Why the Jets Don't Have to Go Running Back Early
by John B on Mar 3, 2010 9:00 AM EST
51 comments
I've seen a lot of Jets fans (both here and on other sites) say the Jets need to make taking a running back to replace Thomas Jones early in the Draft a priority. The rationales vary. Some say Shonn Greene and Leon Washington's injury concerns make it a necessity. Others say the team needs to have three backs because it relies so heavily on the run game. These are valid concerns, but I have to disagree with those who say the team absolutely has to go with a running back with one of its first two picks in the Draft. My reason? This list.
Le'ron McClain
What do those guys have in common? All have at least one 900 yard season since 2007. None of them went in the first two rounds. Earnest Graham missed by 2 yards. If Jerome Harrison had another game, he probably would have made it also. It doesn't include talented backs who split carries like Pierre Thomas and Ahmad Bradshaw. It's not hard to find a quality back later in the Draft. Considering the needs on this team, adding a back would almost be a waste. The current stable of backs and run blocking on the offensive line are excellent.
I could live with a guy like C.J. Spiller. I wouldn't necessarily agree with the pick, but he's a gamebreaker. Can never have too many of those. Short of that, I think the Jets should go in another direction.
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But what if Spiller snores and doesn't do dishes?
Could you live with him then?
See, first you let it slide because, yeah, he’s a world-class athlete and all, playing for your favorite team, yadda yadda.
But then he asks you to cover rent once. Then every month. Your girlfriend comes over all the time… when you’re not home. Strange foreign men start showing up at your apartment around 3 in the morning with cockfighting roosters in cages.
Be careful when choosing roommates, John.
We are gonna shock them with 5,000 mega watts of raw ROO POWER.
by psuwxman on Mar 3, 2010 9:47 AM EST reply actions 3 recs
Funny stuff
Rec’d
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Not to say that CJ Spiller sucks because he doesn't obviously, but if we were gonna go early with an RB
then we should be looking at Ben Tate.
+1
Ben Tate is a monster and with his speed and size defenses would not get a break between him and Greene’s bruising style. Does anyone know how he catches out of the backfield?
Decent enough, 20 receptions for 105 yards in 2009, 15 for 90 in 2008, 16 for 144 in 2007. Not exactly ground breaking numbers, but he can catch.
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Subtract Gore, Turner, and Westbrook and that list is not very good. If Leon isn’t what he used to be and Greene can’t stay healthy, we’re in a very tough bind. There are no real other needs to fill. It can be said we need to replace Lito, but Lito missed nearly half the games last year and we still managed to have the best pass D.
With the heavy emphasis we place on the running game, RB is the last place we can afford to have question marks. If we had a 3rd and 4th round pick, I might be content in waiting past the first 2 rounds. But since we don’t, we can’t afford to wait and hope that talent falls into our laps in the later rounds.
It depends on what you mean by not very good. Not all pros, but plenty of productive guys, which is what we need in a third string back.
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I pretty sure my thinking on this differs from most. But hear me out. I think 3rd stringer is the wrong description for what we need. I think we should have a 1A/1B approach, with Leon as the 2nd option. A tag-team approach where we pound the ball 30+ times a game and the backs split the carries unless one gets hot. And i think that Greene is better suited to be the 1B back (ie gets slightly less carries, but more likely to break off big runs). So what i’m looking for is a 1A: a guy who can absorb a lot of carries and give us a lot of production (5 yard chunks). I also think thats part of the reason that TJ was cut, that after all the mileage from last season he couldnt be trusted to absorb a lot of the punishment thats required.
but we were fine with having only 2 back in Thomas Jones and Leon before we drafted Shonne. Nobody was screaming to take a back first. I think its a safe risk to trust who we drafted especially since the guy had great results, and address another need. Like it says above, that 6th or 7th could net us a Brandon Jacobs.
I think its more important to give the defense more options. Rex is a genius, but he shouldn’t have to send everyone at the QB every down just to get a pass rush.
I agree. And I think that Hughes should be the unquestionable first pick if available. And if Sanchez was ready to take on 60% of the offense I wouldnt have a problem passing on a back either. But Sanchez is still developing, and there’s too much uncertainty surrounding the guys we have at RB right now. So 1 of our top 2 picks should be a back, especially since our offense is so heavily predicated on getting a lot of production from the run-game right now.
