Jacksonville Jaguars: Looking back on Maurice Jones-Drew

Running back Maurice Jones-Drew announced his retirement from the NFL after nine seasons of pro football. While Jones-Drew spent last season as an Oakland Raider, his football career will be remembered for what he accomplished with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Among his most notable accomplishments, Jones-Drew retires as the Jaguars’ all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (63) and set the franchise record for most rushing yards in a season with 1,606 yards in 2011.

Raised by his grandparents, the standout running back’s original given name was Maurice Drew. However, Drew altered his legal surname to “Jones-Drew” to honor his grandfather Maurice Jones. The elder Jones passed away in 2005 while Jones-Drew was still in college.

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While at UCLA, Jones-Drew was the team’s leading rusher in each of his three seasons with the Bruins. Despite earning All-American honors in 2005, Jones-Drew was largely overlooked in the 2006 NFL draft because of his five-foot-seven inch stature and because of the exploits of cross-town rival Reggie Bush of USC. As the Heisman Trophy winning Bush was selected second overall in the ’06 draft, Jones-Drew wasn’t selected until the 60th overall pick.

Jones-Drew had worn the number 21 during his collegiate career, but changed his number to 32 in the NFL as a symbolic gesture that all 32 teams has passed him over in the draft. This boulder-sized chip on Jones-Drew’s shoulder motivated the pint-sized runner to outshine Bush throughout most of their pro careers. While Bush has amassed 5,465 career rushing yards heading into 2015, Jones-Drew was able to tally 8,167 rushing yards in his career.

When Jones-Drew arrived in Jacksonville, franchise leading rusher Fred Taylor was already entrenched as the team’s starting halfback. As a result, Jones-Drew was primarily used as a change of pace back early in his career with the Jaguars. This backfield duo proved to be a formidable combination as the Jacksonville Jaguars featured the NFL’s third best rushing offense in 2006, and the league’s second best rushing attack in 2007.

By 2008, Jones-Drew had outgrown his role as Taylor’s understudy. For the first time in his career, Jones-Drew had amassed more carries and more yards in a season than Taylor. With Taylor nearing the end of his NFL career, the Jacksonville Jaguars made the decision to part ways with their aging star after the ’08 season. The stage was now set for Jones-Drew to take over the keys to Jaguars’ offense.

Jones-Drew rewarded Jacksonville’s faith in him with a monster year in 2009. Their talented young running back had amassed 1,391 on 312 carries while starting all 16 games. Now in the prime of his career, Jones-Drew’s outstanding season earned him his first ever trip to the Pro Bowl. It was more of the same for Jones-Drew in 2010 as he racked up 1,324 yards on the ground on 299 carries.

From my own personal perspective, I was a big fan of Jones-Drew in college and I knew he was going to be an exciting player at the next level. However, I never imagined that Jones-Drew would one day develop into a workhorse back. Jones-Drew’s enormous production was something that even his most optimistic fans like myself couldn’t have seen coming.

Jones-Drew’s finest year came in 2011 as he led the league in rushing with 1,606 yards on 343 carries. It was his superhuman efforts in 2011 that earned him unanimous first team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career. Although Jones-Drew’s production tailed off in his final two years in Jacksonville, the three year stretch from 2009 to 2011 that Jones-Drew put together was nothing short of remarkable.

Smaller running backs like Warrick Dunn, Darren Sproles, and Dave Meggett have had successful careers in the NFL. However, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a shorter halfback run with such an incredible combination of speed and power that Jones-Drew possessed. Running through arm tackles and dragging defenders for extra yardage is something that is usually reserved for the bigger running backs of the NFL.

The power and physicality displayed by Jones-Drew at his size was so unique, I’d have to go back to the 1980’s to find a player that was similar; New York Giants’ running back Joe Morris. As we bid farewell to Maurice Jones-Drew, I must say that his running style is something that I won’t soon forget. His determination to beat the odds and carve out a niche in pro football was a sight to be seen. As long as he carries that same type of drive and passion with him in the next chapter of life, he will do just fine. It was truly a pleasure watching him play for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

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