Maurice Jones-Drew will he do KR this year? (1 Viewer)

[Grandville]

I am looking at Maurice Jones-Drew as a second round draft choice this year and would like to know if anyone has heard if he will continue to do the kick returns for the team. We are given points for return yards so that would be a nice bonus if he were to continue with this duty.

Thanks!

 

[Jayrod]

I am looking at Maurice Jones-Drew as a second round draft choice this year and would like to know if anyone has heard if he will continue to do the kick returns for the team. We are given points for return yards so that would be a nice bonus if he were to continue with this duty.Thanks!

 

[KellysHeroes]

I believe he still is KR... haven't read anything that says hes not.

 

[SSOG]

Not a Jax homer, but I'm operating under the assumption that as long as it's an RBBC, he'll be a returner. If it stops being an RBBC, he'll probably give up his return duties... but who cares, he'll be getting more touches in the run game to make up for it.

 

[OCC]

Not a Jax homer, but I'm operating under the assumption that as long as it's an RBBC, he'll be a returner. If it stops being an RBBC, he'll probably give up his return duties... but who cares, he'll be getting more touches in the run game to make up for it.

Clearly MJD is the future RB. I don't see them putting him on KR duties. Too many big hits, too much risk of injury, and they want to keep him explosive for the offense. I actually see MJD getting more carries then Fred more often then not. Del Rio is as good as fired if they miss the playoffs. Loyalty is great, but MJD is simply the best RB on the team. Until it's week 1, the game is up in the air, it's all speculation. But if JAX is losing, I don't see them trotting out Fragile Fred and letting him pound the rock. MJD is just on a different level in terms of play making and explosiveness. But as I said, we won't know until week 1 how this will shake out. They might like the idea of MJD doing KR and giving him 10-12 carries, but when the game is on the line I see them leaning far more on MJD, which might change his roles on special teams.

 

[Jayrod]

Not a Jax homer, but I'm operating under the assumption that as long as it's an RBBC, he'll be a returner. If it stops being an RBBC, he'll probably give up his return duties... but who cares, he'll be getting more touches in the run game to make up for it.

Clearly MJD is the future RB. I don't see them putting him on KR duties. Too many big hits, too much risk of injury, and they want to keep him explosive for the offense. I actually see MJD getting more carries then Fred more often then not. Del Rio is as good as fired if they miss the playoffs. Loyalty is great, but MJD is simply the best RB on the team. Until it's week 1, the game is up in the air, it's all speculation. But if JAX is losing, I don't see them trotting out Fragile Fred and letting him pound the rock. MJD is just on a different level in terms of play making and explosiveness. But as I said, we won't know until week 1 how this will shake out. They might like the idea of MJD doing KR and giving him 10-12 carries, but when the game is on the line I see them leaning far more on MJD, which might change his roles on special teams.

But on the flip side of that is the idea that they want to get MJD in the open field as often as possible. One way to do that is having him return kicks. Last year he had 31 returns for 860 yds which is a 27.7 yd avg (#5 in the NFL) including a TD. Maybe Del Rio will see it as another way to get the ball in the hands of his best playmaker and give them the best chance to win the game. If he can utilize MJD on returns and only give him 12-18 touches a game while having Fred Taylor run effectively with another 15 touches per game, that will give them the best chance to win. At least that's what they were doing at the end of last season.

 

[NCPanthersFan]

 

[SSOG]

Not a Jax homer, but I'm operating under the assumption that as long as it's an RBBC, he'll be a returner. If it stops being an RBBC, he'll probably give up his return duties... but who cares, he'll be getting more touches in the run game to make up for it.

Clearly MJD is the future RB. I don't see them putting him on KR duties. Too many big hits, too much risk of injury, and they want to keep him explosive for the offense. I actually see MJD getting more carries then Fred more often then not. Del Rio is as good as fired if they miss the playoffs. Loyalty is great, but MJD is simply the best RB on the team. Until it's week 1, the game is up in the air, it's all speculation. But if JAX is losing, I don't see them trotting out Fragile Fred and letting him pound the rock. MJD is just on a different level in terms of play making and explosiveness. But as I said, we won't know until week 1 how this will shake out. They might like the idea of MJD doing KR and giving him 10-12 carries, but when the game is on the line I see them leaning far more on MJD, which might change his roles on special teams.

