Thomas Jones on the Jets and McFadden
Thomas Jones was asked Friday by the press about what he would think should the Jets draft Darren McFadden.
They have to do what they have to do. I get paid to play football, not to make those decisions. When I was in Chicago, they drafted Cedric Benson. When he came in, I tried to help the guy as much as I could and be a role model for him. Things worked out the way they did. Whatever decision they make is on them. It has nothing to do with me. I signed a four-year deal here to help this team win football games. That is what I will continue to do.
It’s hard to know what will happen in the next four months, and likely to get a real shot at McFadden, the Jets might have to lose this game Sunday, we’ll have to see which way his hype meter goes. McFadden is someone who I imagine that Schottenheimer would drool over. I would think Schott has visions of LaDanian a versatile back who can throw a pass now and again …
Filed under: Main Page
The pressure on the Falcons to take a guy like Run-DMc would be enormous. Dunn is near retirement, and the consensus is that Norwood will never be more than a change-of-pace back. McFadden brings excitement and a new face of the franchise to replace Vick. But, I’m assuming the Jets win Sunday and the Falcons and Rams lose. I’ll admit (and everyone on this blog will get tired and/or flame me for it) that I’m a Matt Ryan fan and if the Jets have a chance to draft him they should think very seriously about it. Although, Chris Long is a nice fall back. Also, the combine and workouts will raise someone else’s profile. I just don’t want an OL with a top 5 pick. I’m all for taking an LG or RT in the 2nd round and later, but I’m not a fan of 1st round OLs, unless it’s an LT, and it’s way too early to give up on Brick.
Brick needs a LG and than he’ll be a pro bowler. Run DMC would be a great weapon and we need any kind of weapon badly. Kellens gets a O-line and some weapons and the offense will be rolling.
OFFENSIVE LINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
From everything I’ve read about the top QB’s in the 2008 draft, none are regarded very highly. matt ryan’s arm is characterized as “nothing special.” Unless the jets can get McFadden or Glenn Dorsey, I’d like to see them trade down and get a few more picks. more likely than not, i see them staying put and ending up with chris long.
Does anyone know how many spots we’ll move down in the draft if we beat KC and the rest of the 3- and 4-win teams lose? I think we end up at 6 – sound right? If so, that would be a huge win for us – we’d still have the pick of several great talents, but save millions on our cap.
I really hope the Jets don’t waste a top 5 pick on an o-lineman. There is no question that the Jets need serious help on the o-line, but help can be found through FA or in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the draft.
I think the Jets would be better served with a playmaker. Something like a pass rusher, top corner or even DMF. A qb is not necessary and none of the qb’s available are worthy of a top 5 pick.
The Jets would be best served taking the best player available.
is it a forgone conclusion that its thomas jones that loses carries or a job if mcfadden is drafted?
it seems like we’d take far less of a cap hit to move leon washington, who is already under utilized.
LW was the “herman” 4th rounder, so that was 2 drafts ago, that has to leave plenty of time left from his rookie contract. but when that is up, there should be quite a market for him.
They aren’t going to get rid of Jones and take a 9m cap hit, so yes it would seem that Leon would become expendable, or at least almost exclusively a kick returner at still a decent price.
Adding McFadden would be interesting though because they could use him in other ways (line him up out wide or in the slot, give him direct snaps) which may not interfere with TJ’s role too much.
However, whilst I rate McFadden higher, I have the same reservations about him as Adrian Peterson. Being a 6′2″ tailback is always going to make you susceptible to injuries and this has already been the case for AP, despite the fact he is with a team that blocks so well, he often isn’t touched until the second level. Imagine him on this Jets team, he would take far more of a pounding.
One thing McFadden has going for him is that he was more durable than AP throughout their respective collegiate careers. Much like Peterson he will certainly be an impact player, but will he be able to stand up to a full season of NFL hitting? Get the offensive line sorted at the same time and maybe you have a different story.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always thought he was an amazing prospect, but this is the one area which concerns me. If Adrian Peterson was a Jet, I would be thrilled to have such a great player, but I would still be worried that come January he might be on the bench out of uniform.
Bottom line, RB is far from our biggest need, but playmakers like this are scarce, so it’s a tough decision. I don’t ultimately think we’ll get the choice anyway, but there will be a good chance to upgrade the team.
Matt Ryan’s arm actually is pretty special – it’s his accuracy and decision making under pressure over the second half which have cooled his buzz. I wouldn’t call him a “terrible pro prospect” like Seanmac did, although I think he might go in the 20’s anyway. He has a heck of an arm though. I doubt he (or any other rookie QB’s this year) could come right in and start though and would rather draft an immediate contributor, given the choice.
At least we draft ahead of the Pats! That is big.
For what it’s worth, Scouts Inc. has Ryan tied as the 4th best prospect with a 97 rating, Brohm is tied for 7th with a 96 rating and Woodson is tied for 10th with a 95 rating. That’s 3 QBs at 95 or better…that’s pretty highly rated in my book and that’s before the Combine (the three higher rated players are Run-DMc-99, Dorsey and Long-98). I think there’s a chance all three QBs go in the top 10 and top 15 at the latest. Also, the QB play in the NFL has been awful this year, making QB even more of a priority. I hope KC has a great game tomorrow and allays my fears that the Jets have a huge question mark at QB. But, if the question mark remains, then the Jets should draft a QB…it’s just too important a position and the Jets might not have another opportunity to draft a top QB prospect for a while (just a little upgrade in talent and the Jets could hover from 6-10 to 10-6 for the next 5 years).
OL can wait for the 2nd through 4th rounds, which are all one selection better for all teams because there’s only 31 first round picks due to the Pats’ penalty for cheating. I didn’t see the top OG prospect Roy Schuening from Oregon State last night…he’s pretty big: 6-31/2 and 315 lbs. Sounds like at best he’s a 2nd rounder. Currently, no OG is projected to go in the 1st round. And, for you Rutgers fans, there’s three senior OL that are considered late round picks and NFL OGs (although Fladell at 6-6 sounds like he could be an RT if his technique were better).
Bent, I’ll defend Ryan to this extent: he was BC’s whole offense , their running game and OL were suspect (last night, his RBs averaged .9 yards per carry), and he did not have the greatest collection of WRs (yet, he threw for over 4,500 yards and completed 59.3% of his passes…sure, below the magic 60% mark, but given it was the first year in a new system and his lack of weapons, I can’t kill him for it…bottom line he did have 31 TDs to 19 INTs). His INTs didn’t seem to be because of bad football IQ, more often than not, he was trying to do too much. On the plus side, he has great arm strength, throws very well on the run (although he’s not very mobile), is a winner, an intangible that I rate highly, and had his best season his senior year (unlike Brohm). I’d be shocked if he doesn’t go in the top 10…he may even be Parcells’ no. 1 pick (the Parcells mantra is that a team has to be strong up the middle, so Dorsey is still the logical pick, but he did make Bledsoe a no. 1 pick, and Parcells does trade down).