<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>FELIX JONES "If Felix Jones played for West Virginia," said Colts president Bill Polian, "you'd be talking about him in the same breath as Mendenhall and Stewart. He only suffers by comparison to the guy he's playing with." "There's some similarities to Reggie (Bush)," said Rick Reiprish, New Orleans' director of college scouting. "Reggie is so quick but Jones might be a little faster." "You can put him at wideout, the slot, running back," Tennessee Titans national scout C.O. Brocato said. "He's tough. He runs inside. I think he can (carry the load)." "A very competitive runner who doesn't like to go down," said Eric DeCosta, Baltimore's director of college scouting. "He fights for yards all the time. If he was there in the second round he'd be excellent value." "He has really good speed, but the thing that separates him, he has really good quickness," one scout said. "He can separate from people because of his quickness. He catches the ball decent. He's just kind of a good all-around player, but he's more of a luxury player than a guy you'd say, 'We're going to draft Felix Jones and he's going to be our guy.'" "I think (Jones) would be better in the role he was in at Arkansas," said the scouting director for an AFC team, "where he'd be the lightning to somebody's thunder. That No. 2 that comes in and gets his 10 to 12 carries a game and doesn't have to carry the load. Kind of like Reggie Bush, that complementary player." "It's really close between him and Chris Johnson," one scout said in picking the fourth-best back. "Felix does some really good things and has a slight edge on Johnson, but it wouldn't surprise me if Johnson turned out to be the better player because he runs with more of an NFL mind-set than Felix, even though (Johnson) is not the biggest guy in the world at 198 or whatever. Then the speed factor (with Johnson). But I think Felix is the (fourth) guy." MIKE JENKINS "I equate him to Eric Allen, the five-time Pro Bowler," one scout said. "Just the style of play. I think people read Jenkins the wrong way. He's kind of a loner, in a good way." Criticized by one scout as "having a little prima donna in him. Not the toughest guy. Is he the guy I would want as my locker mate? Probably not." "But he's not a bad kid at all," a third scout said. "Only reason he didn't go to a major university was because his mom had really bad diabetes and he didn't want to leave her so he stayed at home. Also raised his nephew when his sister couldn't take care of him." "If he comes to play he'll be the best player out of all of them," Seattle scout Charles Fisher said. "His issue will be in his own mind." "I think he's a really good kid with a good head on shoulders," a scouting director for an AFC team said. "Just because of the relationship with his mother, that shows a lot of maturity. If that translates over to football is a little questionable. I wish he played with more fire. Can he develop that? I'm not sure. He probably can, but there's some question there, definitely. I think he'll go at the bottom of the first round. Don't think he'd go any later than the top of the second, anywhere from 25 to 35." "Physically, he's probably as good or better than all the guys," another scout said. "He's probably more raw and plays where he coasts through some games because he's not challenged with some of the teams they play. But I like his body, he's got good acceleration out of breaks, he's real athletic. He's raw from a technique standpoint. His instincts are a little better than average, not great. I wish he made a few more plays. You look at the (teammate) on the other side, Trae Williams makes a lot of plays. He's got like 15, 18 interceptions where Jenkins has a handful. But he's a guy that could develop his skill level to where he could be a really good second corner and possibly a one." MARTELLUS BENNETT "He still plays like a basketball player," Tennessee Titans national scout C.O. Brocato said. "If he had come back for another year and learned like he did this last year he probably could have been a heck of a tight end." "He has the ability to be a complete tight end," said Trent Baalke, San Francisco's director of player personnel. "He can block. Excellent red-zone target. He runs well enough to stretch the field. And he uses his body as well as any tight end I've seen in a long time in terms of getting open. He needs to mature." "Real good feet," said an NFL tight ends coach. "But it's not like he's played so many games that you can list, 'Here's his strengths, here's his weaknesses.' More of an NBA-type build, a good athlete, good hands and all that, just younger, less exposure. Could have good upside down the line, caught the ball well, Could develop, but it's a projection." "He's not a great worker," said a scout who predicted Bennett would be the first tight end off the board. "If you're going to miss on somebody (in the first round), you better miss on somebody that's going to work." "He has enough niftiness in a short area to make people miss and get open," another scout said. "I didn't think he was a great vertical threat, but I thought he was adequate in that area. He's a solid athlete but not a premier athlete." TASHARD CHOICE "He shows vision and run instincts between the tackles," Arizona scout Jerry Hardaway said. "He'll bounce it out to the second level, but he's not a home-run hitter. He earned every yard he got at Georgia Tech running behind a bad offensive line." "Chan Gailey said he reminded him of Emmitt Smith, who Chan had at Dallas," one scout said. "Strong runner, catches the ball well and ran faster than I thought at the combine."</div> Couple of comments I will make: John Garrett (Jason's younger brother) is our TE coach. And he apparently is a good one, because Witten and Fasano really improved their blocking last year. Specifically, Witten. The same knock on blocking that Bennett is getting was said about Witten. So it can be coached if the player wants to put the time into it. Not too worried about it. And there are reports from other scouts that Bennett is a pretty good blocker. So I am not sure, really, which way to believe on that. As far as Jenkins/Scandrick go... well, Campo is their secondary coach. He was a lousy Head Coach, but he is a good secondary coach. The knock on Jenkins was made on Mathis when he came out....he wasn't polished technique wise. Campo helped that. And Campo has been described as a good technique teacher too, so I am not too worried about that. Again, if the players put in the time, they'll succeed. Its going to be interesting to watch them play.... I really like Jenkins, Jones, Choice, and Scandrick's potential.... and Bennett has a lot of upside as well, even if I am not excited about another TE...
I've been warming up to Felix Jones. I think he'll benefit by having a wizard for an OC and this following run has given me hope that he won't become just another Julius: <div align="center"><div><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uK69s9nZGGw&"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uK69s9nZGGw&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350" /></embed></object></div></div> Bennett has the tools to be very good, but my concern is that his opportunities will be limited. I see us more likely to shy away from 2 TE sets and instead utilizing an extra WR (Felix could fit this role) I'm looking forward to watching Choice fight for playing time. If he can manage to cause Wade to dress 3 RB's he must be putting on a heck of a show.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GMJigga @ Apr 30 2008, 08:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I've been warming up to Felix Jones. I think he'll benefit by having a wizard for an OC and this following run has given me hope that he won't become just another Julius:</div> Somewhere, Kid Chocolate weeps.
Wade has come out and said that they plan on using Bennett in the red zone a lot next year.... they think he'll be an immediate impact in the red zone with his size. They also want to use him in the running game (as a blocker)
