James Harrison Deal Speaks Volumes About Jarvis Jones

[hawaiiansteel]

Dunlap: James Harrison Deal Speaks Volumes About Jarvis Jones

March 22, 2015



James Harrison will be a Steeler again.

James Harrison will be 37 in May.

James Harrison still — apparently — has some gas left in his tank.

That’s a good thing for James Harrison.

Is this all a good thing for the Pittsburgh Steelers? Maybe.

Is this all a good thing for Jarvis Jones? Absolutely, positively not. He has been a severe underachiever, there’s really not any other way to put it. This isn’t golf or bowling — guys in the upper reaches of their 30s aren’t supposed to be able to hang with a guy who is 25 at linebacking in the NFL.

But Jones is letting this happen.

On Sunday afternoon, the news came down that the Steelers agreed to a two-year deal with Harrison, an outside linebacker who came out of retirement to play 12 games with the organization last season.

Fans will get excited about this.

Renegade will play, towels will wave, shouts of “Deeeebo” will bounce through our little part of the world.

And they should. Harrison was — and still can be in spurts — a dominant football player.

One of the most iconic Steelers in recent memory is on his way back, as No. 92 jerseys can safely be pulled back on from Beaver Falls to Brockway and from Masontown to McCandless.

But as I have been saying for quite some time, Harrison is just a part of this story — and maybe not the biggest part of this story.

Jarvis Jones is just as much the story in all of this. James Harrison re-signing with the Steelers (twice now) speaks to the deep disappointment that Jones has been in his time with the team.

You think that’s too harsh? Go ahead and try to spin it another way, but I’m not buying it. This all circles back to a guy who was supposed to be a top-end talent unable to perform like one.

And what have you seen from Jones that you think it’s trending in the right direction or going to get better? I’ll hang up and listen.

When Jones, a 2013 first round pick of the Steelers, has been healthy enough to play, he’s provided little in the way of a pass rush, more often being out-muscled and shoved around than getting to the quarterback as a vehicle to force him to hurry.

And make no mistake, that’s a big reason why Sunday became Bring James Harrison Back Day 2.0 for the Steelers. We have all seen the Instagram clips of Harrison and his otherworldly displays of strength in the weight room, which also factors into all of this.

Harrison, this time around, doesn’t head into a season needing to get into shape as he did last season. No, he has been training all off-season and will continue that training streamlined right into and through St. Vincent. Last season it took Harrison awhile to get up to speed after he came out of retirement beyond the beginning of the NFL season.

This should all scare Jones.

This time around, as Jones fights (again) for a spot he should have already safely secured, he should be very uneasy that Harrison has his full focus on football through the summer.

Part of me thinks signing Harrison now will motivate the heck out of Jones and force him to improve.

But another part of me thinks if Jones hasn’t performed yet to the point where a soon-to-be-37-year-old has the chance to beat him out, he will never truly help this franchise.

[URL]http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/03/22/dunlap-james-harrison-deal-speaks-volumes-about-jarvis-jones/[/URL]

[Discipline of Steel]

I think this entire article is garbage except the second to last line.

[Steelhere10]

A lot of people don't want to admit this, but in my eyes JJ is a bust. It keep taking me back to what Dave Te said on the Steelers depot before that draft, that he wouldn't touch JJ because he was a slacker in the weight room and the practice field and that he only wanted to show up on Game day.

[birtikidis]

We have become way too spoiled as Steeler fans, from the media down to the most average fan.

[papillon]

Not even worth a comment, that article was written to try and get clicks. No one knows what Jones will provide, because his body of work is so limited. Hopefully, he'll stay healthy this year and the Steelers will be able to make a determination one way or the other. To say he'll be great or to call him a bust is simply stating an opinion based on very little fact and film.

Signing Harrison is a good thing regardless because he adds depth to the position at a great price.It says nothing about Jones, IMO. Teams try and build the best possible roster and if that means signing a former DPOY for depth, then you do it without ulterior motive and protect yourself in the event of injury or some other circumstance.

