TJ was also the best at running into his linemen and falling over alot too. Seriously, look at all of his big gain runs this year, I'd guarantee that at least 75-80% of them were engineered by massive holes that the OL opened up. With the exception of two games this year, every time a defensive player touched him, he fell over. I don't want him teaching that to my young RB's, i'd rather have Greene teaching them how to run over people. Also, You're a dick for the sarcasm at the end of your post. Just thought I'd point that out for you.
To me, Jones was a solid player who did a workmanlike job, stayed healthy, and didn't fumble. At the same time, at his age, runningbacks realize how to not take as many hits and stay healthy. Rather than running hard and making an extra effort to make a play, Jones would go down. I understand why he'd want to do it; say he's facing two guys unblocked in front of him. Rather than trying to make a big play, he'll dive in front of them and take a yard back. Greene and Washington are more all-out runningbacks. It may lead them more prone to injury, but they're more explosive. If they get hurt, obviously that would be a bad thing, but behind our line, we can make a lot of guys. 1400 yards and 14 TD's are great. But when you run as much as we do, you should end up with great numbers. VORP is a baseball stat that means "Value over Replacement Player." To me, an average replacement player could have done what Jones did on a per carry basis last year, and that's why he's not worth $5.8 million dollars...
Just gonna throw some things out here for everyone: Greene broke a tackle for every 9 carries he received in the regular season. Jones broke a tackle for every 24 carries. Greene was the best running back in the postseason. Jones was the worst. Greene is 24 and is on his rookie contract. Jones is 31 and wanted an extension. As for "locker room leadership", someone else will step up and replace Jones. We will not regret losing TJ.
Yep, People act like it's their money around here. The guy EARNED his $$ since he put up the #'s to back it up. When was the last time anyone seen a Starting JETS RB break so many Long runs for TD? EXACTLY , I can't even remember... TJ was like C-Mart but with more breakaway speed. C-Mart's strength was his consistency....and IMO that's important I can agree with this but why do people care so much how much he gets paid in an uncapped year? So we sign him for 1 more year. Would that have KILLED the JETS??? Hell no, especially with a guy like TJ. IMO, this is just another example of a cheap owner not wanting to pay a player. CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP like a fukin bird!
No sure I agree, Just because it's an uncapped year does not mean you have to over pay for players. I liked TJ alot, he was great for us but with the financial conditions in this country it makes sense for the Jets to be financially conservative with a 30+ year old RB who significantly slowed down late last season.
I agree 100% with you. Jones was a good soldier. He shut his friggin mouth and had 2 career years in a row. A shame we let him walk.
It's difficult for me to understand all the venom spewed at TJ. He was always productive for us, healthy, rarely turned the ball over, was a hard working team leader, and for the most part kept his mouth shut. I hope we can find someone else with the same qualities to replace him. I completely understand why he's gone, but the haters are a bit much.
The big questions going into next year now, are: 1. will Greene be able to handle a full load for 16 games, and perhaps more importantly 2. will Greene be the same dominant runner we saw in the post season when he has to start the games and doesn't come in after Jones ran it up the gut a few times and our o-line already started wearing down the defense a little. I happen to think Greene can carry the load, but he clearly needs help. We don't want him to run 350+ times and lose some effectiveness. Ideally I think we want him around 275-300 carries, so we need another reliable runner to be consistent, not fumble, and get around 4 yards a carry as a 3rd RB behind Greene and Leon. We don't need a star. Just someone to get a few carries and fit in with the ground & pound approach.
Par for the course here. As soon as someone is gone everyone talks shit about him, I totally agree with your assessment of Jones. When we signed him I was thinking Leon, off his rookie year, should have gotten the chance to be the #1 guy. Of course now with him coming off a major injury I'm glad we have Greene with him, as long as they stay healthy. You never have enough RBs, there are a lot out there in FA and the draft, we need another and I'm sure will get one.
I always like Jones as a person, but was never a huge fan of his running. I felt like he always left a little bit on the table at the end of a game. The lack of breaking tackles or yards after first contact jsut irked me. He was durable and safe with the ball, but not as punishing a runner aas you would think a back of his size would be. With the reports that he was crushed when told his role would be reduced in the playoffs surfacing, I wonder if the that weighed into the the Jets not keeping him around. He would have been a 3rd option, goalline guy for us this season. Would that have caused problems? We'll never know. I wish TJ the best. He's a class guy from everything I have read about him, but the Jets needed to move forward with youth in that position. Greene is a beast. Now we just need to find one more young guy to go with him and Leon for this season.
