Thoughts on Kevin Jones

[Queso Viejo 0]

I'm trying to figure out what KJ's value is going into the 2006 season. Detroit now has a defensive minded coach and will have a new starting QB with Harrington's impending release.

 

I think he may have a good year and live up to all the expectations after his breakout in the second half of the 2004 season. He'll have an experienced QB and a ballbustin' coach to get the primadonna 1st rd WR's in shape and they signed Dan Campbell, a premier blocking TE. With the talent at WR and a QB that can get them the ball, I think we may see Detroit's offense blossom and KJ being the catalyst.

 

What do you think Kevin Jones's prospects are once the dust settles in Detroit? What does the Lions o-line look like?

[Busted by the Feds 9]

That all may come to pass, but I'm staying away from him until he's more consistent as far as performance and staying healthy. If he's there when I pick my flex player or 4th or 5th RB, I'll take a chance on him, but not before.

[jocstrap 8]

Is shawn Bryson gone? Seemed like he stole quiet a bit of carries last year. I took K.J. as my #2 and he bit me in the arse hard. I will fore sure take a chance on him though if he is around deep in the 3rd round or anywhere in the 4th.

[Queso Viejo 0]

I took him as my #2 RB last year and I got killed. For some reason I have this gut feeling that he'll have a strong year. Martz will bring a more wide open offense that will spread the field and give KJ some lanes to run in. Also, I would think that Marinelli saw the benefit to having one back carry the load last year in Tampa Bay and Martz hasn't been a RBBC kind of guy.

[swamp dog 0]

That all may come to pass, but I'm staying away from him until he's more consistent as far as performance and staying healthy. If he's there when I pick my flex player or 4th or 5th RB, I'll take a chance on him, but not before.

4th or 5th rb? so there are 48-60 OTHER rbs you'd draft ahead of kevin jones?

 

i'm not here to claim superstardom for jones...just seeking to clarify your comment, which is a bit out there.

[Ilov80s 0]

Is shawn Bryson gone? Seemed like he stole quiet a bit of carries last year. I took K.J. as my #2 and he bit me in the arse hard. I will fore sure take a chance on him though if he is around deep in the 3rd round or anywhere in the 4th.

 

The Lions resigned Bryson to a nice deal. KJ can't catch and can't pass block. Bryson is an excellent receiver and an excellent pass blocker. With Martz, you will see a lot of Bryson. In other words, stay away from KJ.

[Busted by the Feds 9]

4th or 5th rb? so there are 48-60 OTHER rbs you'd draft ahead of kevin jones?

 

i'm not here to claim superstardom for jones...just seeking to clarify your comment, which is a bit out there.

 

What I mean is it depends who goes in the draft. I'm not worried about the 48-60 other RBs available for everyone, I'm worried about the 4 or 5 I'll end up with. One thing is for sure though, the 1st or 2nd RB I'll pick won't be Jones. If he's still there after that, I'll take a chance. That just means other owners devalued him as well. If someone wants to make him his primary back, more power to him or her.

[Guest stevejohnson]

Too early to tell....we have to wait until things start to shake out in training camp.....Jones was a monster in high school and college and I thought for sure he would be a great pro, especially after how he finished his rookie season......Last years Lion team was so bad, it's hard to take anything from it. I would take a flyer on Jones in a keeper league but wouldn't consider him until the end of the 3rd, middle of teh 4th round in redraft.

[swamp dog 0]

What I mean is it depends who goes in the draft. I'm not worried about the 48-60 other RBs available for everyone, I'm worried about the 4 or 5 I'll end up with. One thing is for sure though, the 1st or 2nd RB I'll pick won't be Jones. If he's still there after that, I'll take a chance. That just means other owners devalued him as well. If someone wants to make him his primary back, more power to him or her.

 

still don't think a case can be made for him not being in the top-24.

[luckdogg17 0]

it depends on what he can do with 10 carries a game

[CantTouchThis 23]

Mooch was freakin retarded when playing KJ....IMO clearer the top offensive player onthe Lions, and barely gave him touches. If they get a decent o-line, he will be a top 10 RB, assuming he gets around 20 touches a game.