Pappy

[Slapstick]

In the four games that Jarvis Jones played in last year after being recalled from the IR list, he was not good. This is true.

Who is awesome after sitting for ten weeks during the season? And coming back at less than full strength, most likely?

[Oviedo]

Is Jarvis Jones a "bust?'---NO. Has Jarvis Jones given reasons for the organization to be concerned whether he is worth his draft status---YES! Jones' story is yet to be written but to play ostrich and bury your head in the sand and ignore the fact that we are going into year 3 and still aren't sure if we have anything with our 2013 #1 pick is naïve. He was drafted to play the premier pass rush position in our defense. They didn't do that hoping to get single digit sacks. If Jones can't generate a consistent double digit sack performance each year then while not a "bust" he probably wasn't a good investment.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Every team needs depth, and before signing Harrison, our backups at OLB behind Jarvis Jones and Arthur Moats are Howard Jones, Jordan Zumwalt, and Shawn Lemon...who have ZERO NFL experience between the 3 of them. Experienced depth is an asset, and we just signed the best available OLB free agent at this point in the free signing period.

[K Train]

Is Jarvis Jones a "bust?'---NO. Has Jarvis Jones given reasons for the organization to be concerned whether he is worth his draft status---YES! Jones' story is yet to be written but to play ostrich and bury your head in the sand and ignore the fact that we are going into year 3 and still aren't sure if we have anything with our 2013 #1 pick is naïve. He was drafted to play the premier pass rush position in our defense. They didn't do that hoping to get single digit sacks. If Jones can't generate a consistent double digit sack performance each year then while not a "bust" he probably wasn't a good investment.

I typically think you are irrational when it comes to this discussion, but well said.

Not that it affects the steelers at all but Barkevious Mingo and Dion Jordan combined for a whopping 3 sacks between them in 25 games last season.

The facts about jones are he played well before injury, and bad after injury...we need an improved version of the pre-injury jones to start 2015. He doesnt have great bend around the corner, he did get quicker off the snap and he did get stronger. The bend will continue to be a problem but refinining technique further can mask it.

Hes a relentless run defender and showed early ability to set the edge and pursue ball carriers pretty well...still plenty of untapped potential, but its a big year and he needs to stay healthy for it

[SidSmythe]

I haven't given up on JONES and I'm not ready to call him a BUST.

Having said that, it's not like we broke the bank bringing HARRISON back. That would be a telling sign (even though we don't know the exact terms I'm guess it's much like Keisel's 2 yr deal last year).

At this point I wouldn't pencil JJ in as the STARTER (which is sad for a 3rd year first round draft pick). JJ def needs a KILLER offseason, No Excuses!

[Oviedo]

I typically think you are irrational when it comes to this discussion, but well said.

It's not "irrational" to withhold anointing a player as the next great thing until they actually prove it on the field. It's is rational skepticism. Everyone wants to think I "hate" Jones, but that is far from the truth. Jones has to be wildly successful or my team will struggle. That said, I actually watched Jones in college and the same things I saw then I see now: high motor player, no speed or burst to turn the end on an OT, can't beat good OTs on a regular basis.

IMO his pursuit and play against the run makes him a better ILB in our defense than playing the premier pass rushing position in our defense...that is a problem

[Slapstick]

No, it's very clearly hate. Just like LeBeau.

[birtikidis]

I don't think the 3-4 lends itself to a "Premier pass rush position". Both OLB's need to be good at pass rushing. Kevin Greene, Jason Gildon, Woodley (till he got fat), did not play on the right side of the defense and all three were premier pass rush specialists at one point in time.

[Oviedo]

No, it's very clearly hate. Just like LeBeau.

Sure...if that makes you feel better

[Slapstick]

Sure...if that makes you feel better

Dude, I feel fine. The first step is admitting that you have a problem.