Im not opposed to getting a corner either, but we showed last year we can do just fine with what we have, especially if we add a good edge rusher.
Like i said, we could wait until round 3 or possibly 4 to get our RB, but as it stands we don’t have a 3rd and 4th round pick, so it kind of forces us to pick our guy at in the first 2 rounds.
I think we end up at about 54/46 run/pass this year.
For whatever thats worth.
"Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring; besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. It's more democratic."
- CRASH DAVIS
All he said was that if we were a 60 percent passing team
running back would be much less of an issue. He didn’t say we were going to pass 60 percent.
And by the way John B, Jamaal Charles is a STUD. Crazy speed. Watching him at the end of the year was like watching Reggie Bush at USC.
"Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring; besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. It's more democratic."
- CRASH DAVIS
Jamaal Charles was pretty consistent last year once they got rid of LJ. From what I remember, Jacobs and Parker were also pretty good before their injuries (Barber and Smith too). I don’t think we need to grab a back early just because we should focus on upgrading our base offense/defense. It would be great to have an awesome back as our third back, but I think upgrading either our pass rush or our second CB early is more important since they will be seeing more action.
Draft for defense! If we must use a pick on an RB, wait until the second round. Toby Gerhart or someone else viable may still be around then. All we need from our new back, whomever he is, is decent, consistent production and a reliable pair of hands. Gerhart should fit that bill. Chester Taylor would too – any shot at signing him?
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Come join me as I fanatically follow the goys in green!
- - Golden Tate – size, speed, superior hands, intelligent, — this year’s Percy Harvin, with all the offensive flexibility you can imagine. Schotty would go nuts with this guy!
- - Parrish Cox – size, speed, good man-to-man cover guy to pair with Revis
If Jets get a 3rd and 4th, then RB (Gerhart) and Safety (Chad Jones).
I don’t think Leon will be an issue unless he hesitates – which is possible. I think he has always had great vision and I wouldn’t be concerned about injuries with him. Greene did wear a little bit but I dont think injuries were a concern. I believe early in the year, the “injury” was never serious, he just wasnt seeing time so he wasn’t activated. That said virtually all season we went with 2 running backs. I dont foresee either back being out an extended period of time. A late round pick to find a serviceable backup is more than acceptable to me. Not to mention, if you draft someone in the first 2 rounds we may have a running back controversy – which I know you dont like.
What about when the Bears got rid of Thomas Jones because of newly drafted Cedrik Benson? Or when the Jets cut Jones because he was no longer going to be their featured running back. I think the media would love it. If Greene got nicked up, or if he started fumbling. You bet there’d be a story about how the guy you just drafted in the 1st or 2nd round needs to be getting more touches.
But you’re not heavily invested in an RB for the long term, like you would a QB. Also, so much of a QB’s performance is based on his psyche, his confidence. Also, a QB is the direct leader of the offense. None these are the case with a RB. If a RB can play, he plays, if he can’t you get rid of him. If you have 2 good ones, they split carries. Theres no controversy.
I remember when they used to say X back needed X amount of carries to get going. In fact, I think Thomas Jones might’ve said that himself. There’s not as much of a controversy but it still show’s a lack of confidence and that can affect the play of the RB.
What’s wrong with taking an RB round 6 or 7?
Rex did fine last year with what he had, but teams adjust, and we need options/flexibility in the defense if we are to stay #1. Teams can now look at the Indy game tape and know they can pick apart our secondary besides Revis.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking a RB late or even picking one up in free agency. I do think we should go defense early, although I don’t think any team will be able to just pick apart our secondary with Indy’s game tape. For one, they don’t have Manning, and two, they don’t have Wayne, Collie, and Garcon. Mainly that first one though.
I’m not trying to sound like I’m anti-what you say. But I think the attitude of a RB does have some affect. I think there is a pressure to succeed no matter what position you play. And there CAN be a sense of bitterness or hostility towards coaches or other players who are taking time away from them.
I think someone like Shonn Greene and especially Leon Washington can feel a sense of betrayal by taking someone very high in the draft. Leon has been denied a contract, had a rookie to compete with, and for the second year in a row they are bringing in another highly touted back?
