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Player Spotlight: Kevin Jones (1 Viewer)

Jason Wood

Zoo York
2008 Player Spotlight Series

One of Footballguys best assets is our message board community. The Shark Pool is, in our view, the best place on the internet to discuss, debate and analyze all things fantasy football. In what's become an annual tradition, the Player Spotlight series is a key part of the preseason efforts. As many of you know, we consider the Player Spotlight threads the permanent record for analyzing the fantasy prospects of the player in question. Last year, we published more than 140 offensive spotlights covering the vast majority of expected skill position starters. This year will be no different.

Each week we will post a list of players to be discussed. Those threads will remain open for the entire preseason, and should be a central point to discussion expectations for the player in question. Importantly, analysis done in the first week of posting will be part of the permanent record in two ways. 1) At the end of the week, we will tally the projections into a consensus. 2) We will select a number of pull quotes from forum contributors who make a compelling statement or observation. Both the projections and pull quotes will be part of a published article on the main website.

Thread Topic: Kevin Jones, RB, Chicago Bears

Player Page Link: Kevin Jones Player Page

Each article will include:

Detailed viewpoint from a Footballguys staff member
Highlighted member commentary from the message board threads
FBG Projections
Consensus Member ProjectionsThe Rules

In order for this thread to provide maximum value, we ask that you follow a few simple guidelines:

Focus commentary on the player in question, and your expectations for said player
Back up your expectations in whatever manner you deem appropriate; avoid posts that simply say "I hate him" or "He's the best"
To be included in the final synopsis and consensus outlook, you MUST provide projections for the playerProjections should include (at a minimum):

For QBs: Passing Yards, Passing TDs, Ints, Rush Yards, Rush TDs
For RBs: Rushes, Rushing Yards, Rush TDs, Receptions, Receiving Yards, Receiving TDs
For WRs & TEs: Receptions, Receiving Yards, Receiving TDsNow let's get on with the conversation! We look forward to your contributions and let me offer a personal thanks in anticipation of the great debate and analysis.

 
10 games played

75 carries

285 yards

10 catches

60 yards

1 TD

I think he starts the season on the PUP, but may play well enough with limited carries to get a shot in 2009 with another team.

 
It's way too early for me to try to project numbers for him, however, I think he's a great player to pick up very cheap and stash away on your bench. The Bears playoff schedule isn't great (JAX, NO, GB), but they are at home weeks 14-16. If Forte were to get hurt late in the season then KJ *could* be valuable during the playoffs.

 
another over-hyped guy getting by on his 'potential'.

you either fish or cut bait..at this point in his career, he's slicing Herring..

I wouldn't put much stock in KJ, nor would I believe in the Bears O-line and offense...

50/200/2

 
another over-hyped guy getting by on his 'potential'. you either fish or cut bait..at this point in his career, he's slicing Herring..I wouldn't put much stock in KJ, nor would I believe in the Bears O-line and offense...50/200/2
I dont think many people in dynasty leagues will just be cutting KJ. I dont expect much at all the first half of the season by week 8 or after he should be getting enough carries to make himself a pretty good flex play come playoff time. Too early for me to predict numbers since he might start off on PUP.
 
Dynasty or large leagues/rosters are a diff story - other than that not worth drafting......well probablly. If your lowest "ranked" RB you either have or would otherwise draft isn't worth anything either, worth keeping an eye on or considering. I did that last year when he got hurt - mixed results as it turned out, but did give me a week or 2 of good production, which I'm pretty sure was more than I would've got from the schlep I otherwise would have had on the team. Basically you never know - as stated, if Forte gets hurt or just doesn't pan out.....

 
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Basically you never know - as stated, if Forte gets hurt or just doesn't pan out.....
That's reason enough to try to stash Jones on the bench if you can.We've seen other guys come into training camp (e.g., JJ Arrington) with a lot of promise, only to fall short of expectations. That's not to say Forte will do the same, but you never know. And if he does fall short, I don't see the other Adrian Peterson being the workhorse over an extended period.Jones' injury is definitely up in the air, but he's proven that he has talent. And for a late round pick, sounds like low risk/potential high reward to me.
 
Really tough to gauge Jones so early without knowing when he'll be healthy or how Forte will pan out. Still, I think he'll get some looks later in the year and will be okay. He has some talent and will be very motivated to get a shot at a starting gig (and a better contract) in '09...