^ He wasn't punishing at all. He's a cutback runner. People expecting him to blow up defenders were expecting something he just doesn't do.
It's likely a reaction to the Chicken Little reactions of a lot of people to his departure. I know that I, for one, started to slip into that attitude after the frustration of posters not understanding the realities of the situation and arguing that he should have been brought back. The team made it clear it wasn't going to pay his roster bonus, and that it hoped to bring him back at a reduced rate that was EXACTLY what he signed for in KC. Clearly, his pride stood in the way, and he gave up a shot at a championship because of it. He wanted it to be all business last year, and yet the business side offended him this year. Go figure. I appreciate what he did for us, I still maintain he was underrated by this board and by the NFL fanbase in general, I even made an argument in favor of the players who complained about his release, and yet I have no problem with him being gone given the circumstances.
It appears if TJ would have told us that he would have been agreeable to accept what KC gave him & we still let him go then the FO & RR decided they no longer wanted him on the team. JMHO
Actually, I would've loved for TJ to show Greene just when to layout defensive backs and when not to. Greene's running style doesn't last long in the NFL. Look at Marion Barber III. Loved watching him run his rookie season. The guy was a beast. Now he can't stay healthy for an entire season and Felix Jones is starting to take over the starting role in Dallas. If Greene keeps running the way he does, he will not last long in the NFL. In fact, if he continues running the way he does, you let him play off his rookie contract and you part ways with him when it's done. No, re-signing him for 1 more year wouldn't have killed us. I get why people "think" Greene earned the starter role last off-season, but why not start Jones and see how he does before crowning Greene the starting RB? If Jones was still here, I would've ran his ass to the ground and if the line is as good as everybody says it is, he would've still put up solid numbers. And if he doesn't and starts slowing down by Week 8, you bring in Greene to start. In fact, we'd be keeping Greene from getting injured throughout most of the regular season, and into the Playoffs. Basically, why not follow the same gameplan from last season? Totally agree with this. I don't know why he's getting shitted on by most people. Who would've thought that Thomas Jones and his 2-steps held our running game back with his 1400yds 14TD year. Fact is, the Jones supporters are never gonna win this argument. If Greene ends up getting hurt next year, they're going to say, "Well, he's a hard runner and to expect him or any RB to not get hurt for a whole season is just retarded." Or, they're gonna look at how TJ does in KC and use that stat as their argument for why TJ is "done" or why it wouldn't have made sense to pay 6M. I've come to terms with TJ's departure mainly because we do need to look into the future. I was looking forward possibly bringing a 4th RB in or rolling with Chauncey Washington next year. Maybe cutting Woodhead. I just don't know why we couldn't just wait 1 more year to begin re-working a formula that worked well.
KC got him for what, $2.5 million/year? And he was due to make $6M here with the bonus? If they really wanted to keep him they could have topped KC's offer by a little to bring him back, still save the bonus, TJ gets the highest offer and everyone saves a little face. Tannenbaum in explaining it on 1050 cited age, productivity going forward, and money, so it sounded like he wasn't in the plans regardless of money. There are a lot of free agent RBs out there and supposedly a lot in the draft, too, I'm sure they aren't doing this without a plan and solely for money.
That's annoying, then. I had read that they simply objected to paying the roster bonus and that an offer similar to KC's was already on the table. If they just kicked him out without actually trying to bring him back at a reduced rate, I may have to change my mind slightly on the situation.
I don't know all the details. Maybe Jones was pissed, maybe it was worth a bit less to him to go to a team that doesn't have Shonn Greene primed to take his job. There are a lot of variables we don't know about, now that he signed we won't know.
Anyone think that Jones will do better in KC than Greene in NY? I don't. I thought Jones did an excellent job while he was here, no reason to bash the guy. But the FO thinks that its better to replace him before he breaks down (i.e. not effective, even lower yds./carry) instead of waiting for it to happen. I agree. Just because there's no cap doesn't mean you should shell out too much money for a guy. It's not like its play money, its someone's real money we're talking about here. I think we'll be even better next year with Greene getting more carries, Leon (or a replacement), and another younger back. I think we'll improve on the yards per carry front. My only concern is fumblitis, but I'll take the chance on that one. I see us getting even better this year in the running game. Can you imagine us with 2 or 3 good YOUNG RB's for years to come?
