Jones still worth a mid-round pick
Kevin Jones is headed to the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List, which is going to send him falling in fantasy drafts this weekend. We’re not adjusting his ranking on Rotoworld’s cheat sheets because we already had him pegged for ten games and 145 overall touches. That projection makes him the RB38 on our cheat sheets with an eighth round draft grade. That's where you can take some risks in your draft.
There just won’t be a waiver wire pickup available during the season with the high ceiling of Kevin Jones. Keep in mind that Detroit has an early bye, so Jones is eligible to return after five games. Mlive.com’s Tom Kowalski sounds confident Jones will only miss five games, but it’s early in the process. Still, the news sounds relatively good for Jones owners. Kowalski writes:
The medical report on Jones is that his foot is almost completely recovered, but team officials want to err on the side of caution and make sure he's in the best possible football condition before he returns to the field. Again, according to a source close to the situation, Jones is expected to return without losing any of his original speed or running ability.
Tatum Bell is ranked as the RB39, which a lot of readers think is too low. I’m taking the long view and have written about it quite a bit on the blog. It looks like Jones will be back by mid-season at the latest and the coaching staff in Detroit has made it clear it’s Jones’ job when he’s healthy. For the first five games, Bell is a great RB3 and a second running back option most weeks. He might not get 15 carries, but his receptions will help. Let’s look at the schedule.
Week 1: @ Oakland – Perhaps Bell’s best matchup. He’ll probably be in our top 20.
Week 2: vs. Vikings – Minnesota had the best rush defense in the league last year.
Week 3: @ Eagles – Average matchup
Week 4: vs. Chicago – Detroit averaged 56 rushing yards per game against the Bears last year.
Week 5: @ Washington – Solid matchup.
So Bell has two good matchups, two very difficult ones, and an average one. He’ll be a useful fantasy asset for five weeks and a likely starter for two-to-three. That’s worth something, even a mid-to-late-round pick, but I’m not convinced he’ll be worth that much down the stretch.
Comments
Jones is absolutely worth a mid round pick, in my league we can protect one player from the previous years draft who was drafted in the 6th round or later, Jones falls in that category now which is great. Even without that rule, depending on roster limits, he could prove a HUGE value in the years second half.
Posted by: Scott | August 31, 2007 01:47 PM
I think T. Bell is being totally under-rated by everyone. He did a great job for Denver last year when he was given the carries. In both my leagues, I was able to pick him up in the 12th round or later...a complete steal. With many impatient people dropping K.Jones, wise Tatum owners should be snagging him immediately off of waivers. Thank me later!
Posted by: Joe Ruiloba | August 31, 2007 07:51 PM
I heard Jones is going to be on the active roster. Which means he may be back sooner. I'll go out on a limb and say he's back for week 5 at Washington.
Posted by: Anonymous | September 1, 2007 08:51 AM