WR James Jones, Green Bay Packers

HT: 6-1, WT: 207, Born: 3-31-1984, College: San Jose State, Drafted: Round 3

2013 Projections

Average draft position

Current as of May 6th. [Full ADP list]

Overall: G Jennings (67), S Smith (68), James Jones (69), T Romo (70), R Mendenhall (71)
Position: G Jennings (67-WR27), S Smith (68-WR28), James Jones (69 - WR29), S Johnson (72-WR30), C Shorts (75-WR31)
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PPR Average draft position

Current as of May 6th. [Full PPR ADP list]

Overall: J Stewart (68), R Griffin III (69), James Jones (70), T Romo (71), V Davis (72)
Position: G Jennings (65-WR27), S Smith (66-WR28), James Jones (70 - WR29), S Johnson (73-WR30), T Hilton (74-WR31)
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2013 Schedule

2012 Game Summaries

Week 1 - Early the goal was clear in regards to Jones. Stretch the field and look for the speedy WR to get behind the 49er defense for much needed big plays. However, after two incompletions (and a completion called back by offensive pass interference) and two sacks, the deep play to Jones was all but scrapped. Jones did have a team leading 49-yard catch, but that was more a result of Rodgers scrambling and creating time, allowing Jones to break off the route. Jones also was the lone WR to catch a TD, but it was the more the result of Cobb drawing the safety coverage. Jones is almost exclusively a deep threat and barring the two aforementioned plays working in his favor, he may have been non-existent.

Week 2 - Aaron Rodgers tried to get James Jones more involved in the passing game for the Packers, but it didn’t work out well for him in this game. His first catch was a quick screen early in the second quarter, but Tim Jennings sniffed it out perfectly and made a great open-field tackle to drop Jones for a five yard loss. He had one pass thrown his way that was nearly picked off and another skipped off of his hands in the end zone that should have been caught. He did have another quick pass thrown his way in the 4th quarter, but he was tackled after a short 3 yard gain and finished the day with two receptions for negative yards.

Week 3 - James Jones had a moderately productive game against the Seahawks. Seattle pressured QB Rodgers and guys like Jones had to run a lot shorter, underneath routes for small gains instead of the big plays down the field that they would be more accustomed to. Jones worked the middle of the field with short outside patterns for decent gains and moved the chains well for Rodgers. He was not able to make any explosive plays as Rodgers was forced to take the checkdown passes a lot in this game and took many sacks due to the tight coverage. Jones showed a high level of toughness and concentration hauling in a difficult catch between two defenders over the middle on a short play. A lot of his production as a WR in seasons prior to this have come on big plays however, and the Packers had very few opportunities on Monday to make the big play down the field.

Week 4 - James Jones had a great day for his standards, posting a 5/56/2 line. As aforementioned, his first touchdown was because he was smart enough to break off a predetermined inside route and go back to the outside to help his scrambling QB. I was also impressed with his play against press coverage, and not just on his second touchdown catch. He only had 6 targets, but they were crucial ones, including a 3rd and 3 inside the 2 minute warning in the 4th quarter to ice the game. He didn't drop a single ball by my count, which has been a bugaboo of his since entering the league. If he continues to play like he did today, he's definitely a player to store on a bench. Just be wary that some of his touches will likely scale back once Greg Jennings is back to 100%.

Week 5 - With Greg Jennings out, Jones saw the bulk of the targets in the offense, a sign that whatever issues he and Rodgers had a few weeks back that stemmed from a poor route Jones ran are gone. Rodgers looked for Jones often—at times to the detriment of the offense. Rodgers tried to force a lot of balls to Jones which were better left un-thrown. Several times Rodgers tried to thread the needle to Jones through double coverage or a tight window and was lucky the only result was that it was knocked down. Jones was also the target of a pass picked off by cornerback Jerraud Powers. Jones couldn’t quite knock the ball away from Powers, who almost had a better angle on it than Jones did. He did do a great job on both his touchdown passes, one on a short route to the sideline where he had to stretch for the end zone as he was hit immediately upon catching the ball. The second was on a beautiful throw by Aaron Rodgers in the red zone. Jones ran a slant towards the back of the end zone and the coverage was immediately way behind him. Rodgers threw the ball high and hard—over the defenders—and Jones made a nice jumping grab for the score. Still, as good as Jones is playing—and he is playing well—Rodgers has to be pickier about when he targets Jones. The story here isn’t that Jones has finally earned Rodgers’ trust. It’s that he may have earned too much of it. If Rodgers looks at some of the other players around Jones on a few of the passes, perhaps the Packers run away and hide in the second half and the Colts never come back.

