Last preseason Jones put on a show against the New Orleans Saints that had Cris Collinsworth making Chris Johnson comparisons.

Yeah, I realize that in the preseason Kyle Boller also looked like an NFL quarterback. Things change when it gets real and nothing is more of a wakeup call than the speed of regular season NFL action.

Still, you can’t deny what Jones brings to the table.

We constantly hear the term change-of-pace-back when Jones is being described. He’s absolutely in the third-down/scat back category but to me Jones could be so much more.

Given all of the weapons the Raiders have on offense imagine the things you could do with Jones, Darren McFadden and Jacoby Ford all on the field at the same time. Just the threat of having to pick your poison creates pre-snap advantages few teams have in this league.

As mentioned at the top of this piece Jones does have his shortcomings. So it will be on Greg Knapp to figure out the best way to get Jones involved. It will also be beneficial to McFadden’s health if he can take a few extra plays off with an expanded role for Jones.

For Knapp it will be all about getting creative. Jones is more than just a Darren Sproles type. He can be utilized in a multitude of ways other than screens and draws. Split Jones out wide and you’ll likely get a favorable matchup with a linebacker trying to keep Taiwan in front of him. Line up McFadden in the Wildcat with Jones at his side. Suddenly the defense has a real dilemma on its hands.

Whatever it takes just get Jones more involved. Even as a decoy he has real value.

At this point you get the feel that the only thing standing in Oakland’s way to becoming an elite NFL offense is…well…Oakland itself. With all the rules favoring the offense there is no excuse for the Raiders to not be one of the top 5 producing offenses in the league. Getting Jones more involved with certainly help propel Oakland into the elite level of NFL offenses.

That very injury is what took Bush off the board in the 4^th round of the NFL Draft instead of the 1^st. That same injury is also what cost him a year of service in the NFL. Scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, the league ruled Bush’s first season did not count towards his contract status. Therefore the Raiders got Bush’s services at a discount for another year as all they had to do was place the highest contract tender possible on the stud backup ensuring no other team would match the offer.

Now the Raiders could have done themselves a favor and opened contract talks with Bush prior to the start of the season. That would have at least allowed them to get ahead of the sure-to-be Bush sweepstakes this coming offseason.

Safe to say the price tag on Bush was a little less until he took over again for McFadden and pushed Bo Jackson out of the Raider record book.

ESPN’s AFC West blogger Bill Williamson had an interesting take on what will happen between Bush and the Raiders once the season is over. In his weekly chat session Williamson was asked what Bush’s future in Oakland will be. Williamson responded with the following.

I think he could get paid starter’s money and he may want a chance to be the lead back. This could be a Michael Turner situation from a few years back in San Diego.

Now teams have been calling the Raiders about Bush for years. Once he proved his leg injury was a thing of the past not a season has gone by in which there wasn’t some trade rumor involving Michael Bush.

But this is a much different beast.
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We’re living in a new era of football. An era in which protecting the bottom line means more than letting the players play the game the fans paid to see.

I’m all for insuring there is life for NFL athletes after football. For too many years the league has profited while the players have suffered. However, there is still no way around the fact that football is a game of kill or be killed.

Yesterday, Rolando McClain did damage to Darren Sproles on a punishing hit that left the diminutive scat back shook. Watch the video and then more on this after the jump.

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