James Jones: Pros and Cons

[pbmax]

Silverstein or Dunne laid out the pros and cons of resigning James Jones today and one of the pros was making catches over the middle. Now I do remember Jones making a couple nice catches on slants in traffic, but these were largely early in his career. But that has happened less and less over time. He hasn't exactly been Driver or Jennings oer the middle recently.

Is Jones a good WR over the middle?

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/126406983.html

[Cheesehead Craig]

Is he really called on to do that very often though? I recall Driver and Nelson doing it more often with Jennings running more deep middle routes.

I could be wrong, I've lost a lot of brain cells.

[Smidgeon]

I prefer Jones working the sideline. I'm sure somewhere Waldo has a statistic or a measurable proving that Jones is built for the slot, but I like Jones doing the deep work.

[red]

i can only remember him catching balls along the sidelines. but if i remember right, one of his huge fumbles came over the middle

but he's a sideline guy

[sheepshead]

As with many guys, if the price is right. I'd love for him to live up to his YAC potential.

[hoosier]

Occasional slant but no go over the middle. His route tree looks like something out of Dr Seuss, it has few branches on it.

[wist43]

My only concern with Jones is his hands...

Would love to have him back, but I think he's as good as gone, so... bring on Cobb

[Harlan Huckleby]

Latest rumor is MN deal faltering, Jones talking to Jets

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingnews.asp?sport=NFL&id=4242&line=207708&spln=1

[MadtownPacker]

I recall a old thread someone mentioned that when Jones is facing Rodgers he always catches it. Seems like that is kinda true to me. The perfect drop in over the shoulders pass on the run just bounce off his hands but a bullet fired right at him seems to get caught.

[smuggler]

It's true. And he seems to be good at catching low balls, too. Actually, he has pretty good hands, but seems to have some spatial issues with the over the shoulder catch.

[Deputy Nutz]

I don't really remember Jones catching a lot of passes over the middle, maybe a slant or a soft zone pattern, but rarely do I recall him running across the middle at any depth whatsoever.

[Patler]

Andrew Brandt did an interview on WTMJ a couple days ago. Was asked about Packers being let go and leaving as FAs. Commented on several. The one that really struck me was that he said the most impressive thing about James Jones was his phenomenal hands, he said that Jones can catch anything.

If he really has an unusual ability to catch, the drops are an issue of focus. That is correctable. You can't coach someone to do something that they just don't have the physical ability to do. However, you can coach someone to do more consistently something that they do regularly.

I think Jones can still be an extremely good receiver.

[smuggler]

I hope we get Jones back. He's 26 and he has 2-4 more years of prime left. I was those years to be with us!

[Harlan Huckleby]

Jason Wilde on Homer's show thought there was good chance Jones will get an offer from the Packers. Obviously it depends on what the Jets (or whoever) dangles in front of him. If Rogers thinks Jones is a critical component of the offense, that means a lot, he knows what's going on downfield.

[pbmax]

Andrew Brandt did an interview on WTMJ a couple days ago. Was asked about Packers being let go and leaving as FAs. Commented on several. The one that really struck me was that he said the most impressive thing about James Jones was his phenomenal hands, he said that Jones can catch anything.

If he really has an unusual ability to catch, the drops are an issue of focus. That is correctable. You can't coach someone to do something that they just don't have the physical ability to do. However, you can coach someone to do more consistently something that they do regularly.

I think Jones can still be an extremely good receiver.

I have heard that elsewhere. However, I have always taken it to mean he can 'reach' anything due to his size, ability to shrug off DBs and athletic ability. But I don't associate that with good hands.

Its also possible that he demonstrates far better hands in practice than in games.

He was asked to do more interior routes when he was a rookie. But I never thought of him on par with Driver or Jennings. He didn't seem afraid, but he had Bubba Franks tendency to double clutch balls without Franks size to protect himself while gathering it.