Week 6 - James Jones continued his touchdown rampage and caught his sixth touchdown early in the game. Jones, like Cobb, is seeing much more field time with Jennings out. Jones got his share of targets in a pass-first Packers offense. James Jones’ 2nd touchdown catch was simply outstanding. Jones beat the corner, and managed a one-handed snag behind the back of the defender. This was Jones’ 3rd straight game with 2 touchdowns, and is becoming a reliable fantasy machine.

Week 7 - Jones led all Packers with a whopping ten targets. The Packers mostly used Jones on shorter routes and dink-and-dunk passes and let Jordy Nelson stretch the field. Benefitting from Greg Jennings’ inability to get healthy, Jones saw an increased snap count against the Rams, translating this opportunity into six receptions for fifty-three receiving yards. As long as Jennings is off the field, it stands to reason that Jones will receive opportunities to make plays in the Green Bay passing game. 


Week 8 - Until late in the game, Jones was targeted on short hitch and slant routes. In the fourth quarter, Jones finally broke free for a big gain on a post route. The Packers were up just 14-12 at the time and Jones’ wide open reception moved them down into the red zone. Later in the fourth quarter, Jones essentially iced the game drawing a defensive pass interference penalty on a deep route with three minutes to play. Jones did not benefit from Jordy Nelson and Greg Jennings’ absence with more coverage in his direction.

Week 9 - Jones continued his career year on Sunday, pacing the league in touchdown receptions with A.J. Green with 8. Although he’s not posting big yardage totals, he continues to make plays in the red zone, and his touchdown this week was no different. In sticky coverage from rookie Jamell Fleming, Rodgers threw up a jumpball near the goal line, and Jones went up and reeled it in, making a sensational play to maintain possession through the entire catch. Once Jordy Nelson left the game, when Jones was lined up on the right side of the Packer formation, he was often matchup with Patrick Peterson, so he was blanketed to an extent, but it seems like he is over his dropping problem that has plagued him in recent years. Aaron Rodgers has shown no hesitation in throwing the ball this season. Although his targets stand to drop with Nelson and Jennings back in the fold, his has acquitted himself a worthy replacement thus far.

Week 11 - Jones did not see much action in this game, and Randall Cobb has clearly passed him on the depth chart. Jones’ first catch was a short 13 yard curl in the first quarter on 3rd and 17. He was tackled immediately and the Packers were forced to punt. Near the end of the 1st quarter, Rodgers threw Jones a quick pass on a slant, but Jones dropped it, setting up second down. Rodgers didn’t look his way again until the end of the third quarter – where he hit Jones on a crossing route for a nice 20 yard gain. Rodgers targeted Jones in the 4th on a backsholder throw down the sideline, but the defender stepped in and broke it up. It could have been called pass interference, but the referee didn’t see it.

Week 12 - Like you, the Packers are frustrated and wondering why James Jones couldn't even get a target vs. the Giants. They cited the Giants defensive scheme, but Jones not getting open consistently also probably had something to do with it. Greg Jennings should be back next week, so Jones rosterability is questionable in deeper leagues right now.

Week 13 - Jones looked like he was in for a big day but ended up with just two catches for the day. He had a beautiful touchdown reception on the very first drive of the game. On the play Jones made a beautiful catch where he jumped over the top of the defender to catch the ball. He had a second touchdown taken away due to a TJ Lang holding penalty, but he made a really nice catch as well and then a great second effort to dive for the cone and the end zone. Jones also beat double coverage (Harrison Smith was the safety ostensibly over the top to help the corner, though he never made it over in time) with a very sharp route. Jones then saw one more target (which he caught) at the end of the second quarter and was silent the rest of the game. Most of this was due to a concentrated effort on the part of the Vikings to remove him from action. While it worked, the rest of the rest of the Packers receivers more than made up for it.

