Thomas Jones

[Timm Rosenbach]

Keeps on rolling against a good defenseMan, is this the same kid who played for us a couple of years ago? It almost makes the draft pick not so awful

 

[PJ1]

Keeps on rolling against a good defenseMan, is this the same kid who played for us a couple of years ago? It almost makes the draft pick not so awful

If he was running behind our line today take 100 yds off his total today. And yes, we would be saying he sucks.

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

If he was running behind our line today take 100 yds off his total today. And yes, we would be saying he sucks.

Take off 100 yards and he still has more than Shipp, LOL

 

[PJ1]

Take off 100 yards and he still has more than Shipp, LOL

If you really believe Jones could be successful behind this line you are not watching the games.

 

[Crimson Warrior]

Keeps on rolling against a good defenseMan, is this the same kid who played for us a couple of years ago? It almost makes the draft pick not so awful

What if you could have both Plummer and Jones back right now. Would you take them?

 

[conraddobler]

He would not be successful in a traditional sense but I do think he'd have more TD's than 0 and he'd do much better than our RB's do.

That said no one would ever see him on any fantasy stat sheets.

It's not just the O line, Shipp is slow and he dosen't have any knack for a cutback to save his life.

Arrington is the answer, run him the whole game and he will rip off a few and that's better than watching Shipp get run down from behind by linemen.

 

[Duckjake]

Keeps on rolling against a good defenseMan, is this the same kid who played for us a couple of years ago? It almost makes the draft pick not so awful

Another reason why the Cards need to shelve Shipp and give JJ the ball 25 times a game. Even if he only averaged 2.5 yards per carry he'd have 1000 for a 16 game season.

 

[blindseyed]

TJ is doing good cuz the Bears drafted Benson and he sees this as his last shot to make an impact. It's sad that a player gets good when they know thier job's on the line.

 

[b8rtm8nn]

Nah, TJ was solid and getting better last year. Having Turner as the OC helped quite a bit and they shored up the line. He is in a great situation and is playing much better than he did here. Look at some of his cutbacks lately - he hits the hole hard, but if the hole closes quickly, he leaps to the side like a drunken deer - not smooth and pretty, but effective. Having Orton throw it downfield to prevent staking the line helps quite a bit also.

 

[blindseyed]

Nah, TJ was solid and getting better last year. Having Turner as the OC helped quite a bit and they shored up the line. He is in a great situation and is playing much better than he did here. Look at some of his cutbacks lately - he hits the hole hard, but if the hole closes quickly, he leaps to the side like a drunken deer - not smooth and pretty, but effective. Having Orton throw it downfield to prevent staking the line helps quite a bit also.

'Getting better' is the key, obviously he wasn't 'getting better' fast enough for the Bears or they wouldn't have drafted Benson. Job security is a monster motivator

 

[buff17]

Jones has been doing this now for 3 years now. Hes ALWAYS been this talented. Though the reason we are seeing it now? CARRIES. You have to give young runners CARRIES to get into the flow. Jones' CARRIES here where scattered out. If you consisently run the football, your running back gets into the flow of the game. Even though maybe your line isnt blocking good, that runningback still has the feel of the defense.

Jones is running harder because hes now in the flow of the game and has the feel of the defenses he is playing against. Jones starts out games picking up 1-5 yards a carry. Then gets better as the game goes on. He could have did that here, but was never given the chance to consistently carry the football.

 

[vince56]

What if you could have both Plummer and Jones back right now. Would you take them?

no.

 

[john h]

What if you could have both Plummer and Jones back right now. Would you take them?

Compared to what we have in a NY minute.

 

[Shane]

TJ is doing good cuz the Bears drafted Benson and he sees this as his last shot to make an impact. It's sad that a player gets good when they know thier job's on the line.

Shows how little you know about what goes on around football. TJ was having a very nice season last year with the Bears and was tearing it up in TB as well.

