Halfway point of the season - who is our best rookie so far?

[Brady6]

The thing is though that Atkins does it over more than a 4 game stretch. That's what makes him special. This shouldn't be construed that I'm in anyway feeling negative about Jones, that's far from the truth, but I do think his numbers are a touch flattering. Jones wins on effort, which is wholly commendable, but unlike Atkins or Suh and the like, he's not winning with speed and power* and therefore I'm not convinced it's necessarily sustainable. I hope I'm wrong and that he turns out to be a 8-12 a year sack guy but I don't think he will be. What I think he'll be will be a competitive interior sub-rusher that will always be productive and will make plays regularly and that will represent outstanding value considering how he was acquired. And I'm absolutely fine with that.

* I was going to write "speed, power and moves" but then I remembered the barrel roll sack and yesterdays 360 degree twist and thought that would be inaccurate.

I agree with what you’ve said in terms of him being high effort and that not necessarily being sustainable. The thing I notice when I was looking at Jones compared to some of the other defensive tackles is that he lacks the long distance speed of Atkins and others but he actually matches up well in short yardage or distance metrics.

20 yard shuttle: Atkins 4.43 | Jones 4.44
3-Cone Drill: Atkins 7.33 | Jones 7.34

Jones also was running on a bum ankle during the combine, his strength was solid with 30 reps to Atkins 34.

His interesting athletic metrics aside I am on the same page as you in terms of expectations, I would be very pleased if Chris Jones can develop into a Mike Wright type player.

 

[Froob]

I suppose it depends on what we mean by "best rookie"?

If we mean the best at his position, then Allen seems like a reasonable answer.

I suspect that we mean the most impactful rookie so far OR the rookie with the most impact going forward. For me, the first is Chris Jones. As far as who is the best prospect for the most future impact at this point, that could also be Chris Jones, but Ryan seems like a better choice.

That's a perfect way to say it. Ryan Allen has been the best but, Chris Jones has been the most valuable.

 

[VrabelJr]

The thing is though that Atkins does it over more than a 4 game stretch. That's what makes him special. This shouldn't be construed that I'm in anyway feeling negative about Jones, that's far from the truth, but I do think his numbers are a touch flattering. Jones wins on effort, which is wholly commendable, but unlike Atkins or Suh and the like, he's not winning with speed and power* and therefore I'm not convinced it's necessarily sustainable. I hope I'm wrong and that he turns out to be a 8-12 a year sack guy but I don't think he will be. What I think he'll be will be a competitive interior sub-rusher that will always be productive and will make plays regularly and that will represent outstanding value considering how he was acquired. And I'm absolutely fine with that.

* I was going to write "speed, power and moves" but then I remembered the barrel roll sack and yesterdays 360 degree twist and thought that would be inaccurate.

I would definitely say Chris Jones has speed. It's power that he's lacking.

 

[manxman2601]

I agree with what you’ve said in terms of him being high effort and that not necessarily being sustainable. The thing I notice when I was looking at Jones compared to some of the other defensive tackles is that he lacks the long distance speed of Atkins and others but he actually matches up well in short yardage or distance metrics.

20 yard shuttle: Atkins 4.43 | Jones 4.44
3-Cone Drill: Atkins 7.33 | Jones 7.34

Jones also was running on a bum ankle during the combine, his strength was solid with 30 reps to Atkins 34.

His interesting athletic metrics aside I am on the same page as you in terms of expectations, I would be very pleased if Chris Jones can develop into a Mike Wright type player.

That's genuinely interesting. However, just checked the 10 yard splits and that helps support my theory as to initial quickness:

Atkins - 1.68
Jones - 1.87.

That's quite significant. For comparison's sake, Jones' time is on a par with the big 320lbers at this years combine like Hankins and Montori Hughes. But then that's why, in part, he was a twice cut sixth rounder.

 

[manxman2601]

I would definitely say Chris Jones has speed. It's power that he's lacking.

Don't get me wrong, I've long been a fan:

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...d/13/983159-bowl-game-season.html#post3307670

but I'm just saying that he's a winner largely because of his effort and not because he's an elite athlete. I'm very happy he's here.

Although, I think Get It Shawtaay's first ever post on the draft forum was:

Wutup boys. Been lurking for a while.

I'm wondering how you feel about my boy Chris Jones from Bowling Green University.

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...-2013-prospect-thread-page43.html#post3244427

So credit where credit's due.

 

[Gronkandez]

I'm puzzled as to why people are picking either receiver. Sure they've played a lot, by default, and have caught the occasional pass but they're far from having any type of consistent chemistry with TB12. I would rank them like this:

Logan Ryan
Chris Jones
Crazy Joe Vellano
Ryan Allen
Dropkins and Dropson

I haven't really noticed Harmon's play so I can't speak to his ranking.

 

[manxman2601]

I'm puzzled as to why people are picking either receiver. Sure they've played a lot, by default, and have caught the occasional pass but they're far from having any type of consistent chemistry with TB12. I would rank them like this:

Logan Ryan
Chris Jones
Crazy Joe Vellano
Ryan Allen
Dropkins and Dropson

I haven't really noticed Harmon's play so I can't speak to his ranking.

Whilst I don't endorse the sentiment, that is damn funny. well played.