Sarge's Rap Sheet #12: Maurice Jones-Drew

Maurice Jones-Drew. A name that will inspire fighting among the best of us fantasy football experts. But is Jones worth wagering your backfield on? Will he finally become the consistent fantasy scorer you need? Lets take a closer look at MJD.

The Stats:

5-6, 210lbs, 3rd season of professional football, all for the Jacksonville Jaquars.

The Early Years:

Born March 23, 1985 in Antioch, California, Maurice played his high school ball for national powerhouse Concord - De La Salle. The football teams he played on never lost a single game during his 3-year career. He was an elusive, high-scoring running back and return specialist on offense and a punishing linebacker on defense. Maurice burst on the national scene on October 6, 2001, when, as a junior, he scored all four of De La Salle's TD's in a 29-15 nationally-televised victory over Long Beach Poly in the first game that ever matched up the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 ranked high school football teams.

Maurice rushed for nearly 1,500 yards, averaged nearly 12 yards per carry, and scored 26 touchdowns his senior year. He was rated the No. 1 all-purpose back in the nation by Rivals.com during recruiting. Maurice chose to attend UCLA.

College Career:

Despite being considered undersized, Maurice led UCLA in rushing all three of his season there, caught passes, and returned punts and kickoffs. Maurice was known for his physical, electric running style. He rolled up almost 4000 combined yards and 39 TDs while at UCLA.

Maurice also left his mark at the collegiate level with several herculean efforts that won games for UCLA or brought them back to the brink of victory, the best being a victory over Washington his sophomore season where he rolled up 322 all purpose yards and scored a school record 5 TDs. Maurice dominated games at the collegiate level as he had at the high school level, and best of all the young man stayed out of trouble.

2006 NFL Draft

Scouts were wowed by Maurice's blend of power, speed and big play ability. He put up impressive combine numbers, including a 4.39 40yd dash, and 18 reps on the bench. The Jacksonville Jaquars snapped up MJD with the 60th overall pick in the second round of the draft.

Professional Career:

In 2006 Maurice began by handling kick-off returns, eventually became the Jaguars' primary third-down back. After lying the weeds for a bit, Mauric finally blew up on the pro level. Against the Indianapolis Colts on December 10, 2006, Maurice set a franchise record with 166 rushing yards and 303 All-Purpose Yards, which included a 93-yard kickoff return for touchdown. Maurice finished 3rd in the NFL in both kickoff returns (27.7 yd avg) and touchdowns scored (16). He was also one of only two players in the NFL to score at least one TD rushing, receiving, and returning kicks. He also led all AFC running backs in scrimmage yards per touch. Narrowly missing 1,000 yards for the season, Jones-Drew's rushing average of 5.7 yds per carry was 1st in the NFL for backs with 100 attempts and was the highest for an NFL running back since Barry Sanders averaged 6.1 yds per rush in 1997. In addition, he had the third-most all-purpose yards of any rookie in history. Oddly, Maurice stated that year he likes wearing #32 because it reminds him each and every time he steps on the football field just how many NFL teams bypassed him in the 1st round of the 2006 NFL Draft because of his height.

With the normal predictions of Fred Taylor's demise, Jones was a draft darling in the preseason. The 2007 season debut Jones-Drew's production was just average. During a 10-13 loss to Tennessee, Maurice Jones-Drew had 32 yards on seven carries in the game. Maurice Jones-Drew's fumble at the 8 yard line in the 4th quarter was the last scoring opportunity for the Jaguars in that game. Maurice went on to have a decent year, gaining around 1000 total yards and garnering double digit TDs again. In the playoffs, Maurice disappeared in a loss to the Patriots, rushing for just 19 yards on 6 attempts as the Jaguars lost 31-20. He did managed catch 6 passes for an additional 49 yards.

2008 and beyond:

So there we go. A guy thats averaging around 1000 total yards a year. A guy thats averaging at least 10 scores and catching passes. A guy that has DOMINATED at every other level when allowed to be the primary back.

Just as confused as I am eh? I dont like the RBBC approach, and I dont draft Maurice because of his inconsistency. 40 points one week, and then 5 points for the next three just wont cut it. Still, now you have the facts to argue and make an informed choice.


Sarge

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2008 Black Knights Football - 12 wins isn't enough

I am a huge fan of Jones-drew. I am even more excited as I hear rumbles from Jax that Drew will be the primary carrier, not Taylor. With even more carries this kid could be huge. Add in the instability at Wr and TE, and he will also be a solid target for Garrard out of the back field. I am still not sold on him first round, but late second or early third.....absolutely

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Expert on nothing, opinionated on everything...

Spot on. I can't find a single reason not to take this guy as a RB2.

Depends on your draft spot. Inconsistency hurts. Sure, those 30 point games he puts up are sweet, but when you follow it up with three weeks of 10, 5, and 9 its just not worth it.