According to rumors, the Packers attempted to trade wide receiver James Jones prior to April’s draft. If these rumors were true – and based on where they originated, I have my doubts – then general manager Ted Thompson should thank his lucky stars that he never received an offer he couldn’t refuse. While the former San Jose State star may not have developed into the player some projected him to be following an impressive rookie campaign in 2007, he was an underrated and integral cog in an offensive machine that established franchise records for points and total yards a year ago.
Could the offense survive without Jones? Of course. With Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Jermichael Finley and Randall Cobb, the Packers would still have an abundance of weapons in the passing game. But there’s a reason star quarterback Aaron Rodgers said the following last summer about the importance of re-signing Jones, an unrestricted free agent at the time: ”He should be priority No. 1. And I mean that with all my heart. He really should be priority No. 1. We don’t win the Super Bowl without him. And we need him. I think he’s as talented a player as we’ve got on the team, and I think his best football is in front of him. And I think he’s a valuable asset that we don’t want to get rid of.”
If you carefully study Jones during the course of a game, it’s pretty easy to see why Rodgers was so effusive in his praise. The 28-year-old has the ability to separate from defensive backs as well as any receiver on the roster. That’s why he’s been able to score 20 touchdowns in the past three seasons despite catching a modest 135 passes in limited snaps as either the third or fourth wide receiver. He’s also not afraid to throw his big body around as a downfield blocker.
What has kept and will continue to keep Jones from achieving stardom is his inconsistency. He drops too many passes, runs lazy routes at times and doesn’t always compete hard enough for the ball. That’s why other teams weren’t willing to throw big money at him a year ago. But at a cost of $2.8 million in 2012, he’s a bargain. How big of a bargain? Fellow wide receiver Donald Driver will be paid $2.3 million this season, and I feel pretty safe in predicting that no opposing defensive coordinator will feel comfortable covering Jones with a linebacker any time soon.
Take the emotion out of it and just evaluate it objectively based on watching the game and you take Jones 10 out of 10 games over driver. Jones is also the only receiver you can’t jam at the line of scrimmage or play press coverage on, he’s far too strong.
The only speculative reason I could imagine they would float Jones out there in the hopes of retaining Gurley/Borel: TT and staff have seen Jone’s ceiling and they feel as though the ceiling of Borel/Gurley or both have a higher ceiling than Jones. They would dump a bit of salary in a trade with two cheap young options, and Driver in has final contract year as a Packer.
Speculative on my behalf, but they would have to view the young guys ceiling as higher than what Jones offers. On a personal level, I love Jones and don’t get why fans dislike him. He doesn’t drop any more balls over his career than Driver or Nelson.
M & M,
Agree w/ both of you. During the draft I felt JJ was the most tradeable esp w/ the depth at WR. Now that the draft is over I don’t want him going anywhere except down the field catching passes or blocking for others.
Another aspect to consider is Greg Jennings. His contract is up and as he turns 30 next fall he’ll be asking for approx 4 yrs $50M. TT must weigh the cost vs production and signing others.
And we don’t know yet whether Gurley, Borel, Smithson et al can make it on the big stage. DD will be gone after this year. As TT has said “you’re one injury from turning a strength at a position into a weakness.” Having JJ eases my mind at WR.
I still continuously go back to last years playoff game, and what stands out the most is Donald Driver being the only player to catch the ball, sorry Jones you are replaceable
I like going back to the same game, but seeing Driver beat a linebacker by 1/2 step, barely getting separation while drawing the biggest coverage mismatch on the field. Even then, he appeared to be Rodgers last look on his progression tree. That, and I like to look at trends. I see a pretty clear 3-year trend of declining production and progressive lack of separation year-over-year.
Sample size…
JJ is a no-brainer, especially with DD gone this year or next and GJ possibly in his final year as a Packer.
Take out 2011 and I doubt his drop % is as high as JF and about same as other Packer WRs.
If Jordy or GJ goes down, next guy up = JJ. End of story.
I agree, in fact I don’t think JJ’s drop percentage was ever really very high, he just picked bad times to drop passes, i.e. the Super Bowl and playoff game against the Eagles. Both drops could have cost us the game, and that’s why people remember them more, they were high profile.
On the other hand, he makes a lot of plays for us as well. People tend to overlook his contributions.
Jordy Nelson dropped 4 balls in the Super Bowl and barely registered a blip on the fan complaint meter.
I know DD is signed and has his contract but it would still surprise me if he makes the team. Too much young talent and special team issues to keep him on the squad.
JJ is a good receiver and surprised that Dallas or Cleveland hasn’t made an effort to get him. I hope he stays w/ Green Bay another year.
Something tells me too that DD may be an insurance policy. I know people say GB paid him too much for that but given who he is, kicking him a final pay day as thanks and respect isn’t out of the question. We shall see.