All RB projections   •  Current RB rankings   •   All JAX projections   •  JAX team report   •  JAX Stats

RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville Jaguars

HT: 5-8, WT: 205, Born: 3-23-1985, College: UCLA, Drafted: Round 2

2008 Projections

2007 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Jones-Drew, like Taylor, did not have many rushing attempts, but was able to display his explosiveness and speed a few times, including kickoffs. He was in the game for all of Jacksonville's goal line plays. Late in the game, he turned a short pass into a first down run of over 20 yards, but had the ball knocked out by a teammate as he was being tackled. Jones-Drew's productivity suffered from a lack of touches.

Week 2 - Jones-Drew did not have many rushing attempts, but was able to display glimpses of his explosiveness and speed a few times, although he was unable to break free for any big gains. He powered through the first defender or spun away from one, but was tackled before he could generate a lot of momentum. Jones-Drew was the first option on a play designed for him to run down the sideline and catch a pass heading into the end zone, but a great play by the defender (defensive end John Abraham) to deflect the ball prevented his numbers from being better.

Week 3 - Jones-Drew ran with power but was usually stymied before he could get past the line of scrimmage. However he did show his impressive speed and quickness on some of his kick-off returns, where he had some long returns. Jones-Drew was not usually brought down by the first tackler but Denver's defenders swarmed to him and a second defender usually tackled him before he could use his explosiveness. He did have the most red zone touches of any Jaguars player but was unable to score any touchdowns.

Week 5 - Jones-Drew ran with his usual blend of power and quickness, and managed to showcase those attributes several times. In addition to his 52 yard touchdown run, Jones-Drew gained a lot of yards after initial contact by either making defenders miss with his quickness, or driving through them, or a combination of both. The Chiefs usually had several defenders get to him quickly, which enabled them to prevent him from even bigger gains. Jones-Drew had five plays called for him inside the ten yard line and made it inside the five yard line each time, but was stopped short of the end zone.

Week 6 - Jones-Drew began the season slowly but gained 125 yards on 12 carries, although 57 came on one touchdown run in the fourth quarter. He also scored a touchdown on a seven yard run, caught four passes for 59 yards, and returned four kickoffs for another 79 yards.

Week 7 - Jones-Drew broke off a few nice runs, but he was also stopped for one yard or less on six occasions (though one was for a TD). On his TD run, it appeared at first that he fumbled the ball away, but replays confirmed the he broke the plane of the end zone before dropping the ball. Jones-Drew had only three pass targets, two of them coming in the final drive of the game.

Week 8 - Jones-Drew ran with power and quickness, but apart from a run of 21 yards that ended at the one yard line, was contained before he could break free for big gains. Although he was recovering from a knee injury, Jones-Drew still managed to not be brought down by the first person to tackle him. He seemed healthy although the team looked like they didn't want give him too much work.

Week 9 - Jones-Drew ran very effectively with the few touches he had, averaging over five yards per rush, over 15 yards on his two receptions and returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Gray missed him on the two targets that were incompletions, as he was open both times. A lack of touches hindered Jones-Drew's productivity.

Week 10 - Jones-Drew showed his versatility in this game, showcasing his explosiveness, power and elusiveness several times running, catching and returning kicks. He showed a new wrinkle by running a deep pattern and getting by his defender, but the pass intended for him was off target. Jones-Drew was the ball carrier on two fourth and one rushing plays and was on the field for the majority of Jacksonville's red zone and goal-line plays.

Week 11 - The performance by Jones-Drew pretty well summed up why he is so well-respected within the NFL community. On a day when he didn't put up eye-popping stats, he showed a toughness and drive that goes well beyond the box score. Additionally, he managed to score a touchdown which saved his day for many a fantasy owner. On the touchdown series, he had previously been stuffed at the goal line both on first and second downs. On third down, he ran right into a pile of San Diego defenders but kept his legs churning. He bowled them over into the end zone for the score, which proved two things. 1 -- Jones-Drew is an extremely powerful runner. 2 -- The Jaguars will go back to him at the goal line time and again even if he doesn't automatically have success there right away. Perhaps the highlight of Jones-Drew's day came on a play where he didn't even touch the ball. On a play-action fake, San Diego star LB Shawne Merriman came up to lay a hit on Jones-Drew. Unfortunately for Merriman, the ball was still in the hands of QB David Garrard. The 5'7", 208 pound Jones-Drew laid out the 6'4" 272 pound Merriman with a vicious block that sent the linebacker sprawling backwards, a play which is sure to get plenty of airtime over the next week or so.

Week 12 - The Bills managed to bottle up Jones-Drew until late in the game. He actually had negative yardage until there was 1:43 left in the game when he ran 17 yards for a touchdown against a defense that had just thrown in the towel. He finished with plus ten yards rushing to go with two pass receptions for another 16 yards. He also returned two kickoffs at a 26 yard average.

Week 13 - Jones-Drew ran hard at the Colts' defenders and seemed determined to bang out extra yards by using his power more than his quickness. He was featured on the goal line plays, and parlayed one of those carries into a score. Jones-Drew was not involved much in the passing game.

Week 14 - Jones-Drew didn't do much at all in this game. He had 11 carries for just 24 yards. His best play was on fourth and two when he picked up 13 yards on a pass down to the Carolina 22 yard line. On the next play Garrard threw a touchdown to Williams. In the second quarter, he had a goal line opportunity from the two yard line but lost a yard. Jones-Drew caught two passes in the game for 21 yards.

Week 15 - Jacksonville went primarily with the hot Fred Taylor. However, Jones-Drew still chipped in with 69 yards on his 12 attempts. His biggest gains went for 17 and 20 yards on draw plays in third and long situations. Both runs were good for first downs. Jones-Drew also converted two fourth down and one runs. Like Fred Taylor, Jones-Drew also ran hard and broke tackles for extra yardage.

Jones-Drew led the Jaguars in catches with five for 30 yards. He dropped a sure touchdown pass. On the next play, Garrard went right back to him, but he was stopped at the goal line.

Jones-Drew averaged 18 yards on two kickoff returns.

Week 16 - Jones-Drew was at least as dangerous as Fred Taylor, racking up yardage on the ground and as a receiver. His four first half carries were all for first downs (one for a touchdown), and three of his catches were also for first downs, including one 43 yard gain. He was the Jags leading receiver on the day, in targets, yardage, and receptions.

Week 18 - Jones-Drew showed his value to the team Saturday night. He was effective in the run, pass, and kick return portions of the game. He blocked extremely well. He returned his first and only kickoff 96 yards to the Pittsburgh two. He caught a 43 yard touchdown pass tiptoeing down the sideline. He also ran for a touchdown. He only ran for 29 yards on eight attempts, though.

Week 19 - Jones-Drew did not have many opportunities rushing the ball, but took advantage of his receiving opportunities to extend drives. While he ran hard and usually gained some extra yardage after initial contact, Jones-Drew was unable to have a big impact on the game.