And I know we have to agree to disagree here, but you feel the same about a RB controversy as I do about a QB one. Neither one of us will budge but Sanchez’s intangibles are among the worst. He has a lot of potential but a long road ahead of him. I doubt a injury riddled QB who has to rainbow a ball over 15 yards and signed to a small contract will create that much of a controversy. I think it’d be different if we sought a Kerry Collins who still has a lot he could offer, is healthy, and would command a larger contract because more teams would be after him.
How can you say Sanchez’s “intangibles” are among the worst? Youre judging him by his rookie season?
Give the kid a chance to make plays once Schotty opens it up a bit for him.
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Currently, he is among the worst. Among the 30 starting QB, I would put his intangibles in the bottom 5 or at least definitely the bottom 10. I think with a mentor and coaching, and development as a player he has potential to be among the best.
A lot of guys are preaching to bring in a veteran QB to mentor him, as you mentioned.
I don’t know though, since Rex started coaching him after the NE game he improved drastically. And the change was immediate.
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I dont preach about any veteran QB. I want one who has great intangibles, and not so much physical abilities. I want one is realizes that their role is a backup QB. I want one who has a great work ethic, a solid personalty, and someone who doesn’t think of themselves above the team.
Yes Rex’s help did help a few games later. I think Rex can teach his QB a lot about opposing defenses, but Rex also has a ton of responsibilities as a head coach and a QB is only one. I would imagine we are going to have 2 rookies selected in the first 2 rounds that Rex will need to work with too. And he still hasn’t given up on Gholston. He could spend all of his time on Gholston…
Are you sure you don’t mean tangibles (the ints)?
Granted, it’s very hard to gauge intangibles, but I would not put him that low, somewhere in the mid to lower mid part currently. There are a lot of really bad QBs out there. Sanchez has got some poise and seems like a learner.
I believe intangibles means the things that can’t really be defined such as the physical attributes of the players. Size, arm, speed, mobility etc. What I mean is presence (which he does have a good understanding of) reads (which need work) accuracy, decision making, etc. But thats what I meant.
Yeah but back to my point above, those are all things a rookie QB will struggle greatly in.
How do you expect a rookie to be sharp in pre-snap reads?
Decision making along the same lines.
And still, he progressed and showed improvment late in the season after Rex started working with him, which to me, shows he is coming along and will continue to improve upon it this season.
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+1
He was low on experience to begin with and I’m sure he’ll continue to grow with each snap and another offseason under his belt.
Thats true. But today. today’s present abilities, I think his intangibles are bottom third of the league. Mostly because he is now a 2nd year player who hasnt had snaps. Above I said I believe in time he has the ability to be one of the best. I think the right veteran QB can speed up the process.
I disagree. They drafted Sanchez because of the intangibles. For a first year rookie starter, he’s done very well (Not as good as Matt Ryan/Flacco). Just look at Jamarcus Russell to see how bad it could’ve been. And for a 2nd year, he’s had plenty of snaps in the playoffs other QBs normally don’t get.
That said I don’t see a problem in getting Pennington. There’s no conflict of interest there.
I didn’t say he was the worst. But statistically he had a bad season. Yes it could be worse. I think we drafted him of the potential and his leadership. I don’t think he is there… yet. I don’t expect him to be, though I cant wait!
Considering the poise and confidence he showed as a rookie, he rates pretty high IMO.
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If a RB isnt working, you cut him and find another one. They don’t take years to develop, and arent paid on the same scale as QBs. RBs can be replaced. Rookie RBs can have an instant impact.
Sanchez v. Pennington — i will say my piece one last time bc we’ve hashed this out ad nauseum.
U dont hand the keys to the franchise and spend years to develop a young QB while having the old franchise lurking over his shoulder. Even if the old franchise had anything to offer, the difference actually made would be extremely minimal. Sanchez needed a mentor last year. But he’s already had his trial by fire and a year in the offense. Pennington offers nothing at this point. Sanchez’s success will be based on Sanchez. He doesnt need a mentor at this point.
Agree here
I think most of the people suggesting Pennington return as a mentor to Sanchez are really doing so out of nostalgia for him.
it just so happens Pennington fits the description of what I’d look for in a veteran QB to mentor a kid. To be honest I never felt comfortable with Pennington in situations like a 2 minute drill. He just was too conservative because of his lack of arm strength. I think if we signed him I’d still wear the Revis jersey over the #10.
Rec'd
Good story idea and great timing with the recent TJ news.
Agree that the FA market for RB’s is excellent this year.
(CB’s not so much)
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