Reggie Bush is the future of the Saints, but he'll still be returning kicks. Deion Sanders was the biggest star on several different teams, and he still returned kicks. In the end, you can only protect your stars so much- football is a physical game and players are going to get hit, you can't protect them from that. As long as MJD isn't getting overworked in the running game, I don't expect ownership to take him out of the return game. If he *IS* getting overworked in the running game, then I totally see them taking him out of the return game... but again, that doesn't bother me as an MJD owner, because suddenly he's getting more touches in the run game.Maybe a Jax homer can provide more insight on this specific case, but in my experience, this is how most coaches have handled situations like this in the past.

 

[JaxBill]

Not a Jax homer, but I'm operating under the assumption that as long as it's an RBBC, he'll be a returner. If it stops being an RBBC, he'll probably give up his return duties... but who cares, he'll be getting more touches in the run game to make up for it.

Clearly MJD is the future RB. I don't see them putting him on KR duties. Too many big hits, too much risk of injury, and they want to keep him explosive for the offense. I actually see MJD getting more carries then Fred more often then not. Del Rio is as good as fired if they miss the playoffs. Loyalty is great, but MJD is simply the best RB on the team. Until it's week 1, the game is up in the air, it's all speculation. But if JAX is losing, I don't see them trotting out Fragile Fred and letting him pound the rock. MJD is just on a different level in terms of play making and explosiveness. But as I said, we won't know until week 1 how this will shake out. They might like the idea of MJD doing KR and giving him 10-12 carries, but when the game is on the line I see them leaning far more on MJD, which might change his roles on special teams.

Northcutt is going to handle the punt returns which is more dangerous for the returner.Back to the KR question, I haven't seen anything concrete saying MJD will be the KR but....1) Jags have explicitly said Northcutt was the PR, if he was going to do both I think they would have publicixed that fact with his signing.2) The only other KRs listed on the roster are FB Derrick Wimbush and RB LaBrandon Toefield. Toefield has returned 18 kicks, but 14 of them were in his rookie 2003 season. Wimbush has returned more kicks ( 39 in '05 and 8 in '06) but with the health of Greg Jones, there's no assurance that the Jags keep a second fullback just to return kicks.Based on those 2 factors, I think you'll see MJD returning kicks and Northcutt returning punts.

 

[mcd]

Not a Jax homer, but I'm operating under the assumption that as long as it's an RBBC, he'll be a returner. If it stops being an RBBC, he'll probably give up his return duties... but who cares, he'll be getting more touches in the run game to make up for it.

Clearly MJD is the future RB. I don't see them putting him on KR duties. Too many big hits, too much risk of injury, and they want to keep him explosive for the offense. I actually see MJD getting more carries then Fred more often then not. Del Rio is as good as fired if they miss the playoffs. Loyalty is great, but MJD is simply the best RB on the team. Until it's week 1, the game is up in the air, it's all speculation. But if JAX is losing, I don't see them trotting out Fragile Fred and letting him pound the rock. MJD is just on a different level in terms of play making and explosiveness. But as I said, we won't know until week 1 how this will shake out. They might like the idea of MJD doing KR and giving him 10-12 carries, but when the game is on the line I see them leaning far more on MJD, which might change his roles on special teams.

You really should look at the game by game breakdown for both Taylor & MJD. Taylor had a very good season & if he hadn't been injured during the Colts, Titan & NE games, he would have been close to 1400 yards rushing. He was destroying the Colts defense when he pulled up lame on a long run. He'll get his share of carries this season & looks like a true value in FF drafts. MJD was unbelievable when inserted as a change of pace guy, but had his share of clunker games. If he doesn't get his double digit TDs this season, some will consider him a disappointment. MJD only had over 20 carries in 2 games, he didn't break 100 yards in either. I feel he is much more effective when carrying 10 to 13 times a game where he stays fresh & has that home run capablity every play.