John Clayton said on ESPN radio that the Shelton/Henry trade will happen

[john h]

Matt Jones may be good but is a project. Plus he is projecting out to be a WR not a TE. No way will Denny take him in the second round. The guy he will take if there is Alex Smith, TE Stanford. Denny loves the Stanford players (he was head coach there!). It would really open up our passing attack with Fitz, Boldin and Alex Smith.

Matt Jones may or may not turn out to be good but going in he has the tools no one else has or has possessed in many years. No other TE in the draft comes anywhere near him in speed and running ability. Given the choice of Jones and any other TE available I take Jones as his upside is out of sight. I do agree he will not become a Cardinal. I think 2 years from now we will look back and wonder how we missed out on this guy. Some coach with good foresight is going to draft him and he will start next year. WR or TE. Unfortunately we do not need a WR and that is the position he has been preparing for. Next year we may need a WR the way the Boldin contract is proceeding.

 

[john h]

The more I look at http://www.nfldraftscout.com and the combine results, the more I want Carlos Rogers.
Funny thing. I just went the other way - I originally liked Rogers but am now leaning Rolle.

You looked at nfldraftscout. I looked at CBSportsline data (excerpts of which I am gradually adding to the BRS player write-ups, with QB, RB, WR, DE, DT and CB stuff completed so far).

CBSportsline provides a completely different take on players from material from Scouts, Inc. (ESPN) or the War Room (Sporting News/Fox). Yet the info they provide seems equally as detailed - just different. Here's their Rogers write-up:

Physical Description - *Well-built, strong athlete with good overall muscle tone, broad shoulders, thick chest, long, muscular arms, good bubble and a V-shaped torso …

Upside … *Physical and tough player who takes well to hard coaching … Showed great improvement in his play in 2004, and no longer seems hesitant in his reactionary skills or afraid of giving up the big play … good acceleration to the ball/looks comfortable playing the wide corner position in a Cover-2 scheme, where he can sit and read underneath round and break downhill … exceptional timed speed, but sometimes it does not translate to the field *… adequate body control to make adjustments on the move…shows urgency getting into position to defend the ball … Strong enough to challenge and press receivers at the LOS …Has the speed to run and recover on deep routes … Good at maintaining hand placement to reroute receivers and has the COD agility to stay on his man's hips, even when they execute double moves … Displayed better hand usage around the LOS in 2004, getting good leverage when he utilized his hands to stack and control … More of a drag-down type of tackler, but stays low in his pads and takes better angles to the ball than he did earlier in his career.

Downside … Played to far “off” in the past … Has improved his work habits, but will do his "own thing" at times. Must work in a structured environment…does not show a good feel to anticipate routes and is late on his turn when he peeks into the backfield too long … Has the speed to run with the receivers, but shuffles his feet too much through routes and lacks ideal hip snap to turn and run in transition … Can locate the receivers in front of him in zone coverage, but gets up on his heels too much … Not a fan of run support, as he gets tied up by combo blocks and gets soft when he has to face up to the offensive linemen … Lunges and leaves his feet too much when making open field tackles … The staff calls him a "coach on the field," but he has only adequate field awareness, shows stiffness in his turns, still allows too much separation and needs several reps to retain plays … His Wonderlic score and spending a season at Hargrave Academy is evidence that he is still a work in progress as far as field intelligence goes … Strictly a boom or bust type that may be better served in a Cover-2 system.

There's a Tommy Knight aspect of Rogers play before last year that concerns me - has he effectively combatted this, or is it an integral part of of his nature & something he may be prone to regress to? .

Herein lies the problem. There is no consensus great DB. Different people have different opinions which leads me to think some of these DB's are going to be bust. There is no Dieon Sanders among this crew and we have blown 1st round DB picks before. I do not think a DB will qualify as the BPA at the number 8 pick.

 

[sportznutt]

we'd hopefully sign Henry longterm, but not for te ludacris demands I'm hearing.


I've always liked Rogers actually......wasn't there something like only 13% of passes thrown his way were complete? I've never seen Rolle play though......how good is he copared to Rogers? My vote for Rolle was based solely on rankings I've seen on boards........

