Jacoby Jones

After seeing Brandon Banks struggle all year it really pains my heart to watch Jacoby Jones on the Ravens.

With his ties to Kyle I would have hoped he had come here and we had lost out on Ed Royal so there was need(plus cut BB if we had signed JJ). Maybe he wanted to play for a instant winner but I hate to think we had no interest in him.

I've been thinking the same thing.

Cant have them all.

Cant have them all.

I understand that but he seemed very attainable. IMO that was a misfire by the front office. Banks honestly needs to hit the bricks, he brings zero positives to this team.

I keep getting down on Banks, but they keep using him more and more in the offense (granted he only played in 9 snaps out of 65 according to one of the bloggers that does snap counts), and I think he does force the defense to account for him on plays like reverses and end arounds.

Overall, it still amazes me that as this offense runs at levels of efficiency and stats and points that Skins fans haven't seen in over a decade, we keep looking at other players with Grass is greener eyes.

Seems like at least once a game Banks makes a bad decision on a return. Like the punt against Dallas he should have let go over his head. Instead he fields it and we get pinned deep. He's got to get stuff like that cleaned up. I'd like to see what Paul can do on kick returns. He's physical and doesn't dance around. I think Banks' problem is he's always looking for the homerun instead of taking a double when it's there.

Honey Badger would solve our return problems next year

Honey Badger would solve our return problems next year

He can't stop smoking weed and has sat on his ass this entire season. If he's sitting around in the 5th round or later I'd say the value is there.

I keep getting down on Banks, but they keep using him more and more in the offense (granted he only played in 9 snaps out of 65 according to one of the bloggers that does snap counts), and I think he does force the defense to account for him on plays like reverses and end arounds.

Overall, it still amazes me that as this offense runs at levels of efficiency and stats and points that Skins fans haven't seen in over a decade, we keep looking at other players with Grass is greener eyes.

I agree. With Banks on the field it seems like the defense is taking notice and that opens things up for other guys. Yeah he messed up in the Dallas game but he can correct that.

I think we have plenty of options on the roster now to adequately handle the duties w/out having to pay FA money to a specialist - Paul (KR), Robinson (PR/KR), Moss (PR), Crawford (PR).

To me, this represents the difference between this regime and others and demonstrates the shortsightedness of fans. As to this regime, instead of going after a shiny RFA/UFA like Leon Washington, Shanny is growing these emminently replaceable parts from late round picks. Giving them the opportunity to grow in the pro game while contributing.

We have invested a lot of picks in young talent over the last couple years. Give these guys a couple years to take advantage of an opportunity to step up before we go looking for expensive alternatives. Few rookies outside the first three rounds start their first or second year (I actually did the research on that for another thread sometime ago). At the same time, there are a lot of starters in this league who came on in their third or fourth year. You figure a lot of these guys are coming out of college before their physical prime of 25-29 and aren't able to compete with more experienced men in their prime who are roughly their talent equivalent.

It simply takes time to build quality depth, I think Shanny recognizes this and is essentially waiting for his players to matriculate to starting caliber. Another thing this does is keep the young talent here. One of the constant complaints that I remember from the <shudder> Vinny Years is vets saying only the folks who came from other teams got paid - hence, we lose players like Antonio Pierce, Ryan Clark and countless others who might have provided depth over the long run.

We don't need other people's Jacoby Jones's, what we need is to find our own Jacoby Jones while grooming his back up.