140 carries, 560 yds, 5 TDs, 20 catches, 130 yds, 0 TDs.

 
Cut before the season starts, so it's really hard to judge what he'll do since we have no idea if another team will pick him up or not.

So at the current time i'm gonna projects zero's for him, which i think is the prudent thing to do.

 
As a dynasty owner that has held on to Kevin Jones since his rookie year and really watched his game closely, I have to say that the man has talent. Jones is the kind of player that could turn your late round draft pick into a solid playoff run late in the season.

I'll start with his situation, which is...questionable to say the least. The Bears offensive line is questionable, their passing game is questionable...their rookie running back is questionable. Nothing against Forte, but any rookie coming in to the league is a question mark. We really don't know how productive he is going to be. He'll definitely be given every chance to carry the load, but if he struggles or is injured, the door opens for Jones. As for the offensive line, Jones has been running behind a so-so and often injured offensive line in Detroit for years. The passing game might be a bigger factor. Jones has enjoyed playing with at least the threat of a passing game for most of his career. The Bears have on occassion pretended that to have the coveted passing threat, but the substraction of receivers in the off-season along with the shaky play of their QBs is not a good combination.

As for Jones, himself, the obvious label for him is injury-prone. However, when not injured, Jones has been the prototypical every-down back. He has the power to be a short yardage beast, the speed to break off big runs and the hands to play on all downs. It really was a shame that he didn't get to utilize his running ability too often in Martz's offense. My very favorite Jones story came before the 2006 season when Martz was coming on as the O.C. I was worried that Jones was going to disapear since he hadn't shown himself to be a receiving threat up to this point in his career. The off-season news on Jones was that he was working on his receiving. Yeah right... He looked so incredibly awkward catching the ball in 2005. There was no way. Then...61 receptions in 2006. ...and not only that, but he looked like a totally different back catching those balls. Gone was the awkwardness and in it's place was the every down back that every fantasy owner craves...except this one no longer carried the ball!!! To me, this showed Jones to be an extremely hard worker that would do what he needed to do to be productive.

Full season projections are very difficult to make for Jones this year. To me it seems to be divided into situations. Is he ready to go at the beginning of the year? Is Forte a starting caliber back? Does Forte stay healthy? Do the Bears have a passing threat? It kind of seems as if the stars need to align just right for Jones to have a good season. However, with where you might be able to draft him (currently 56th RB by ADP) Jones could be a great late round risk/reward pick.

Projections for middle of the road situation (Forte isn't great, they split carries by mid-season, passing game isn't much of a threat)

100 carries, 400 yards, 3 TDs rushing

10 receptions, 75 yards, 1 TD receiving

Projections for good situation (Forte is Benson revisited, Jones is playing in game 3 or 4, rust is off by 6 or 7, passing game uses smoke and mirrors to fool defenses)

200 carries, 850 yards, 8 TDs rushing

20 receptions, 180 yards, 1 TD receiving

Now, no one really knows on a guy like this how to project his stats, so I think you really need to look at Jones as a game-by-game possible fill in for your starters. Is Jones worth stashing as a 4th RB just in case things work out for him? Considering that his per-game upside could be in the upper tier of number 2 RBs, I'd say yes.

 
Pretty much what has been said above. I think the Bears got him as insurance in case Forte is injured or is a complete bust. They have experience with Cedric Benson to make them leery.

He won't do much in the early season; but from game 8 on, if Forte is injured or struggling, then I see him being serviceable. One the one hand, 320 yards, 1 TD. On the other, 520 yards, 5 TD's. 90% in the second half. Worth stashing on your roster in large leagues; otherwise pick him up on the waiver wire in week 5-6.

 
Kevin Jones cleared to practice with Bears

Kevin Jones (knee) has been medically cleared and will take part in Saturday night's practice. He's no longer eligible to begin the season on PUP.

This should get Jones back into the running for the top backup spot behind Matt Forte. Adrian Peterson and rising third-stringer Garrett Wolfe are in front of him. Jones took a contract for the minimum in July because no teams considered him a good bet to help them this year. Neither should fantasy owners. Aug. 9 - 5:15 pm et

Source: Chicago Tribune

 

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