Marshall Faulk Compares Leon Washington to Barry Sanders

by John B on Sep 1, 2009 7:53 AM EDT

Marshall Faulk thinks Leon Washington has the same kind of playmaking ability as former Lions Hall of Famer Barry Sanders.

In an interview Monday, Faulk compared Washington's play-making ability to Barry Sanders, predicting the Jets will have a successful season if they get the ball into Washington's hands at least 15 times a game.

"I've been watching Leon since he wore No. 3 at Florida State," Faulk, an NFL Network analyst, said on a conference call. "I always felt the guy had a knack for when the football was in his hands, he was going to make a big play.

"I call it the Barry Sanders effect. Whenever they handed the ball to Barry, you knew something good was going to happen. Even if it was a two-yard gain, it was the best two-yard gain you've ever seen. Leon has a lot of that in him."

Here's what bugs me about the way the Jets have handled the contract situation. Yes, the CBA gives them a degree of leverage they might not otherwise have. If Washington gets a ton of touches this year, he'll have a breakout season as long as he stays healthy. Then he will end up commanding more money when the Jets are under the gun to get him a new contract.

It just doesn't make a ton of sense to me. The Jets have spent a ton over the last two offseasons on other teams' talent, but they haven't taken care of their most explosive homegrown talent.

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tired

Everytime someone opens their mouth about Leon, it costs the Jets another half a mil… I agree – they need to try to get this done before he his price tag skyrockets with stats behind those praises and certainly before he hits the open market at the end of the year.

Leon needs to get this done too, because it sucks playing in the last year of your contract if you get injured. On top of that, some people (and I don’t think Leon is in this group based on his preseason play) wouldn’t bring 100% because they fear getting injured with no guaranteed money behind them.

Everyone needs to put this behind them, stop worring about the small leverage you have with the CBA, and just pay him what he’s worth (aka what we’ll have to pay someone to replace Leon next season, which is what we’ll have to do if this continues much longer)

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by NC_Scott on Sep 1, 2009 11:05 AM EDT reply actions

PS – Love the quote from Faulk. Jets NEVER get the respect they deserve, so its nice to hear it from someone outside the NY media.

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by NC_Scott on Sep 1, 2009 11:07 AM EDT reply actions

Nice to see the Wash getting respect from a player who also had the “Barry Sanders effect”. Faulk was an offense juggernaut and nearly unstoppable for sdsu and during his co starring role on the “greatest show on turf” for the rams.

by Ozone on Sep 1, 2009 5:14 PM EDT reply actions