Texans FA's

[barrett]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Up until his gaffe against the Ravens, I thought Jones stepped up rather well in Andre Johnson's absence until Schaub got hurt, then the deep ball was taken out of our game plan and that is Jones' chief weapon as a receiver.

He's a good return man when he doesn't dance or run backwards, and he occasionally cracks the long one so I'm fine with him back there as long as he learns from his mistakes - and that's the real question. I felt he had made good progress last year until Schaub went down and then he had the gaffe in the Ravens game.

It should be noted Jones made some big plays last year and would have set us in Ravens territory with one punt return that got called back for a block in the back. He's not as bad as some folks around here make him out to be but he is starting to exceed his value salary-wise and just doesn't play smart at times.

He has one skill as a WR, catching deep balls where he has run by the defense. He is ineffective on any route with timing or a cut involved, and he is ineffective on deep balls if there is a defender in the play. I think a deep threat has to have some ball skills, otherwise there are about 50 guys who can run fast on a deep route, and none of them get paid like Jacoby.

As a punt returner he is average at best. Way too many zero and negative returns when he has 10+ yards if he would get upfield. But he does occasionally break one. I did not have a huge issue with the muff other than the timing, since he has actually been reliable fielding punts in comparison to his early years. I think the playoff muff was just a guy trying to force a play when there wasn't one. But I can't get over the fact that he tries to dance like a waterbug instead of getting upfield like a 6'2" guy. But that could be a coaching issue (or lack of coaching issue) for all I know.