Thomas JonesIt's 7:00 P.M., and ESPN is reporting that the Jets have traded the second round pick they acquired from the Redskins (#37) to the Bears for Thomas Jones and the Bears' second round pick (#63).
Assuming the report is accurate, my initial reaction is mildly positive. Jones certainly improves the Jets at RB. Indeed, with Jones and Leon Washington, and Cedric Houston as the third string RB, the Jets are pretty solid at the position. The Jets do go down 26 slots in the second round, but they still have two second round picks - albeit both late in the round. Opposing defenses will have to consider that Chad Pennington might actually hand the ball off, and will perhaps respect his play action passes.
My misgiving is that there are a number of unrestricted free agent running backs on the market who could have been signed without giving up any picks. I happen to particularly like T.J. Duckett. Jones is a good running back but not quite the star he was expected to be out of college. He's already been in the NFL for seven seasons, had some injury problems earlier in his career, and - his long Super Bowl run notwithstanding - only has 24 career rushes of 20 or more yards.
GM Mike Tannenbaum does deserve props for picking up Washington's 2007 second rounder during last year's draft. Thanks to the Redskins for their 5-11 season. And a nice job by me for recognizing the importance of the pick by keeping a weekly focus on the Skins during the '06 season.
To sum up, overall this looks like a pretty good move, so long as it doesn't prevent the Jets from addressing other areas that need improvement, particularly cornerback, defensive line and right offensive tackle.
posted on 3/05/2007
