As we draw closer to training camp, I’m going to start churning out a series of questions/issues facing the Texans, embarrassingly titled “Countdown to Camp.” Nothing gets you ready for football more than alliteration. Am I right?
First up – Jacoby Jones.
Going into his third season, Jacoby absolutely has to have a strong camp and pre-season to hang on to his job at the bottom of the wide receiver depth chart. Jacoby is at once incredibly exciting and infuriating. I think I can speak for pretty much every Texan fan when I say that a Jacoby Jones punt return is about the most terrifying thing a Texans fan has experienced since the last time David Carr looked off the first receiver.
Even with all the good will Jacoby has built up with the fan base (and the coaching staff), his indecisiveness on punt returns and his slow progression as a receiver (and that’s being kind) seem to be the first things people think of when they hear his name.
You can always detect a little bit of that “disappointed parent” vibe when Gary Kubiak talks about Jacoby. There hasn’t been a lot of talk about him this off-season; pretty much the standard fare that you would expect, while not revealing anything worthy of discussion.
That is – unless you’re like me… and by “like me” I mean – it’s the longest part of the off-season, so I over-analyze and read into everything.
Okay, finally – to my point. Eric Winston showed up on 610AM recently, as he often does. I believe it was this appearance where Winston is asked about Jacoby. Eric’s too smart and savvy to call a guy out or needlessly praise him on a live radio broadcast – but let’s just say his thoughts on Jacoby didn’t paint a positive picture. Apparently his struggles have continued thus far, but obviously he still has an entire training camp and pre-season to turn the tide.
I think it’s going to take a phenomenal camp/pre-season for Jacoby to hold off Darnell Jenkins. Jenkins spent some time on the practice squad last year, and he has contributed as a special-teamer. Oh, and – gasp – he is apparently continuing to impress the coaches as a wide receiver.
Jacoby is a dangerous return man, for sure – but he might not be the only guy on the roster who is dangerous in that role anymore. Translation – the guy can’t afford to be one-dimensional anymore, even if that one dimension is often electrifying. With his blazing speed, rookie Brice McCain should compete for punt return duties. There’s also Jenkins, who is an unspectacular, yet capable return man with good hands.
The 2008 Texans could make room for the Jacoby Jones of 2008, but if he’s going to make the squad in 2009, he’ll have to eliminate what have to this point been described as growing pains and maturity issues. With the team likely to keep three quarterbacks, roster spots are more precious than ever before. One more muffed punt could literally change the course of JJ’s professional career.
When he’s good, he’s very, very good. I’d love to see him solidify himself as both a dependable return man AND a capable receiver, but there are a handful of guys on this year’s team that will be given every opportunity to push him right off the roster.
How do you see camp and pre-season going for Jacoby? How serious a threat do you think Brice McCain and/or Darnell Jenkins (or anyone else) poses to JJ’s roster spot?
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Jul 20, 2009 at 10:03:00
I think the title of this should be changed to “Will Jacoby Jones Stink?”
I just don’t know how at this early stage we can say weather or not McCain or Jenkins will pose a threat to his job security. At the end of the day, he is a play maker. You’re dead on in your analysis of his status but I have a hunch that we’ll see one more year of the heart attack kid swaying at the other end of the field. And I project that by the end of the season he has another TD on his belt but also another screw up and is sitting on the bench.
Jul 20, 2009 at 10:56:43
He’s got to hold on to the ball, or he’s gone…and maybe toughen up so punters don’t put him out for several games. I think you said it best somewhere, when he’s on the field, it’s scarey for both teams.
Jul 20, 2009 at 12:07:17
I am in a optimistic mood today, so why not JJ becoming what we could all call “a good receiver” at the least.
no reason he cant be the #4 and split punts with mccain.
we should clone andre johnson, put a jacoby jones jersey on the clone, and lock the real JJ in reliant somewhere on gamedays.
pessimist came out a little . . .
