The Rookie Report Sep 25, 2007 | More

Welcome everyone to the third regular season installment to the Rookie Report. In case you missed the report during the first week and preseason, each week during the preseason and regular season, the report will cover topics, trends and a game by game analysis of notable performances by the NFL’s 2007 Rookie Class to assist in your pursuit of dynasty championship gold.

This week we will analyze the potential impact of wide receiver Jacoby Jones from the Houston Texans for the future.

So sit back, but don’t get too comfortable because here we go with our third regular season week’s installment of this report on Jacoby Jones…

It was Jacoby Time…

At the 2007 NFL Draft, many analysts thought that the Texans reached for Jacoby Jones when they selected him as their third round draft pick. However, an impressive preseason, in both the return game and as a wide receiver, put Jones on many NFL scout's radar.

Jacoby Jones is a small school product that has excellent size, good speed, and good field vision. His main question mark is his lack of experience against high level competition, and he needs to work on his route running. With Andre Johnson expected to miss between 1-5 weeks with a sprained knee, Jacoby Jones has the opportunity to step up and show the NFL he belongs in the league.

In OTA’s Jones impressed the coaching staff; however, was inconsistent as is typical of rookies. In training camp, Jacoby Jones was not able to unseat Kevin Walter as the Texans despite several impressive performances in preseason games. In four preseason games, Jones caught 11 passes for 139 yards; rushed 3 times for 34 yards and scored 4 touchdowns (2 receiving, 2 punt returns). If Jacoby Jones wore a Reggie Bush jersey during the preseason, many Texans fans might have thought they had woken up from a dream over the past year, in which the Texans passed over Reggie Bush to select Mario Williams.

In the first two games of the regular season, Kubiak has slowly worked Jacoby Jones into the rotation. Jones has totaled 2 catches for 33 yards and 1 rush for 6 yards in limited action. Jacoby Jones showed his explosive game breaking ability in the Carolina game last week with a 33 yard punt return where he was one defender away from taking it to the end zone.

With Andre Johnson out indefinitely, Jacoby Jones entered week 3 in the starting line up for the Houston Texans as the second wide out. Jacoby was injured on a spectacular punt return where he was one tackle away from the end zone. He finished the game with 3 catches for 26 yards, 1 rush for 3 yards, and 2 punt returns for 86 yards.

More news on his shoulder injury should be out later this week, but it appears Jacoby Jones has a separated shoulder in the initial diagnosis, but based on his limited game action thus far Jacoby appears to be the solution to the Texans problem of starting a defunct wide receiver on the other side of Andre Johnson.

The following section of the rookie report will recap performances by rookies each week for each game.

Houston Texans vs. Indianapolis Colts

Houston WR Jacoby Jones finished the game with 3 catches for 26 yards, 1 rush for 3 yards, and 2 punt returns for 86 yards. He was one tackle away from taking a punt return to the end zone, and left the game after he injured his shoulder on the play.

Colts WR Anthony Gonzalez caught 2 passes for 39 yards.

Baltimore Ravens vs. Arizona Cardinals

Cardinals WR Steve Breaston returned one punt for 13 yards.

Ravens WR Yom Figurs returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown.

Green Bay Packers vs. San Diego Chargers

Chargers WR Craig Davis caught 4 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown.

Packers RB Brandon Jackson rushed 6 times for 22 yards, caught 3 passes for 22 yards, and scored a touchdown. WR James Jones caught 6 passes for 79 yards. RB DeShawn Wynn rushed 2 times for 9 yards and caught 3 passes for 14 yards. PK Mason Crosby connected on his only field goal attempt and was 4 for 4 on extra points.

St. Louis Rams vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Rams RB Brian Leonard rushed 4 times for 21 yards and caught 1 pass for 6 yards.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

There were no notable rookie performances in this game.

Detroit Lions vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Lions WR Calvin Johnson caught 2 passes for 58 yards before leaving with an apparent back injury.

Eagles RB Tony Hunt rushed 4 times for 1 yard and a touchdown.

Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets

Dolphins WR Ted Ginn, Jr. caught 1 pass for 15 yards and returned three kickoffs for an average of 26 yards.

New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills

Bills RB Marshawn Lynch rushed 20 times for 74 yards, caught 2 passes for 6 yards and scored a touchdown. QB Trent Edwards went 10 for 20 for 97 passing yards and an interception. RB Dewayne Wright rushed 6 times for 36 yards.

Minnesota Vikings vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Vikings RB Adrian Peterson rushed 25 times for 102 yards, caught 3 passes for 51 yards, and scored a touchdown. WR Sidney Rice caught 2 passes for 21 yards.

Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe caught 5 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Seattle Seahawks

Bengals QB Jeff Rowe rushed once for 8 yards and a touchdown.

Cleveland Browns vs. Oakland Raiders

Raiders TE Zach Miller caught 1 pass for 13 yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Denver Broncos

Broncos RB Selvin Young rushed 2 times for 6 yards and caught 2 passes for 37 yards.

New York Giants vs. Washington Redskins

There were no notable rookie performances in this game.

Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons

There were no notable rookie performances in this game.

Dallas Cowboys vs. Chicago Bears

Bears TE Greg Olsen caught 2 passes for 28 yards in his debut.

Due to the timing of this report, a recap of Monday night games will not be included in the Rookie Report.