Re: ESPN Sportscenter Draft
I received a comment from Stiles about my commentary.
I have to dispute the tjones crack on the pick at 39, b/c his stock has been rising since favre took over, he’s solidified himself as a top 45 player in my mind, so that round isn’t a large stretch if at all.
(sidenote: Stile’s drafted him in our RGF League)
Favre doesn’t help TJones stock that much…yet. his arm is showing signs of ‘fatigue’ as he calls it, and Favre needs to master the rather complex Mangini system before results follow. I also think more carries will be given to Leon Washington this year and the addition of Musa Smith into an already crowded backfield might take away carries from TJones. They did bring in Damien Woody among others to retool their o-line, but in my opinion it’s still not great. Tonight will give us a taste of what is to come for the Jets, but at the time of the Sportcenter draft I could not justify his selection.
There were 3 running backs that should have been drafted ahead of Thomas Jones: Laurence Maroney, Ronnie Brown, and Michael Turner. All three of these backs fell way further than they should have. Maroney is the starting back in New England, pending his health. Ronnie Brown will now benefit from a decent starting Quarterback in Chad Pennington. On that note: Chad will have a much easier time learning the Sparano system in Miami than Favre will in NY. Chad was drafted in 2001 by Parcells when he was a GM for the Jets.
Another factor: Age. Thomas Jones turns 30 on the 19th. Michael Turner? 26. Maroney? 23. Brown? Turns 27 in December. You cannot discount that. Consider durability into the mix as well. One thing going for Jones is that he has only one season where he played less than 14 games (2002 with Arizona). Ronnie Brown only played 7 games last year. Maroney has had some minor injury issues his 2 years.
Yahoo (a more credible source, in my mind) has Jone’s ADP at 46, so I can understand the argument. But the ESPN Sportcenter draft was anything but average, and with the fallers above I would have easily selected Maroney (Yahoo ADP of 20), Brown (24), or Turner (30).