Jul 20, 2009 at 14:18:12
I say he does not stick. When AJ has missed games or whatever, Jones has been non existant as a rec., which means he is just a return guy. Let Davis and McCain be your return guys and use that roster spot somwhere else. Don’t get me wrong, I like Jones and what he brings to the return game, when he’s not turning the ball over but he is still just a return guy. I think the Texans could use that roster spot to fill a void at a weaker postion. I think a lot of people would say depth at DB and OL is more important right now since those seem to be our weakest postions. Maybe sign another OL or give someone like M. Parson the roster spot, which down the road could help the team more.
Jul 20, 2009 at 21:27:15
It’d be pretty stupid to cut Jacoby now. First of all this is the magical 3rd yr for him. Secondly hes way to talented. I blame the coaches as much as Jacoby. Why dont they earn their checks. what if the Giants cut Tiki ??? I saw him 5 times one game. Dont throw the baby out with the bathwater. COACH HIM!!!! Third, hes dirt cheap, unlike Andre Davis 10 times as much as Jacoby but no one talks about. Bottomline, Jacoby has the kind of play ability at the WR that makes NFL execs salivate. Imagine Jacoby in these ugly HATE YA BLUE uniforms with that gay looking T on his helmet.
Holla
Jul 21, 2009 at 15:28:28
Well, I think Jacoby will have a great camp, pre-season and 2099 regular and play-offs for us. Remember, no matter what, he came from lane College, he was playing in front of 2500people at his games….jumps to teh NFL and has a tremendous pre-season and was doing really well until he got hurt.
LAst year was a soph slump this year he will push, both A-Davis and K Walters.
Go jacoby!
Go Texans!
Jul 21, 2009 at 18:23:04
I really like Jacoby, but I do believe this is the final year that he has to prove himself as a solid return man and next in line to be a rotation receiver. I believe that the Texans didn’t get Brice McCain for his ability to cover fast receivers. That 4.22 or 4.32 speed that he possess would be going to waist on the sideline if they didn’t draft him to compete with Jacoby on the return game. Think about this. Great teams have depth and they have guys who do multiple things. Now if JJ doesn’t cut it and Andre continues to age as a player they both can be replaced by McCain and Jenkins. Jacoby is to be the aire apparent behind Andre Davis, but if he doesn’t get it together this season he is gone plain and simple; however I would hate to see him get it together somewhere else….
Jul 21, 2009 at 20:27:09
I’m gonna toss out logic and reason and go with intuitional hunch. I’ve always held out hope for Jones the way I did Darius Walker, so that means JJ is probably gone gone, although it doesn’t make sense to replace him with one as a reciever and another as a corner back/punt returner. One of the strikes against him is that he’s the backup to Kevin Walter on the depth charts that I’ve seen.
If it were up to me I’d keep both Brice McCain and Jacoby Jones and put them both back there for kick off returns, and maybe put Darnell Jenkins on the practice sguad, but apparently stuff I would do just don’t make no sense.
Anyway I guess if he muffs 2 punts in preseason and doesn’t look like a starting receiver in preseason, and Brice McCain returns a punt for a TD and looks like he might be able to cover too in spite of his size (He’s the little one and Glover Quinn is the big one because they talk about him moving to free safety?), then I suppose we see Jacoby Jones in another uniform. I think the Jags need receivers, but I think maybe Tennessee likes the larger receivers that can run block like Andre and Kevin.
So that’s my wooden Indian nickel’s worth.
Jul 22, 2009 at 11:29:24
I think it’s very possible for him to be replaced by Darnell Jenkins and Brice McCain.
Jacoby could fall under “Rex Grossman Syndrome”. This condition is explained through the preseason “battle” to be the Chicago starting QB last year, Grossman v. Orton. Kyle Orton was largely unproven, though he had shown flashes of decency. As for Grossman, Chicago fans were remembering all the bad and not enough of the good. I remember telling friends that Rex Grossman would have to have the best preseason of anyone in the NFL to keep his starting job. Sure enough, that award went to Ricky Williams (whose preseason excellence paved the way for Miami’s 11-5 record, but I digress), and the job went to Orton.
