Seems many of the Bears were/are behind Jones, and Benson is still having difficulties with the passing game (receiving and blocking).....and if he keeps getting dinged up, it may not take much at all for Jones to reclaim his spot.
Exactly. Kensat has just had a thing out for TJ since he started and just loves to say the word "turd" without actually knowing what's going on.
Mercer Boy wrote:Well, I can see this being a big thread tomorrow morning...
Interesting news to be sure...it is just training camp though, and a lot can change. Obviously those of you drafting right now will have to adjust accordingly, but I'd still be careful of this one. Jones was pretty danged effective all year last year, so I personally wouldn't change what worked.
Exactly. Lovie brought Jones to chicago as his first big move as head coach and it will take more than a minor flaw to remove him from the starting rb position.
Mercer Boy wrote:Well, I can see this being a big thread tomorrow morning...
Interesting news to be sure...it is just training camp though, and a lot can change. Obviously those of you drafting right now will have to adjust accordingly, but I'd still be careful of this one. Jones was pretty danged effective all year last year, so I personally wouldn't change what worked.
Exactly. Lovie brought Jones to chicago as his first big move as head coach and it will take more than a minor flaw to remove him from the starting rb position.
The Miner Part 2 wrote:yea and leon joe is playing with the starters now too. the only reason is because jones and briggs missed "voluntary" workouts earlier this month, so briggs and jones are technically second string, but it's more or less punishment for missing the "voluntary" workouts. bears defensive coordinator was on the radio yesterday saying that he and lovie smith realize that briggs is a better football player than leon joe, but players who miss "voluntary" workouts are demoted. how i interpreted the convo is that briggs is basically getting slapped on the wrist. they didnt discuss jones/benson, but after the year jones had last year, i assume that it's also a slap on the wrist for jones.
Are you seriously trying to equate a Pro Bowl LB competing against a 2nd day pick to an aging RB competing against the 4th overall choice in the draft? You can't possibly make the comparison without bending the rules of logic. Briggs may have an easy time winning his job back because Leon Joe was never drafted to replace him, there is no pressure to put Leon Joe in, no investment sitting being squandered on the bench. Benson, is all those things Leon Joe isnt.
If Lovie really had faith Jones was gonna be his guy, he wouldn't have drafted Benson when the team had other glaring needs.
Exactly - The Bears have nothing invested in Leon Joe at this point. If he develops into a player that can start, that's great, but it's no big loss if he doesn't. And nobody thinks he even has the potential to be what Lance Briggs is to that defense. Benson, on the other hand, has a huge contract and theoretically more upside that Jones (although it's debatable IMO). It would be a major embarrasment to the franchise to draft another running back bust, which will be unavoidable if Ced isn't given a real chance. Ultimately Lovie will play the guy who gives him the best chance to win, but these sort of factors definitely affect who will get an opportunity to prove themselves first. If Cedric Benson really is capable of being an NFL stud, he's going to get a chance to with the Bears - even if that means trading TJ or wasting him on the bench.
TJ bring something to the table that CB does not have.... pass blocking and the ability to catch the ball!!
TJ is the perfect fit in that system. To me CB has all the potential to become a DUD. Why?.... he has a ton of mileage from college where he "never got injured". He can't pick up the blitz because in college he had a GOOD scrambling QB.
I don't know... I'm going to try to stay away from him this year, but Lovey has show that he is a 1 RB man... I don't see this as a RBBC. He will stick with just one. If that guy is CB, I'll draft him. I just don't have a lot of faith in the guy. The way he acted on draft day and his hold out will hunt him the rest of his career. Also, for someone who never got injured, he sure has made a habit of it so far in his career.
I know that he didn't perform at the Combine, but does anyone know if he ever did a 40 time, cone drill time or any other tangible messureables?
Keeper Roster:
QB: B. Rothlesburgh, C. Palmer
RB: S. Alexander, L. Johnson,
WR: T. Holt, Burress, M. Clayton, B. Edwards
TE: T. Heap
DT: Steelers
That's the question - is Cedric Benson at least comparable to Thomas Jones or not? Although to me it does not make a lot of sense to start Benson over a proven guy like Jones (who was pretty much the entire offense last year), especially on a team that is trying to win now, that seems to be what is happening.
However, if Jones is significantly better than Benson (I don't put a lot on measurables, but Jones has shown me more on the football field), he will start.
Good point about Lovie being a 1 RB guy. Despite the fact that the Bears had a very solid backup RB in Peterson and a #4 overall pick, Jones got the vast majority of the work. I don't see an RBBC evolving here, it's just not clear who the starter will be once the season starts. It pretty much comes down to coaching philosophy - guys either think "let's keep our guys fresh and give the defense a lot of different looks" or "let's have our best players on the field as much as possible." Lovie's in the latter camp.
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by Sixxgunn » Wed Aug 02, 2006 2:53 pm 
