Was Mortenson RIGHT? Matt Jones... | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Was Mortenson RIGHT? Matt Jones...

ckparrothead

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http://pantherinsider.blogspot.com/2005/04/matt-jones-is-beas-and-video-to-prove.html

You really have to see these videos. Jones is absolutely amazing. It's really not even fair. He's being dissed by traditional scouts merely because they haven't seen him play the WR position enough. Think about it, the only tape ANYone has of Jones playing WR is from the Senior Bowl, where it was his first time probably since high school or something.

Scouts just are not comfortable making projections based on one senior bowl set of tapes, and some incredible size/speed combination stats. These scouts have to feed their families. Calling Matt Jones the best player in the draft is going out on a looooooong shaky limb, the kind of thing that gets you fired or gets you labeled a genius.

Having said that, from my comfortable armchair I am willing to say that if Jones is not the best player in this draft, he is very close to it. He has the speed to get separation as a WR (clearly), he has the size and athleticism to reach above defenders and come away with the ball, and even outjump them for it (did you see him dunk the ball over the goal post like it was nothing?), and he has the hands to make those catches on a regular basis.

Really, tell me guys, someone PLEASE tell me, what more does he need to be absolutely dominant in the NFL? What more does he need, that he can't learn under the tutelege of a good WR coach? You watch the tapes, and these defenders try to get angles on him, and there just ARE no angles on him. Watch him play the WR position at the Senior Bowl, and you'll see that what he may lack in the quick juke-type moves, he more than makes up in flat out speed, acceleration, power, height, and hands.

Watch those tapes. Watch him run the deep fade to the outside, get the corner running full speed, then adjust to the underthrown ball, use his height and his vertical to make, gasp, a one-handed catch.

I look at the guy, and I just don't see what wide receiver moves would NOT be in his arsenal. Is he good running with the ball in his hands? Ask Nick Saban, who watched him do it on his defense all day for years. Is he speedy enough to go deep and be explosive? With 4.37 speed, yeah any corner in this league has to be on their toes. Is he quick enough to make the short-stops, hitches, and other moves? Absolutely, he's got one of the fastest 10 second splits of the WRs, and he's got impressive long jump and vertical too. At the very least he'd be as good as a mediocre starter with that kind of thing. He can obviously go over the middle, at 6'6" and 240 pounds. Can he get off the press? Well, you saw the tape. He's also big enough to where most corners won't be able to press him. Can he come down with the jump ball? Obviously. Can he use his body? Did so in the senior bowl game with his TD catch. Can he locate the ball, adjust, and make catches with his hands? Didn't drop a single ball at the senior bowl, and I just watched him on tape make a one handed catch on a deep fade route in the endzone.

So who's ready to take this guy at #2?

I wouldn't cry about it.
 
Wow CK. Bold prediction, bold claims my friend. We all have our guys that we love (Caddy, Mike Williams, Heath Miller, David Pollack, Lance Mitchell etc) and I'm not going to diss you for your Jones admiration. 2 would be too high for me, but......
 
I can still see someone drafting him with the intent on changing his mechanics and leaving him at quarterback. It wouldn't surprise me if Nick Saban was the person to do that.
 
KB21 said:
I can still see someone drafting him with the intent on changing his mechanics and leaving him at quarterback. It wouldn't surprise me if Nick Saban was the person to do that.

Me either, but at #2 overall, it would.

I would note that Saban witnessed firsthand the highlight of Jones' college career, that unbelievable comeback victory where Jones engineered an 80 yard drive in under a minute.
 
I can still see someone drafting him with the intent on changing his mechanics and leaving him at quarterback. It wouldn't surprise me if Nick Saban was the person to do that.

I would be surprised if someone did that. It would be a waste, IMO. He's fast, and he's got the reps under center. But, obviously Drew Bennett is pretty fast, and he was a college QB, but nobody is trying to make him into a pro QB. If those mechanics aren't there, if the arm isn't there, he'd just be a gimmick QB. What I would do, is make him a WR, and also have him be the 3rd emergency QB. In the 4th quarter (when the restrictions on emergency 3rd QBs are lifted), you need a little razzle to your dazzle, go ahead and put in Jones for a snap or two, and see what the defense does.
 
One thing I'd worry about with turning Jones into a "Slash" player would be that he'd get a big head and think he could cut it as a full-time NFL QB, like Kordell Stewart. Might be best just to say, "the QB days are over, kid. Here are your receivers' gloves" and put all thoughts of playing QB out of his head.

That's a minor concern, though and certainly not one that would make me shy away from drafting him.
 
He could be alot like that reciever for the Titians? His name eludes me at the moment, he was a rookie last year, tall and fast.
 
Den54 said:
He could be alot like that reciever for the Titians? His name eludes me at the moment, he was a rookie last year, tall and fast.
Calico?
 
He could be alot like that reciever for the Titians? His name eludes me at the moment, he was a rookie last year, tall and fast.

You're thinking of Drew Bennett, but he wasn't a rookie. He's been in the league for a few years now, learning the ropes as a WR, but yes, similar situation except magnify Drew's height and athleticism like ten fold and that's Matt Jones.

There's a certain few WRs in this league that I'll always claim as my own, for having predicted that they'll be dominant back before they were. Derrick Mason is one of them, Joe Horn is another, and Drew Bennett as well. There are some others. I've had my misses too, though, of course...I thought Charles Rogers would have been dominant by now, instead he broke two collarbones...I didn't think Andre Johnson would be dominant, he is...but as far as Drew Bennett was concerned I remember he and Justin McCareins were both RFAs, I'd seen them both play, and McCareins was definitely the more heralded guy at the time, and I said the smart money is on Bennett, not McCareins...and if the Titans were smart they'd hold tight to Bennett. Well, they did, and traded McCareins, the dud, to the Jets heh.
 
Bingo! Too bad he messed up his knee and missed the season.

LOL, wrong titans receiver I guess. I had assumed since you said Titans receiver and compared him to Matt Jones, you'd be talking about Drew Bennett since he's also a QB convert.
 
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