[Walter34 3]

Mooch was freakin retarded when playing KJ....IMO clearer the top offensive player onthe Lions, and barely gave him touches. If they get a decent o-line, he will be a top 10 RB, assuming he gets around 20 touches a game.

 

Those are a couple of big ifs. KJ's talent and toughness arent the issue. Last year, the line was sub par in run blocking and he had little room to run. The qb issues also left them in long downs which took the ball out of his hands. I havent seen any improvements yet on the oline. They should draft one with their 1st pick imo and look to make upgrades where they can. Franchising backus was puzzling as he is an average LT at best and now makes a ton of $.

 

The other issue is that a Martz offence is not RB friendly. Stephen Jackson had only 3 games of 20 carries or more. Martz is pass happy and is quick to abandon the run.

 

I like KJ, but I dont see him as having a good year for FF. I drafted him last year and paid the price.

[devildog 0]

Well, they resigned Bryson to a pretty nice contract for a third down back so that mutes KJ's value IMO. If they have Bryson in on most passing situations, KJ values takes a tumble in Martz's offense. I don't think he's ever given a back more than about 250 carries in a season so if your not getting the big receiving numbers your fantasy value diminishes.

[murf74 461]

Martz doesn't exactly have a good track record of running very often....I think he averaged less runs per game than any other team over the last few years.

 

So is Martz actaully gonna use the run game?

[hipcheck 0]

still don't think a case can be made for him not being in the top-24.

 

I've got him on my board between 20-25 overall,

 

and like 18-22 for RBs.

 

In a 12 Team league he is going bottom 2nd or

 

top 3rd (right now that is).

 

 

[Walter34 3]

still don't think a case can be made for him not being in the top-24.

 

I would draft the following ahead of him:

 

Alexander

L Johnson

LT

Edge

Tiki

Jordan

Portis

Rudi

S jackson

T Jones

Davis or Bush

Mcgahee

parker

J Jones

cadillac

R Brown

T Bell

F taylor

 

I generally have my two starting RBs by this point, so where he will be drafted will not be in my plans.

 

On the flipside, I think Roy's numbers improve quite a bit with the new qb / coach combo.

[swamp dog 0]

I would draft the following ahead of him:

 

Alexander

L Johnson

LT

Edge

Tiki

Jordan

Portis

Rudi

S jackson

T Jones

Davis or Bush

Mcgahee

parker

J Jones

cadillac

R Brown

T Bell

F taylor

 

I generally have my two starting RBs by this point, so where he will be drafted will not be in my plans.

 

On the flipside, I think Roy's numbers improve quite a bit with the new qb / coach combo.

 

there's only 18 there. kj, i would assume, would come in somewhere on your list between 19 and 24?

 

that still proves my point.

[Ignignokt 0]

Well, they resigned Bryson to a pretty nice contract for a third down back so that mutes KJ's value IMO. If they have Bryson in on most passing situations, KJ values takes a tumble in Martz's offense. I don't think he's ever given a back more than about 250 carries in a season so if your not getting the big receiving numbers your fantasy value diminishes.

And brought in Arlen Harris too.

 

KJ dynasty owner

[mdubz 0]

i bet no one touches him until at least late 2nd early 3rd (in a 12 teamer) and someone is going to get a steal for a 2nd or 3rd back. i think he bounces back this year and has a very nice year (assuming he can stay healthy).

[Walter34 3]

there's only 18 there. kj, i would assume, would come in somewhere on your list between 19 and 24?

 

that still proves my point.

 

Yes, somewhere in there. There is still alot of question marks with guys like Dillon, Foster and several others. Too soon to have a clear ranking obviously. He may slide up a bit based on training camp, how much influence the head coach has on game planning and if improvements are made on the line.

 

Top 24 definately, so he will likely be a starter in leagues, but I get my RBs set earlier.

[Raider 84 29]

I think he will do much better than his 5 tds last year. He is healthy and they will open the offense giving him a chance to take it to the house. He is improving on his pass catching, but he might not be in there on 3rd downs. I'd take a chance on him as a number 2 or 3 rb depending on the draft position. He should have 9-11 tds.

[Canoman 0]

I think Marinelli wants to run the ball too much for Martz to not use KJ. Plus, Martz has said that he really likes what he has seen of KJ.

 

Detroit Lions Blog

With the hiring of offensive coordinator Mike Martz came much anticipation in the city of Detroit.

