Quote Originally Posted by Frozen Tundra View Post
I think that in the longterm interest of the team, Jacobs is the smarter choice. As for which of the two I'd rather see playing in Green Bay next year, I'm leaning toward Jones.

A lot of people are parroting the line that "they're basically the same back, Jacobs is just a younger version." They're not the same back. I've watched a lot of Jacobs tape the last 24 hours, and it's alarming how many times I see him tackled from behind in the open field or angled out of bounds. I'm not used to seeing that when watching Jones; Jacobs is a good back with a lot of top-end tools, but he does not have that second gear that Jones has. He's got an excellent burst through the hole (probably similar to Jones), but once he's in the secondary he just doesn't have that breakaway speed that made Jones so explosive. So many 15-yard or 20-yard runs that look good until you realize Jones would have busted them open for 30 or 40.

I think a lot of Packer fans have become so spoiled by Jones that we don't fully appreciate how special he was. Statistically better than Ahman Green in almost every significant category, but he made it look so easy I think a lot of us came to take it for granted.

But given a choice between making a move a year too early or a year too late, this was the better option. Gute has decided that our Lombardi window starts in 24, rather than 25, and is not willing to risk wasting a year by relying on Jones to stay healthy a full season at age 30. Porbably the smart move, one that will pay even bigger dividends in 25 and 26, but right now it hurts.
Jones benefitted from a coach that stresses and practices second level blocking. They have missed similar games the last 4 years, but Jacobs workload was far greater. I love Jones, but Jacobs is a superior back at this point....but probably not 50% more in salary superior.