on kick returns and we have a little competition.
Right now, DAT is the de facto option for kick returns now that Andy Reid has made it public that Tyreek Hill will focus more on offense and remain on punt returns only. With Davis gone, Thomas becomes the only experienced returner
Here’s how the numbers shake out. Over the last two years, Spiller has averaged 20.8 yards per return in a small sample size of only 14 total returns (that’s how little he has played). Just last season for the Chiefs, Thomas had one more return than that for the Chiefs (15) and averaged 22.5 yards, clearly a better number than Spiller. In the same two-year span as Spiller, Jones had 39 returns for a 24.1 yards/return average. That’s significantly better than both with a much greater sample size to look at.
If the Chiefs are willing to let Thomas and Spiller battle it out in camp, it’s our (my) humble proposition that perhaps it would be better to let Thomas and Jones battle it out instead, seeing as how Jones has proven healthier, more experienced and more productive in recent years. If Spiller is somehow the C.J. Spiller of old, as in five years ago, then by all means, please give him the spot. But that’s such a longshot bet that Spiller is likely to look like other offensive experiments of Dorsey’s in the end—the same as a Weston Dressler, a Rod Streater, an A.J. Jenkins.
If the cost is cheap, as it should be, Taiwan Jones might be a good bet to stay in the AFC West.