 

[az jam]

Matt Jones may or may not turn out to be good but going in he has the tools no one else has or has possessed in many years. No other TE in the draft comes anywhere near him in speed and running ability. Given the choice of Jones and any other TE available I take Jones as his upside is out of sight. I do agree he will not become a Cardinal. I think 2 years from now we will look back and wonder how we missed out on this guy. Some coach with good foresight is going to draft him and he will start next year. WR or TE. Unfortunately we do not need a WR and that is the position he has been preparing for. Next year we may need a WR the way the Boldin contract is proceeding.

You may be right on him. The only time I saw him play was in the senior bowl and he was playing wr; he did look good. I really don't see him as a tight end but as a big wr who the Sporting News Draft Guide compares to Joe Jurevicius. An ideal team for him would be the Eagles. They also have two second round draft choices and could afford to develop him. The Cards have too many other needs. It will be interesting to see who takes him and see him develp.

 

[TheCardFan]

If Matt Jones is available, we need to take him.

I agree...in rd 2 if one of the two G's (Baas or Brown) or a top player falls to us...we should take them ahead of Jones. If Jones is the BPA at that pick, I am all for taking him.

Denny is a gambler and if anyone would gamble on a TE running a 4.4, it would be him.

 

[conraddobler]

Matt Jones may or may not turn out to be good but going in he has the tools no one else has or has possessed in many years. No other TE in the draft comes anywhere near him in speed and running ability. Given the choice of Jones and any other TE available I take Jones as his upside is out of sight. I do agree he will not become a Cardinal. I think 2 years from now we will look back and wonder how we missed out on this guy. Some coach with good foresight is going to draft him and he will start next year. WR or TE. Unfortunately we do not need a WR and that is the position he has been preparing for. Next year we may need a WR the way the Boldin contract is proceeding.

Do not underestimate the fact we have Rowen as the OC now, he could not miss the fact that basically Jones could be Tony Gonzales Squared.

 

[danny l]

Matt Jones doesn't know the 1st thing about blocking ( as an old lineman I can tell you that you don't just become a good blocker, it takes years of hard work) and Denny has said that one of the things that he wants in a tight end is blocking for the running game. As a receiver, with the large # of good receivers in this draft, I don't think Matt Jones will be taken until the 3rd or 4th round. My project for Jones might be as a running back ala Paul Hornung ( the old Green Bay Packer and Notre Damer) - double threat, running with his speed and always the option of throwing the ball. What do you say Homer John?

 

[Twist18]

Jones will be taken at the end of the second round by the Pats or someone in that range that has the luxury of developing him.

 

[Crimson Warrior]

I'm glad the Henry trade might go through for one reason.

With Henry, barring injury, we greatly improve our chances of making the playoffs in 05'. We need the playoffs this year. Denny needs to keep everybody on board. He needs to keep traction.

I'm not saying that we don't make the playoffs without Henry, but our RB position is broke, and Shipp is not the 16 game answer.

Henry would be. Cadillac, Brown, or Benson might be. Big difference.

There's too much at stake in 05' for a might be. We must make it to the next level in 05 to legitimize everything that has transpired in the last year and half.

 

[slanidrac16]

I'm glad the Henry trade might go through for one reason.

With Henry, barring injury, we greatly improve our chances of making the playoffs in 05'. We need the playoffs this year. Denny needs to keep everybody on board. He needs to keep traction.

I'm not saying that we don't make the playoffs without Henry, but our RB position is broke, and Shipp is not the 16 game answer.

Henry would be. Cadillac, Brown, or Benson might be. Big difference.

There's too much at stake in 05' for a might be. We must make it to the next level in 05 to legitimize everything that has transpired in the last year and half.

As I have said , getting Henry takes so much pressure off the draft and allows us to be much more flexible. There is no telling who will be picked , who will move up, who will move down or anything else. Henry wold allow us to take the BPA.
As far as MAtt Jones, he is going to be and wants to be a wr. With his size and speed he would create total mismatches if we were to use him as a 4th receiver. But unless he slips to the 4th round , I just don't see us considering him.

