Age: 24
4th
season in pro football & with Jaguars
College: UCLA
Height: 5’7” Weight: 208
Prelude:
The
undersized Jones-Drew displayed outstanding all-purpose skill in college,
receiving consensus All-American honors for his kick returning and earning
second-team Pac-10 recognition as a running back. He was chosen by the Jaguars
in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft and, splitting time with veteran RB
Fred Taylor, rushed for 941 yards and 13 TDs as a rookie. Jones-Drew also
caught 46 passes for 436 yards and two more scores and returned 31 kickoffs for
a 27.7-yard average and another touchdown, to give him a total of 16 TDs in
addition to 2250 total yards. Expected to be more of a third-down back, he
proved tough enough to run between the tackles and had the speed to be a
breakaway threat. Jones-Drew gained another 2014 yards in much the same fashion
in ’07. He saw his kick returns decrease but rushing attempts increase in 2008
and he gained 824 yards on the ground and caught a career-high 62 passes for
565 yards to total 1389 yards from scrimmage and score 14 TDs. Taylor was
released and Jones-Drew, who was signed to a contract extension, became the
starting running back, although there were concerns about his ability to
withstand injury in an increased role.
2009 Season Summary
Appeared in all
16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Rushing
Attempts – 312
[5]
Most
attempts, game – 33 (for 133 yds.) vs. St. Louis 10/18
Yards – 1391 [4]
Most yards,
game – 177 yards (on 8 carries) at Tennessee 11/1
Average gain
– 4.5 [18]
TDs – 15 [2,
1st in AFC]
100-yard
rushing games – 5
Pass
Receiving
Receptions – 53
Most
receptions, game – 5 on five occasions
Yards – 374
Most yards,
game – 45 (on 5 catches) vs. St. Louis 10/18
Average gain
– 7.1
TDs – 1
Kickoff
Returns
Returns – 4
Yards – 102
Average per
return – 25.5
TDs – 0
Longest
return – 30 yards
Punt Returns
Returns – 2
Yards – 19
Average per
return – 9.5
TDs – 0
Longest
return – 12 yards
All-Purpose
yards – 1886 [9]
Scoring
TDs – 16 [2,
tied with Chris Johnson, 1st in AFC]
Points – 96
Awards & Honors:
2nd
team All-NFL: Pro Football Focus, Sporting News
Pro Bowl
Jaguars went 7-9
to finish fourth in the AFC South.
Aftermath:
“MJD” went to
the Pro Bowl following each of the next two seasons. He gained 1641 yards from
scrimmage in 2010 and led the NFL in rushing with 1606 yards in 2011, when he
was also a consensus first-team All-NFL selection. But after three years of
impressive durability in which he missed just two games due to injury,
Jones-Drew was sidelined by a foot injury that cost him most of the 2012
season. He came back in 2013 to play in 15 games but averaged only 3.4 yards
per carry in rushing for 803 yards and was allowed to depart to Oakland as a
free agent in ’14, where he saw scant action after breaking his hand in the
first week and retired in the offseason. Overall, Jones-Drew rushed for 8167
yards on 1847 attempts (4.4 avg.) and 68 touchdowns, caught 346 passes for 2944
yards (8.5 avg.) and 11 TDs, returned 79 kickoffs for a 26.0 avg. and another
two TDs and averaged 8.9 on 15 punt returns. All but 167 of his yards from
scrimmage came with Jacksonville, and he gained 13,277 total yards and scored
81 touchdowns, all with the Jaguars, making him the franchise’s career leader.
Jones-Drew was a consensus first-team All-NFL selection once, received other
first- or second-team honors after two other seasons, and was selected to the Pro
Bowl three times.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
