Brandon Jones

Norm Chow was around for three years. In that time, not a single WR or TE developed any semblance of consistency or playmaking ability. NOBODY! Every single one of them would show decent progress for a year or two, then they'd start regressing.

If we were just talking about two or three guys, that would be one thing.....but we're talking about a 100% failure rate, here. When nobody shows steady progress, then it's pretty clear that there's a larger problem at play. (In otherwords, it's pretty clear that Chow didn't know how to develop a WR, and we saw nothing to suggest otherwise.)

Exit Chow, enter Mike Heimerdinger.

If there's a single theme to Mike Heimerdinger's career, it has been his ability to take anonymous, unremarkable WR's and turn them into highly productive players. Since 1995, Dinger has developed a 1000+ yard WR at every single stop in his career....and sometimes more than one.

In an interview last week, Justin McCareins repeatedly singled out Heimerdinger for his ability to coach up WR's. Consider JMac's comments:

He’s a heck of a coach, especially for receivers. He really knows how to fine-tune receivers, especially big receivers which we have on this team, and I look forward to working with him again.

(on what makes Mike Heimerdinger such a great offensive coordinator)

As a receiver, he just knows his stuff. I remember him showing Drew Bennett and I film of Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey when he coached them in Denver. He just knows how to coach bigger receivers and really knows the details. I’ve been with some other coordinators and they really sometimes rely on the receivers coach to get things across to us, but him as a coordinator really being hands-on with the receivers was different and it’s good for us. ​

In '05 and '06, Brandon Jones looked like a bright up-and-coming talent....we know there's something there. We've already seen it. I have every confidence that a WR guru like Heimerdinger will be able to hone and develop that talent, and turn Brandon into the WR we all thought he would become.

 

he has had way too many disappointing drops

 

Might I remind everyone....in 2006, BJones caught game-tying or game-winning TD's against the Colts, Giants, and Bills. His TD against the Saints this year was also a thing of beauty....arguably the best play all year long by a Titans' WR.

The talent is there.....it's just a matter of bringing it out of him, instead of driving it out of him.

 

I agree with you to this extent .... I think Gage progressed. he equalled nearly his entire 4 year career's production in Chicago in his year here
I also think Bo showed progress, as did Roydell
so, I wouldn't say there has been 100% failure in progression

 

I've lost a lot of faith in BJ.....IDK if he will ever be a #2 WR or better. I wouldn't hold my breath on a good year let alone him making the team.

 

It took Terrell Owens a while to develop, and it will take Brandon a while. He suffered a career halting injury and this year he will play an entire season without injury.

I love Brandon, he's a good kid. He's well liked by the guys on the team. We're a running team with doses of throwing. If the run is effective, there are very few passes. Put Brandon with a pass oriented team and we see a more effective player who blossoms. I hate to say it, but Brandon is going to have to leave the family to blossom.

 

We keep saying give so and so another year to develop. They would do better somehwere else blah blah blah. Gage sucked came in and I would say blossomed from what he used to be.

They need to develop now this 3 years thing doesn't apply to every WR. We keep comparing our WR's to others......This guy took 4 years and then he was a Pro Bowler. Well we don't have 4 years to wait we drafted so many WR's you would think one of them would of developed by now.

 

When we drafted R.Williams, Roby and B. Jones a few years back, I really thought Jones was the most "pro-ready" WR in the way he ran routes, and how he looked natural coming in and out of his breaks and what not. It's pretty unfortunate that he has been hurt throughout his career. I hate the word 'potential' due to it being overused so much, but I think he really has the potential to produce positively for this team.

That being said, he has been inconsistant while on the field. That drop against Indy comes to mind, but that is only one play. He has disappeared in too many games too. But he has also looked great at times.


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at 00:23 seconds

He really did make that run after the catch look like anyone could do it, even though he broke a couple tackles and making the defenders miss.



Here's to Jones having a great year

 

the type of offense he plays in won't effect his hands. he has dropped some big passes in his career and on top of that hasn't been able to stay healthy.

i had high hopes, just like everyone else, but i just don't think he has it.

 

I'm not sure Gage really counts; after all, he was only in the system for a year....given another year or two, I'm sure Chow would have found a way to squelch his ability, as he did with everyone else.

In spite of his career-high numbers, I honestly feel like Roydell actually slipped a bit last year. In years past, Roydell demonstrated a remarkable ability to make the first defender miss and pick up additional yardage. It was nothing for him to turn a simple hitch or slant into a 15-20 yard gain. He didn't get a lot of opportunities, but when he did, he made the most of them.

This year, Roydell was "just a guy"....wholly unremarkable. We saw very little of the agility or physicality that he showed in previous years. He made a handful of very nice plays, but nothing to really set himself apart. Like I said....just a guy.

From what we saw of Chow, it appears that he had the ability to develop these players for a year or two beyond the collegiate level....but when it came to getting them over the hump to become a true NFL-caliber WR, he came up empty.

We've seen talent in all of the Titans' WR's. They just need someone who can get them over the hump and show them the little things to be successful in the NFL. Dinger's track record speaks for itself.....he's been directly involved with the development of Rod Smith, Ed McCaffrey, Derrick Mason, Jerricho Cotchery, and Brandon Marshall. Drew Bennett and Justin McCareins into dangerous weapons in Dinger's system, and even Ben Troupe was well on his way to being a serious threat when Dinger left.

From a receiver's standpoint, Dinger is the perfect guy for the job.