Viewpoint: Signing Jones fills need at running back

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At least someone over at Halas Hall gets it. The Bears' signing Tuesday of oft-injured running back Kevin Jones won't make them into Super Bowl contenders. But it does show that they understand that their offense is short on playmakers and long on unproven prospects. A month ago, when coach Lovie Smith was telling us that he didn't see a need to bring in anyone else at running back, it seemed that understanding was lacking. Or maybe it was overconfidence, the kind everyone has months before the first snap of the season. When Jones worked out for NFL scouts in Michigan last month to show he had recovered from knee surgery, the Bears weren't represented there. It looked as though they seriously, inexplicably were uninterested. Their change of heart is encouraging. The Bears should be buyers, not just at running back, but at almost every skill position on the offensive side of the ball. They have virtually no playmakers on offense. Before Tuesday, who did the Bears have to carry the football? Garrett Wolfe, the NIU grad who is quick, but not an option as an every-down guy. They have the wrong Adrian Peterson, who's shown flashes of ability during his six-year career but mostly has been a No. 2 or No. 3 back. And they have Matt Forte, who's thought to be the Bears' best running back, although - or maybe because - he never has carried the ball in the NFL. Why would you not see a need to add to that trio, even if it meant adding a runner whose best season was in 2004? Sure, in some ways Jones is similar to Cedric Benson, who probably wouldn't have been cut if he would have just called a cab in June. Like Benson, Jones was a first-round draft pick who didn't produce. But at least Jones had an excuse: Injuries. Benson didn't produce when healthy. “To me, I'm a franchise player who just had a couple of unfortunate injuries back to back,” Jones said Tuesday. Sounds like the Mike Brown story. Brown will get another chance this year, so why not Jones, too? A good modern football team should have at least two solid runners it can rely on. Few athletes take as much punishment as running backs do, and having two competent backs give a team a lot more flexibility, the kind the 2005-06 Bears had. Those Bears also had a tough offensive line, something that's not a given with rookie Chris Williams slated to take over as a starting tackle this season and mainstays such as Olin Kreutz and John Tait getting another year older. Even with Jones in the fold, the Bears very well could have an anemic offense. The quarterback competition between Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton is less than inspiring. The running backs have yet to prove themselves. Their top deep threat from last year, Bernard Berrian, is with Minnesota. Devin Hester is an amazing kick returner, and although he had an 81-yard reception last year, he caught only 20 passes. Tight ends Greg Olsen and Desmond Clark caught a lot of balls last year, but between them they had less than 1,000 receiving yards. The past is the past, and this is a new season. But based on what we saw last year, if there's even a small chance that adding someone to the roster could better the offense, what could it hurt? On Tuesday, the Bears came up with the right answer: Nothing. Eric Olson can be reached at eolson@nwnewsgroup.com.