Week 14 - Jones had his first drop of the season in the first half on quick pass in the flat. He came back with a deep out for a first down at the start of the third quarter. On a third and nine, after Rodgers stepped up in the pocket, Jones was wide open on a deep in route for a first down.

Week 15 - Jones had a huge game, scoring three times on five catches. While his first touchdown was a great route capped by a nice catch, the other two were far more impressive. On the second touchdown he just completely owned the Bears’ DJ Moore. Moore allowed Jones to get inside on the route and Jones uses his body to block Moore out of the play. When Rodgers delivers a perfectly thrown ball to Jones, he just falls backwards into the end zone and Moore isn’t in a good position to make the tackle. On the third touchdown, cornerback Charles Tillman had very good position on Jones, but Rodgers made a very nice throw, low and at the hip opposite of Tillman and the Jones made a very nice catch for a touchdown. For a guy who had taken heat in the past for bad drops, Jones has become a very sure handed option for Aaron Rodgers.

Week 16 - Coming off a three touchdown game against the Chicago Bears, Jones continued his hot streak as Green Bay’s de jure number one option in the passing game. Catching seven passes for an even one hundred yards, Jones led all Packers receivers with an impressive ten targets from Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers and Jones hooked up for completions of twenty-one and twenty-seven yards, respectively, the latter a shorter pass that Jones turned into a tackle-shedding reception with several yards after the catch.
Jones’s NFL-leading thirteenth touchdown came on a wide receiver screen that he caught at the Tennessee twelve yard-line and stretched across the goal line to give the Packers a forty-one point lead over the Titans. Long an afterthought in the Packers’ passing game, a player only acknowledged when other receivers went down due to injury, Jones is currently Green Bay’s dominant offensive weapon. He got easy separation from Tennessee defenders on many routes and sought out extra yards after every catch. Not just physically gifted, Jones’s rapport with Rodgers against Tennessee seemed almost telepathic, and they are getting hot – or really, remaining hot – at the right time.

Week 17 - Jones slipped on his first target and the pass was nearly intercepted. Jones caught a quick out on third and 7, but was hit immediately and was eventually driven back so he lost six yards. Jones caught a nine yard slant pass on third and seven for a first down against single coverage. Jones' biggest play of the day went for 30 yards when Aaron Rodgers hit him late in the play waiting in the flat. Jones used his the blocking from his receivers to sprint down the left sideline. At the goalline, Jones caught a quick pass in the flat against off coverage. He shifted past a defender before sprinting to the goalline for a touchdown as he reached forward with the football into the endzone. Jones caught a curl route for a first down and seven yards against single coverage. Jones caught another curl route for 12 yards against single coverage to start the next drive.

Week 18 - Jones' first reception came after Rodgers held onto the ball in the flat and hit him deep down the right sideline for 20 yards. Jones' second reception came two plays later as he ran a quick out for a four yard gain. On third and two, Jones ran a slant route from the slot for a first down against single coverage. Three plays later, on their next third down, Jones caught a deep pass over the middle for 20+ yards.

Week 19 - Jones' first target was deep down the right sideline against two defenders. He extended fully over Chris Culliver to snatch the ball out of the air for a 44 yard gain. As he has done all season long, Jones' next caught his next pass in the endzone. Jones beat the defensive back covering him with relative ease to come free over the middle before making the catch, after initially bobbling the ball, for a touchdown. The all-22 angle after the play showed that the 49ers blew the coverage with two defenders in zone trying to cover the space he ran through. Jones ran a quick five yard in route before catching the ball and carrying it forward for an extra 10 yards. The game had long been decided as a contest at that point however. Jones then dropped a quick pass over the middle. Rodgers went straight back to him for a seven yard gain.