 

What can happen with the Lions’ offense now that Martz has come on board?

 

One aspect of the Detroit offense touched on recently at a press conference held at the Lions’ practice and training facility in Allen Park was the running game.

 

After a stellar second half of his rookie season, running back Kevin Jones didn’t have the same success in 2005. Still, Martz had plenty of good things to say about the upcoming third-year back out of Virginia Tech.

 

“He’s a very explosive player that you can hang your hat on and he’s just scratching the surface. I just think there’s so much potential there. When you look at this job and looked at what was real exciting about it, I think that’s probably one of the areas you would start with.”

 

In addition to his overall potential, Martz also talked about what a versatile player he is expecting Jones to be within his offense.

 

“Well, there are some areas you just have to find out about. I think as a receiver, I don’t know what he is yet – how well he catches the ball – but those are things you can develop to a certain extent.

 

“But I think when you want to have a guy who will ‘carry the mail’ so to speak and can do that 35 times if you ask him, he can do that. He can [also] do that and turn around the next week and carry it five times and catch 10 passes. He has that type of versatility. We just have to shine it up a bit.”

 

Bryson will get some use, but I doubt it will adversely affect KJ's stats. One of the first things Marinelli said when he brought on Martz was this:

 

MLive.com

Marinelli is taking his time on making a decision about Martz, the former St. Louis Rams head coach, not because Martz is a strong personality and wants to eventually become a head coach again, but because Marinelli wants to make sure they're on the same page when it comes to running an offense. Marinelli wants the staple of Detroit's attack to be a power running game while Martz prefers to throw the ball downfield.

 

Still, Marinelli believes they can find common ground.

 

"I've played (coached) against him for a lot of years now . . . he runs the ball with power," Marinelli said. "All of a sudden it looks like one back and that tight end motions back and it's a two-back lead play. And it can be a power game because you're in a seven-man front. And one thing I really like when I had the opportunity to visit with him is that he's flexible. He can work with what he has in the system. And that means a lot to me."

 

I think this will be very favorable towards KJ. He's not Marshall Faulk, but Faulk had lots of success in a Martz-driven offense. I highly doubt Martz will ignore KJ's talent.

[yostevo 0]

It's really too early to tell. Pay attention to the changes made on the O-Line and also pay close attention to the mini-camp press clippings. It may tip you off as to whether Martz is actually going to make a consorted effort to teach him how to catch the ball and then in turn, force feed him the ball through the air like he did with Faulk. That's the only way that KJ cracks the top 15 IMO because he simply won't get enough touches in a Martz run offense. My gut tells me that the reason they resigned Bryson so quickly was to handle the receiving duties which definitley pushes KJ to a #3 RB status in fantasy on my board.

[Apu Nahasapeemapetilon 0]

The sophomore slump hits a lot of RBs. I'm big on both Caddy and Brown, but I suspect one of them will have a bad 2nd year much like KJ. I suspect this may be Caddy, but that's only cause I like the Fins Offense this year.

 

As for KJ, I expect him to bounce back with a new coach, system, and QB. The guy was the #1 prospect out of high school, should have been the #1 RB taken in the NFL draft, and has all the skills and vision required to be a solid RB. He'll probably fall all the way to round 3 or 4, so there's great upside for where you'd get him. Unfortunately, his blockers and QB are still suspect.

 

My projections...1250 yards, 9 TDs.

[tecklc2112 7]

I held on to KJ all year and paid dearly for it. I will draft him no hight than my 4th RB this year. He was an absolute nightmare and the Lions offense won't necessarily be better this year.

[Let Da Big Dog Eat 40]

No more than RB3 and more likely RB4 at this point IMHO. Line is the same, crappy. Martz hates to run the ball and no idea who the QB is. Bryson is the passing down back. He is so far down my board right now that when I get to him, I will likely find 2-5 WR's I'd rather take a chance on. Maybe even a BU QB.

 

Too bad, in the right situation he is talented enough to be a solid RB2.

[Bandits47 0]

If you're smart, you will take him reasonably high in the draft. I will not touch him after the (involuntary) screwing he gave me last year. Therefore, he should have a great season and set me up for a screwing NEXT year when I take another chance on him. Usually plays out something like that.....