 

[Crimson Warrior]

As I have said , getting Henry takes so much pressure off the draft and allows us to be much more flexible. There is no telling who will be picked , who will move up, who will move down or anything else. Henry wold allow us to take the BPA.
As far as MAtt Jones, he is going to be and wants to be a wr. With his size and speed he would create total mismatches if we were to use him as a 4th receiver. But unless he slips to the 4th round , I just don't see us considering him.

"Matt Jones Mania" is gripping the entire NFL. A 6'3" 230 pound guy runs a 4.3, and all of the sudden everybodys ready to put him into the HOF next to Shapre. Its sad really.

The guy was a freakin QB in college! If he was such a threat catching passes, why wasn't he doing it his whole career?

Take a flyer on him with a 6th maybe. Everybody who wants to pick him in the top sixty needs to have their heads examined.

 

[Redsz]

I agree. We don't need a poject on this team. We need football players. He doesn't want to be a TE and we are stacked at WR. We have no need for him.

 

[Lars the Red]

"Matt Jones Mania" is gripping the entire NFL. A 6'3" 230 pound guy runs a 4.3, and all of the sudden everybodys ready to put him into the HOF next to Shapre. Its sad really.

The guy was a freakin QB in college! If he was such a threat catching passes, why wasn't he doing it his whole career?

Take a flyer on him with a 6th maybe. Everybody who wants to pick him in the top sixty needs to have their heads examined.

Not to nitpick but I believe he's 6'6", 250lbs and runs a 4.39. That isn't guaranteeing him a spot in the Hall, but I wouldn't be anxious to face that if I were a LB or Safety in the league.

The guy has some potential to cause some serious mismatches, especially if you keep thinking about Boldin, Fitz and Johnson running all over and a slinger like Warner putting it up. Defenses would be having a second bowl of Wheaties before facing the Cards if that were the case.

 

[JeffGollin]

Herein lies the problem. There is no consensus great DB. Different people have different opinions which leads me to think some of these DB's are going to be bust. There is no Dieon Sanders among this crew and we have blown 1st round DB picks before. I do not think a DB will qualify as the BPA at the number 8 pick.
John - You could say the same thing about the RB position (or for that matter, possibly every position except wideout this year).

I think the way it works on most successful clubs is that - instead of making sweeping generalities about the boom or bust characteristics of any position - they drill down a little deeper with respect to individual players they have interest in and (armed with far more info than we have) arrive at a more in-depth understanding of each player - not based on the differing opinions that all the pundits have but what their own scouts come up with.

 

[azdad1978]

Jones will be taken at the end of the second round by the Pats

Not gonna happen. The Patsies drafted two good TE 2 years in a row. With Daniel Graham and Ben Watson on their roster how many TE would they need?

 

[PIZ]

Not gonna happen. The Patsies drafted two good TE 2 years in a row. With Daniel Graham and Ben Watson on their roster how many TE would they need?

If he runs a 4.39, he would be a WR.

 

[JeffGollin]

The team to watch for in the Matt Jones derby could, in my opinion, be Pittsburgh near the bottom of Round One.

 

[joeshmo]

The team to watch for in the Matt Jones derby could, in my opinion, be Pittsburgh near the bottom of Round One.

I say the best odds for a team to pick Jones in the first round is the Eagles. They dont have many needs in the first place and they have 13 picks in this years draft 5 of them in the first 3 rounds to reload yet again. They have the most luxury to take Jones in the first.

 

[Russ Smith]

I say the best odds for a team to pick Jones in the first round is the Eagles. They dont have many needs in the first place and they have 13 picks in this years draft 5 of them in the first 3 rounds to reload yet again. They have the most luxury to take Jones in the first.

My wildcard not in the first round would be Denver since they're probably the only team that might actually let Jones play QB. He'd fit that moving pocket system they run with Jake, and they might even play him at WR or TE while they develop him as a QB.

I'd be amazed if someone takes him in the first round, but look at Randle-El he went in the 2nd round because he could return kicks while learning to play WR, and he made an immediate impact. Jones can do a lot of things but I don't see him stepping in right away and contributing at WR and I don't think he's quick enough to return kicks.