Jacoby Jones

I would think he will only be used as a kickoff returner. No value as a WR.

 

The Steelers don't help at WR, they have plenty of options already AB, DHB, Wheaton, Bryant, and Coates who has barely played. Jones was signed to play special teams.

 

That is true. But he is 6' 4" so he can be a threat As a receiver, especially with Ben.

 

I don't know why we don't use Wheaton for kickoffs, he did okay there in the past. He is sort of lost lately in the passing game. I would think he would of been better then Dri and Jacoby on kickoffs.

 

Archer's 2015 kick return average is 25.3 yards.

Jones' 2015 kick return average is 21.4 yards.

Where is the upgrade?

 

i've been in favor of AB returning punts and am still OK with it if that's what they decide. he's very good at it. i'm also not opposed to jones doing it either if that's what they decide. it's less about the returner and more about the ST's blocking for the returners. it's not been very good.
Dri struggled fielding punts and that's why he wasn't doing it.

this just seems like typical MT every year, trying to add a spark with lower level players. it's happened nearly every year. last year it was ventrone for munch's johnson. at least he's trying to infuse some spark to the ST's. garvin has been out. grant, now jones. if they could have hid garvin maybe fort would have been a nice one to bring up. he and nix where ST's demons in the preseason.

 

It is not just the average that matters, but the variability. I don't have the detailed info, but I'd rather have a returner that consistently makes it to the 18-22 yardline rather than one who makes it to the 10 sometimes or the 35 sometimes. Those starts on the 10 are killers.

But I think it is odd to recruit for a returner when kickoff returns have become rare. I'd almost prefer to always take it at the 20 - the risk of bad things happening on the rare opportunities to return - starting at the 10 (or worse if a penalty) or fumbling - seem too great. Take a knee.

And then there is the blocking - I never thought Archer (or anyone) had much of chance - they seemed consistently swarmed by guys in the wrong colored jerseys. Is the blocking being set up too far in front and allowing people to break though? I cannot tell from TV coverage - all you see is the returner start from the endzone and then get tackled, hardly a blocker in sight.

 

To bad for Dri. Although, when your five foot noth'n and a hundred and noth'n (and don't play for the irish) you better have something else in your repertoire than running straight for 20+ yards and falling down as soon as someone breathes on you.

 

Ranking the top 10 kick returners:

Although San Diego Chargers receiver Jacoby Jones is a capable slot receiver, he’s at home when returning kicks. His long-striding style is unique, as most return men are small and quick. But Jones (6'4", 215 lbs) has shown great consistency as an elite return man.

He was one of six players to log a kick return touchdown in 2014. His 108-yard touchdown was the longest touchdown in NFL history and helped boost his average return number to 30.6. When Jones heads out of the end zone, chances are good that the Chargers will have solid starting position.

With a 9.2 yards-per-punt return average, Jones was above-average compared to the rest of the league. He did log 30 returns, which was sixth most. Altogether, Jones had the ninth most punt return yards in the league.

 

be able to pick up waivers wire guys is not a good thing it means you have a crappy record

 

I am on the get AB off punt returns wagon. It is just plain stupid. How many times has he actually made any yardage on kickoff returns this year? Not very many. And he is at risk of getting plowed under in a head on collision every time he does it. Jones can fair catch it with the best of them. And because of our bend but don't break defense we seem to get pinned back quite often. And I was wondering how Archer even made it out of training camp if his only duty was to return kickoffs. It's hard enough to field a full roster without having a useless specialist taking a roster spot. Jones is probably about the best that could be expected to be available on the waiver wire. He burned the Steelers enough times.

 

Agreed. And for those proclaiming him an upgrade over Archer because he's more than a return specialst, Jones has a total of 0 receptions this year and had 9 in 16 games last year. And he's 31. I get the frustration with Archer; he wasn't showing the vision and elusiveness needed to compliment his speed and make him a true return threat, and didn't really have a spot within this offense. But blame that on a FO that decided to spend a third to bring him aboard. He was going to be a project to develop into a weapon outside of KO return duty (he did little punt returning in college) - once drafted they showed little to no committment on that front, which makes for another perplexing squandering of a draft pick. They've just got to get better with talent evaluation and development, imo.

As for Archer v. Jones, the only plus I see Jones bringing is getting Brown off of punt returns. He may bring a slight increase to the chances of breaking some longer gains than Archer, but his numbers are worse this year, while Archer's were up from 2014. This was little more than a lateral move for an older player.

 

It's a gamble on Tomlin's end that Jone's better days for the season are ahead of him. I wanted Dri gone too but I didn't want to replace him with another specialist unless that specialist can make an impact on winning games. Jones no longer fits that bill IMO.

 

I think one of the younger, cheaper guys like Wheaton or perhaps Pead can do as good as Jones. Time will tell.

 

8" and 43 pounds of muscle. My wife would be happy with that upgrade.

 

Nice