IF Jones is not having the super-stellar preseason that is being had by the likes of DelJuan and Glover, then fans and coaches will recall the krumbles (kick/punt return fumble; a term borrowed from Gregg Easterbrook) and forget any upside this kid had.
As far as roster spots being precious, I disagree. When I composed my final field of 53, every player I wanted to have made it.
QB – Schaub, Orlovsky, Grossman
RB – Slaton, C. Brown, Foster, Moats, Leach
WR – A. Johnson, Walter, Anderson, Andre with a ‘, Jenkins
TE – Daniels, Dreessen, Casey, Hill
OL – D. Brown, Pitts, Caldwell, Myers, Winston, Butler, Briesel, White
DL – Williams, Robinson, Okoye, Smith, Barwin, Bulman, Johnson, Okam, Cody
LB – Adibi, Ryans, Cushing, June, Diles, Bentley
CB – Robinson, Reeves, Bennett, Moulden, Quin, McCain, Parson
S – Wilson, Ferguson, Barber, Nolan
K – K. Brown
P – Turk
Let me know if I missed somebody, but I can’t think of anyone really worth having who doesn’t make this cut. I even found room for all four tight ends on our roster (because they’re all good and all brin something very valuable to the table), and every single rookie/young member of our secondary, including the great Mark Parson. All of these guys need to be evaluated for their potential as nickel back and beyond.
Jul 22, 2009 at 13:52:50
I think Jacoby will stick this year. he will make it to the season as the PR and 5th WR.
1. I haven’t seen any of these other guys return punts/kicks in the NFL yet so I can’t say anyone might be better than him at it. But I’m not against seeing what these rookies can do @ KR and PR in the preseason.
2. He is the 5th WR, there isnt much you can ask from him. You replace him with Jenkins and he wouldnt even play much (if at all) on most sundays so things don’t change. I’m not a fan of JJ but he can make some nice things happen.
3. If we just happen to run a 5 WR set, it would be A. Johnson, Walters, OD, Slaton and Davis. So having another WR doesnt help that cause.
Jenkins (or any other WR below him on the depth chart) can’t do what JJ can so why replace him?
Jul 23, 2009 at 01:08:43
@kyle
The only person on the list that you may have forgotten(I do not know if this was on purpose or not) is long snapper/tightend Clark harris. I do not know if that was your way of saying that james casey is going to win that job or if you forgot to put him on.
On the topic at hand, I have never liked a wide receiver doing punt duty and wide recieving. I have never seen it work. I don’t know if it is a stamina issue or it is a repetition issue. I can think of stud return men that tried to do both and failed:Devin Hester, Tedd Ginn, and Dante hall. All of them tried to do both and it took away from their great returns.That is why all jacoby has to do in my eyes to make the team is have his fumblitis fixed.I do not think he has to have a preseason like his first to make the team. We have invested more in Jacoby than we have in Jenkins and I do not see the Texans pulling the plug this soon unless he continues to fumble punts.
Jul 24, 2009 at 17:27:02
@truth
The Clark Harris omission was correct. Frankly, if James Casey has long snapping experience, then I’ll add that extra spot. I know it sounds odd to have four tight ends, but Dreessen (the TE most likely to get cut) has been a solid goal-line target, and a team whose biggest offensive struggle is in the redzone would be dumb for cutting a player that helps them in the red zone.
I agree somewhat with your comments, but, in the name of having the best 53 people possible, I am totally fine with a bottom-of-the-depth-chart WR/CB/RB/S doing the work.
The reason I think Jones will be cut is because he’s been labeled a fumbler. In Kubiak’s make or break season, I believe that he will opt for something new instead of Jones, whom, in public opinion, is a bust who fumbles punts.
Look at it this way:
If Jones drops a pass or a punt, John McClain’s blog will be talking about Kubiak sticking with “that bust” Jacoby Jones.
If Jenkins drops a pass or McCain fumbles a punt, John McClain will be blogging about their “growing process”, and how, once they “get it”, they will be the best #5 WR and PR duo ever.
(and of course, Richard Justice will blog about how none of the three are as good as UT alum Quan Cosby.)