Ian Allan
I’ve been getting an e-mail every few days, wondering why we have Julius Jones ranked so low – 35th on our most recent draft boards.
The Seahawks are a solid offense and have won the NFC West four times in a row. Winning, successful teams tend to score more rushing touchdowns. They gave Jones $5.5 million in guaranteed money in the spring. Why isn’t this guy ranked 15 spots higher?
But the Seahawks don’t intend to use Jones full-time. Mike Holmgren has maintained that all along, and he reiterated as much at practice on Sunday. Jones will split time with Maurice Morris.
"I'm looking at it right now as if we have two starters at that position," Holmgren said in a story written by Danny O’Neil that appeared in Monday’s Seattle Times. (That story can be accessed right here.
The Seahawks also have T.J. Duckett, who probably will be their short-yardage back. And the team has offensive line issues. It ranked 20th in rushing last season and scored only 9 rushing TDs.
So I’m confident that I’ve got Jones in the right spot.
—Ian Allan
- Comments [4]
Readers' Comments
Add a Comment
Already a registered user? Please sign in to add comments.
To add comments, you must become a registered user of our site. To register, please click here.
Posted by Miguel Tames | Jul. 28 at 02:25 PM
I'm surprised you're getting so many emails and complaints. Julius Jones has shown nothing the past 2 years and as you stated is stuck in a RBBC with 2 other guys. I don't see why people are expecting some huge emergence in Seattle.
Posted by Paul Owers | Jul. 28 at 03:29 PM
I agree. Seattle overpaid for Jones. Unless Duckett and Morris get hurt, Jones is just another guy competing for carries. I'd be stunned if he scores more than five TDs this year.
Posted by Michael Rogers | Jul. 29 at 01:42 AM
Julius Jones became more and more marginalized every time Marion Barber III touched the ball in Dallas. He was supposedly the "lightning" part of the Dallas rushing game; yet the thunder part averaged more than a full YPC than Jones. Plain and simple, Jones sucks. I still remain thoroughly baffled at how stubborn NFL executives are by selecting players based on hype (see Alex Smith), or selecting players based on their draft position from years ago/college performance. For example, Alex Smith is an Arena League QB, at best. Yet San Fran picked up his option this offseason? Mind boggling. Now, Seattle thinks that the best way to solve the end of Alexander's career is to put out behind Hasselbeck a backfield comprised of the guy who proved he couldn't get it done when Alexander was injured or ineffective in the past (Morris), the guy who the Falcons, Redskins, and Lions all had no use for (Duckett), and the aforementioned Jones. Why do owners pay big bucks to these (non)genius executives anyway?
Posted by Scott Bissell | Jul. 29 at 02:58 AM
I agree with the ranking and wouldn't be surprised if he finished out of the top 50. As a Cowboy fan living in seattle I am not surprised at how hyped the Seachickens fans are over the Ms. Jones signing. They rarely pay attention to the sports world around them and I usually no more about the 12th bandwagon jumping Man's team than he does. The last time they were all giggling over lattes about there next superstar the 5 foot superbowl MVP was coming to town! That worked out!