 

[blindseyed]

Shows how little you know about what goes on around football. TJ was having a very nice season last year with the Bears and was tearing it up in TB as well.

Shane sometimes you're an ass "shows how much you know" is alittle insulting, you could make your point without throwing that in.
And why did the Bears draft Benson then? Why did the Bucs let him go? I guess since I don't live on this board I don't know what goes on around the NFL...you're in idiot

 

[AZCB34]

Shane sometimes you're an ass "shows how much you know" is alittle insulting, you could make your point without throwing that in.
And why did the Bears draft Benson then? Why did the Bucs let him go? I guess since I don't live on this board I don't know what goes on around the NFL...you're in idiot

I don't think what he is doing has much to do with job security. His job in the NFL is secure although it may not be with the Bears (although if he keeps playing as he is now, he may give Benson some additional bench time that was unplanned).

Why did the Bears choose Benson? First let me say that the reaction amongst most Bears fans was very lukewarm to the Benson pick...which is not good for a #4 overall pick. Lots of questions about Bensons character and inner drive.

Second, the Bears side was a bit more complex. Leading up to the draft, the stuff I was reading was the Bears wanted to trade down but couldn't find a taker for #4 overall so they had to stay put. Post-draft, it was reported they were eyeballing Ronnie Brown, Braylon Edwards and Benson. When Brown and Edwards were gone, they were basically forced into taking Benson (I really think they wanted Edwards bad but that is strictly my opinion). Not saying they didn't like the guy...Jerry Angelo, the Bears GM was very high on him...but they kind of got caught between a rock and a hard place and had to choose. Other than Cadillac, there really wasn't a top 5 worthy player for them to choose although the argument could have been made for picking a guy like Antrel Rolle but the Bears are actually quite deep at CB so I am not sure how much sense that would have made.

Finally, I am sure Jones' injury history was a determining factor. Let's face it, he has had trouble staying healthy but I think it was a very minor factor only because the Bears were basically stuck and had to make the choice.

I don't know why, nor do I care why, the Bucs didn't keep Jones...but make no mistake, what he is doing this year isn't new. He ran well when he was in TB and he ran well last year before being injured. He would have been well over 1000 yards had he stayed healthy...he missed two starts and missed other paying time over the year...and he is top 5 in rushing right now and should easily break 1000 yards and could go over 1300 if he stays healthy (I hate the "he is on a pace to" deal but if he keeps plays as he has, he would go well over 1600 yards...but he is bound to have an off game or two down the stretch).

 

[Pariah]

I think the Bears drafted BEnson because they wanted a return to the bruising running game they're famous for. Jones isn't that type of runner, but he's been doing a pretty fair imitaion of it lately.

I really think it came down to running style and who was available at their position. Had Edwards been available, you can bet he'd be a Bear.

 

[Russ Smith]

Shane sometimes you're an ass "shows how much you know" is alittle insulting, you could make your point without throwing that in.
And why did the Bears draft Benson then? Why did the Bucs let him go? I guess since I don't live on this board I don't know what goes on around the NFL...you're in idiot

Personally I still don't get why the Bears took Benson, it never made sense to me but apparently they felt they needed a RB with more power. If they really needed a RB they should have taken Cadillac but you'd think they could have done a lot better with that pick taking a WR or one of the other players taken after Benson.

Benson can play but Jones had a good enough year in 04 with a horrible QB situation that I could never fathom why they felt Benson was a logical pick?

 

[Pariah]

If they really needed a RB they should have taken Cadillac but you'd think they could have done a lot better with that pick taking a WR or one of the other players taken after Benson.

I think the Bears taking a pass on Williams cements the idea for me that it was about getting a big, between-the-tackles RB, not just a simple upgrade at the position.

 

[D-Dogg]

TJ is doing good cuz the Bears drafted Benson and he sees this as his last shot to make an impact. It's sad that a player gets good when they know thier job's on the line.

He was good last year. Drafting Benson was a slap in his face.