Can Thomas Jones develop into an elite back?

By J.E.  |   Monday, March 13, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

Chicago Bears
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In the last decade or so, the Chicago Bears have suffered through a series of failed running back experiments. Raymont Harris, Rashaan Salaam, Curtis Enis, and James Allen are just some of the men who have had a shot at the starting job in Chicago since 1995. Significantly, none of those players are even in the NFL anymore. But after all of those years of frustration, the Bears seem to have finally hit the jackpot with current starter Thomas Jones.

Jones, a former first-round pick (7th overall) in the 2000 draft, was signed by the Bears as a free agent in 2004. After an average debut season in which he gained 948 yards in 14 games, Jones came back with an excellent effort in the 2005 campaign. He finished the season ranked in the top-10 in every major rushing category while leading Chicago to a postseason berth. Jones gained 1,335 yards on 314 carries in 15 games and scored 9 touchdowns -- all career-highs. In addition, he only coughed the ball up two times all year.

Jones' performance was so effective and so consistent that it forced head coach Lovie Smith to keep Chicago's newest first-round pick - former Texas Longhorns star Cedric Benson - on the sidelines for most of the season.

Now, the question that has to be uppermost in the minds of the coaching staff and fans alike is, can Jones develop into one of the league's elite backs?

The elite backs, of course, are players like Shaun Alexander, LaDainian Tomlinson, Edgerrin James, Larry Johnson, and Tiki Barber. These are guys that can take control of a game by churning out yards and pounding the ball in for a touchdown when their teams need it the most. When these elite backs are on the field, their teams can never be counted out of the game.

There's no question that Jones has shown flashes of the talent and athletic ability required to elevate his game to the next level. However, his continued development and success in the league depends in large part on Chicago's quarterback situation. If you take a look at the backs mentioned above, you'll notice that they all have one thing in common: a starting QB that can throw for 300 yards and a couple of TDs on any given weekend. This stretches opposing defenses out and gives running backs more room to maneuver at the line of scrimmage. Jones doesn't have that luxury in Chicago, which makes his stats all the more impressive. Even with defenses keying on him all season long, he was still able to get the job done.

If there's knock on Jones, it's his lack of game-breaking speed. His longest run from scrimmage last season was 42 yards, and he didn't have as many double-digit gains as the Bears would like to see. But again, it's tough to predict what he could do if Chicago actually had some semblance of a passing game. Overall, Chicago Bears fans should look for even bigger numbers from Jones in 2006.
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