Jump to content

The RB Logjam


Maxman

Recommended Posts

The RB Logjam

by John Charvat on August 27, 2010[edit]

in Camp Reports,Featured Editorials

NYJ.gif Ground and Pound! That was the mantra last year with Thomas Jones, Leon Washington, and Shonn Greene, and it didn’t miss a beat when Leon Washington went down and Thomas Jones hit a wall – Shonn Greene carried the load valiantly in the playoffs last year, and he’s expected to carry the load for the full season in 2010. LaDainian Tomlinson was brought in to share that load, and provide a target for Mark Sanchez in the passing game. Rex Ryan is on record as saying that Tony Richardson and John Conner should feel safe, and you get the feeling that if he were running the offense we’d get to see a lot of two FB sets.

Now if you had a chance to look at the screen shots of the roster board on Hard Knocks, you know that the Jets only plan on carrying 5 running backs this year. With four of those spots locked up, let’s look at the rest of the guys competing.

  • Joe McKnight – has been a bit of a lightening rod in JetNation. He lost his stomach in OTA’s, failed his first conditioning test to start training camp, and was featured in a long rough segment in the second episode of Hard Knocks. All those negatives -plus the fact that he’s often seen as fan favorite Leon Washington’s direct replacement- have led a lot of fans to be less than supportive of the player. Lost in there is the fact that the Jets traded up in the fourth round to get this kid, and he does have some obvious talent. He showed improved toughness from the first to second preseason game, and his 67 yard punt return was the longest play for the Jets -by far- against the Panthers. In fact, it was longer than any other player’s totals for the game. The guy is a lock to make the roster.
So we’re done here then? Not quite. The Jets have spots open for two special teams specialists, and the RB’s are very much in the mix.

  • Jason Davis – will not make the team. As much as Rex Ryan might want to run a triple-wing with three fullbacks, it’s just not happening. He’s a player, though, and will potentially catch on with another team.
  • Danny Woodhead – is small. Really small. But he’s the incumbent, and it’s obvious that the coaches love him. The man has a huge heart, and some skill to go with it. He brings some genuine versatility as last year the Jets converted him to WR at the end of the year, flirting with the idea of making a slot receiver out of him. This year, the Jets are stacked at WR, too. He’s going to be a tough cut if it comes down to it.
  • Chauncey Washington – got himself a game ball against the Panthers last week. Rex was in love with him. So much so that his fumble was completely overlooked. He ran hard inside, and made a crushing blow on punt coverage – forcing a fumble that Danny Woodhead recovered. Unlike Woodhead, he has prototypical RB size.

Fearless predictions? Chauncey Washington makes the team, and size matters in the case of Danny Woodhead’s resulting in him getting cut. C-Wash could even find himself ahead of Joe McKnight in the RB rotation, especially if Shonn Greene were to get hurt for any period of time. The Jets don’t have a bruiser on the roster after Shonn, and I’m sure they’d rather not use LT in that role if they don’t have to. They saw Thomas Jones run out of gas last year, they’re going to want to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to Tomlinson.

Now if LT were to get hurt, we could see Joe McKnight pressed into service on offense. If his punt return is any indication, it might not be the worst thing in the world if the Jets found a way to get him the ball in space on offense.

All in all some tough decisions, and a good problem for the Jets to have. Every one of these guys can play at the NFL level.

Tagged as: Chauncey Washington, Danny Woodhead, Jason davis, Joe McKnight

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think we really need to carry 6 RB's this season.

Greene

LT

Richardson

Conner

McKnight

Chauncey Washington

We can make McKnight our punt returner to give us a bit of versatility and not have to feel like we're overloaded at RB. Woodhead, unfortunately, becomes the odd man out. It looks like we're only going to carry 3 QB's unlike last season, so it shouldn't be a big deal to have this many backs on a team that pounds the rock.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the roster board is interesting, but aaron kia is still on there, this must be an old clip or the board is total nonsense

can you imagine mangini showing this ?

The long pan shot where you see all the names and the shot where Tannenbaum is in the room with Rex were most likely taken at different times. The board with the names we saw could be anything, could be who gets 1st team reps for a practice that day, etc. In addition to that particular one being old. That board is mostly irrelevant to me.

Notice it's really difficult if possible to make out any names on the board that Tannenbaum was writing on. In addition the scene was mostly them just having a general basis for discussion. The roster bubble cuts happen in a large staff meeting. At least in previous HK seasons, they always do it that way. The asst coaches have a lot of input on the decisions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For some reason I can see the Jets using LT in short yardage situations, especially at the goal line. With that being said would you rather keep Washington or just get the bruising from Connor?

I agree that LT will be used at the goal line, but was focusing on the bottom of the roster for the piece.

The idea of a two FB set is intriguing. If they were to go that route, I'd think Conner would be the blocker and TRich would be the ball carrier. But we haven't seen any evidence of that set up. I also think they'll want to be prepared for a Shonn Greene injury. They won't want LT to have to carry the whole running game - even for just a game or two. Having another back who can carry it between the 20's could be vital. I don't think either of the FB's is that guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that LT will be used at the goal line, but was focusing on the bottom of the roster for the piece.

The idea of a two FB set is intriguing. If they were to go that route, I'd think Conner would be the blocker and TRich would be the ball carrier. But we haven't seen any evidence of that set up. I also think they'll want to be prepared for a Shonn Greene injury. They won't want LT to have to carry the whole running game - even for just a game or two. Having another back who can carry it between the 20's could be vital. I don't think either of the FB's is that guy.

Let's face it, we haven't seen anything on the offensive side of the ball to get excited about...Friday night should be an eye opener...let's hope so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really like what im seeing from C. Washington, he looks alot bigger than I expected. I still wonder if McKnight is even worth it over woodhead. Woodhead can at least contribute on kickoffs and punts, he did recover a fumble in the Carolina game. If john Conner proves to be as good as he is hyped up to be, do you see us letting T rich go midseason to make room?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's face it, we haven't seen anything on the offensive side of the ball to get excited about...Friday night should be an eye opener...let's hope so.

I thought the offense looked pretty good against the jints, but yeah, they need to really get it together tomorrow night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

on the internet everyone bets against Woodhead

but the coaches love him. He pass catches, he pass blocks. He punt guns. He kick off coverages.

He's making this team people.

Chauncey had a good 2nd half but is that enough to make this team? I'm not sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

on the internet everyone bets against Woodhead

but the coaches love him. He pass catches, he pass blocks. He punt guns. He kick off coverages.

He's making this team people.

Chauncey had a good 2nd half but is that enough to make this team? I'm not sure.

LT, McKnight, and Woodhead is too much redundancy at RB. Who carries the load if Shonn Greene is out for a couple games? Do you risk burning out LT in that role? Do you have Danny Woodhead carry it between the 20's? I don't think so. If the Jets had taken Greene's backup in the fourth round, then Danny would have had a much better shot sticking as LT's backup as a receiving RB. But the Jets took LT's backup in McKnight, making Woodhead expendable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Woodhead is a perfect practice squad guy. He does a lot of the little things well but he's not someone you can afford to burn a roster spot on. We have enough RB's and enough special teams guys, and with all the additions we made in the offseason a few guys I'd love to see around become expendable. Its just how it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

on the internet everyone bets against Woodhead

but the coaches love him. He pass catches, he pass blocks. He punt guns. He kick off coverages.

He's making this team people.

Chauncey had a good 2nd half but is that enough to make this team? I'm not sure.

Lets hope not. I wouldn't call what he does covering kicks, since he cost us the miami game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...