Thomas Jones

[Wolverine]

I was in the exact same position as you in my draft this weekend, #5 in a 12-man draft. Here's how it played out:

Ahman Green
Chad Johnson
Thomas Jones

T.O. was gone by the 16th pick. The way I see it, Jones at the 29th pick could be the move that will win fantasy squads championships this year. My reasoning on that is that he'll likely be selected somewhere between the 18-20th RB off the board at that position. If you look to last year's 2003 fantasy season, you can see what players ended up with to receive the 18-20th end of season ranking:

#18) Barber, Tiki RB NYG - 278 att, 1215 yards 4.4 YPC, 2 TD, 69 rcpts, 461 yards, 6.7 ypc, 1 TD, 6 FL, 152 fantasy points
#19) Martin, Curtis RB NYJ - 323 att, 1308 yards, 4.0 YPC, 2 TD, 42 rcpts, 262 yards, 6.2 ypc, 0 TD, 2 FL, 152 fantasy points
#20) Barlow, Kevan RB SF - 201 att, 1024 yards, 5.1 YPC, 6 TD, 35 rcpts, 307 yards, 8.8 ypc, 1 TD, 4 FL, 146 fantasy points

Based on this, all you need to do really is convince yourself that Thomas Jones is a lock for equivalent fantasy production in 2004. Based on what's coming out of the preseason, I don't see why that isn't easily possible, but with the upside to far exceed that type of production. I am convinced that Thomas Jones can at least produce enough to warrant him as the #18 RB but has plenty of upside to him that could see him finish much higher than that by year-end.

[madmike]

I'm very high on TJ and feel with the new system in Chicago he will have a breakout year. I have him higher than the others mentioned. Grab him in round 3 and run.

[bryan1327]

After reading all these posts on Jones..I am very happy that he slid all the way to round 6 to me in a 12 team league.. I think the system the Bears have in now will really boast his value..should be interesting to watch..

[Cornbread Maxwell]

Westbrook
CBrown
TJones
KJones
Suggs

I still think Suggs is in the worst situation even if he is the #1 undisputed starter. Cle is going to have a hard time running the ball this yr.

[Dans]

For anyone who has already drafted, does Suggs fall to the mid 4th of a 12 team draft? I'm wondering if I could grab TJ at 29 and Suggs at 44.

[Johnny Ballgame]

Suggs is a monster stud and I doubt he'll end up sharing as much time with Will Green as the other 3 RBs will in their RBBC situations.

I put him first.

The only Bears RB I'll draft is Forsey, and then only in the final round of the draft.

DD - you may want to reconsider the whole Forsey stance - here is something pulled from the Whispers post here on the cafe (I think Jones will have a monster year by the way):

"Because the Bears aren’t sold on RBs Adrian Peterson or Brock Forsey as the backup to Thomas Jones, the coaching staff is beginning to fret over Anthony Thomas’ absence from training-camp workouts. Thomas reported to camp in the best shape of his life but missed all but three days of camp with an injury the team called either a “side” or an “abdominal strain.” Head coach Lovie Smith has been very vague in setting a timetable for Thomas’ return. The Bears question Peterson’s toughness — he missed 10 games with a sprained ankle last year — and aren’t sure Forsey fits the new system".

[moose_ffc]

I think T. Jones is awesome. How could you not like him!

It's not unusual to be loved by anyone
It's not unusual to have fun with anyone
but when I see you hanging about with anyone
It's not unusual to see me cry,
oh I wanna' die
It's not unusual to go out at any time
but when I see you out and about it's such a crime
if you should ever want to be loved by anyone,
It's not unusual it happens every day no matter what you say
you find it happens all the time
love will never do what you want it to
why can't this crazy love be mine
It's not unusual, to be mad with anyone
It's not unusual, to be sad with anyone
but if I ever find that you've changed at anytime
it's not unusual to find out that I'm in love with you
whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

[PSU All Day]

[quote="Cornbread Maxwell"]Westbrook
CBrown
TJones
KJones
Suggs

I still think Suggs is in the worst situation even if he is the #1 undisputed starter. Cle is going to have a hard time running the ball this yr.[/quote]



Cleveland will be passing a lot since they will be behind by 14 points before the coin toss. Detroit as well.

Chicago is just going to suck all around again this year. Tennessee will be good but I am not sold on Chris Brown being better than Westbrook right now. Westbrook has at least played a down in the NFL (two years in fact) and shown he can be explosive.

[Cornbread Maxwell]

[Cleveland will be passing a lot since they will be behind by 14 points before the coin toss. Detroit as well.

Chicago is just going to suck all around again this year. Tennessee will be good but I am not sold on Chris Brown being better than Westbrook right now. Westbrook has at least played a down in the NFL (two years in fact) and shown he can be explosive.

The problem with Detroit isnt that they will be scored on quickly as you might suggest, but rather that they might have a hard time stopping the run - something that doesnt mean they will have huge deficits to make up. DET will have a pretty balanced attack.

CBrown averaged about 5 carries a game last yr, so he isnt completely inexperienced.

[CC]

Seriously, we should combine all the Thomas Jones threads into one 10000 post super-thread.