by Rickhouse on July 17 at 12:58AM
If nothing else, the signing of Kevin Jones means one thing: Adrian Peterson won’t be getting meaningful carries this year.
The NFL has become a two-back league, and that formula is certainly what the Bears are staring at this year with second round rookie Matt Forte being the starter. Everything that has been said about Forte this offseason has been glowing, but no reasonable person could expect him to carry the Bears running game all by his lonesome if the team is going to be successful. So it looked like Peterson was ticketed for significant carries this year, which would not have been a good thing. Peterson does a lot of things well- he’s a good pass blocker and a reliable receiver out of the backfield- but he’s basically been a glorified special teamer his entire career with limited ball carrying skills. Jones saves the Bears from having to trot Peterson out there, which is reason enough to justify the one-year contract the Bears signed him to.
More than anything, Jones seems to be a quality back that has ran into some bad luck. He’s had some heavy injury problems the last few years, but, even worse, he had the unfortunate fate of being coached by Mike Martz, who’s like the anti-Herm Edwards. People often mock Edwards for handing off to Larry Johnson on 3rd-and-9, but I’m not sure that is much worse than consistently throwing deep on 3rd-and-1, as Martz did.
So if Jones is healthy coming back from an ACL tear, and he says he’ll be ready to go by Week 1, the Bears may have just found themselves a bargain. The Bears have always been a running team, and they desperately need to get back to that. Such is the case when the least exciting quarterback competition of all-time rages on in training camp.
So yeah, run the ball. The o-line should be better with Tait at right tackle and Chris Williams holding down the left side, and I have a really good feeling about Forte. He probably won’t be a star- and of course I may always be a tad biased against him because of my undying love for all things Rashard Mendenhall- but he should be a dependable 1,100ish yard power runner for a long time. If healthy, Jones, a slasher, would seem to be a worthy complement.
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We've started fantasy football previews over at The Fantasy Factor, so be sure to check them out. I'm working on the NFC East right now, while Olsen has the AFC South.
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NCAA Football 09 came out yesterday. Is anyone getting it, or is everyone just waiting for Madden? I'm torn right now because I know I don't play video games that much even now, and I certainly won't play NCAA at all once Madden comes out. But I kind of want it, so I don't know.
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You know what would have been cool, linking this: http://zachmartinsports.blogspot.com/2008/07/go-away-and-who-cares.html