dumb move to give leon away ya he was overrated but even if he stinks and never returns to form it would still be worth it to hold on for the chance to see
There are guys like Leon but that doesn't mean they grow on trees, either. Bush went at the top of the draft, you just named about the only other guys comparable to what Leon brings. I don't think he's that replacable. We have a good kick return scheme, a lot of guys have been successful in it, but we'll see if anyone can break off long runs and short passes into long runs and TDs the way Leon did. Looks easy until you don't have the guy who can do it anymore. I think the Jets are going to regret this move. I watched Tannenbaum last night on Jets Nation and I understand that end of it, about the agent and contract and all. That doesn't mean from a football sense we're not going to miss him because we are. He broke a bone, he didn't tear up knee ligaments or anything like that, I think he will be fine. His vision and elusiveness are what makes him special, pretty much everyone who enters the league anymore has the flat out speed. People on the Internet always love the young new guy and want to throw out any injured player over 25 with the trash. I'm telling you this is a mistake from a football sense. We're going for it this year and we had Leon for this year. So what if we got nothing for him after that? What did we get anyway? A low round pick? We didn't even get the 4 we used to draft him and we can all agree that was the steal of the decade for the Jets. Sorry, nobody is going to convince me this was a good move until I see proof that either Leon can't play anymore or one of these new guys can do all the things he can do. Neither is likely.
I am a huge Leon supporter, but I do think that he is replaceable under the current regime. Not because we just plucked some guy from the draft that owns the same ability or skillset, but because Schotty just never seemed to figure out how to use him to the best of his ability. It's a shame, because we could have gotten a ton of production out of him in the prime of his career. Leon got caught in a numbers game, and lost. I hope to see him succeed outside of the conference.
So don't draft McKnight and just hope Leon comes back from a horrific injury? Great plan. You should be GM.
Leon turned into Conner- If we really wanted we could've kept both considering we have no idea how McKnight will pan out. Nothing is a sure thing, especially in the lower rounds.
Sounds to me like his biggest problem is his agent. If you want to believe Adam Schein (and who knows?), if not for the agent Leon would be a Jet for years to come. As it is he lost out on a lot of money, then got hurt, got dicked by the labor situation being in flux, and the Jets just didn't want to deal with Keels anymore. It's a shame for Leon because he lost out already on a fortune and now a chance to be on a good team, and it's a shame for the Jets because they've just lost their best player in the prime of his career. Also, I was going to get a Leon jersey too, but I was waiting for him to sign his deal becasue I've been around too long and seen this shit happen before.
I'll have to take issue with the terms 'best player' and 'prime of his career'. Leon may have been their best player a few years ago, but in terms of talent at position, I think Mangold, Revis, Kris Jenkins and David Harris all dominate at their positions far better than Leon. As far as 'prime of his career' - I think that may have been 2007. Leon is going to take a while, possibly halfway into the season, to truly come back from that injury, if he can. Runningbacks in this league to not last long for a reason. And it's why they don't get huge paychecks often anymore.
I'm saying "best player" in terms of being able to change a game in one play. I get your point about Mangold, Harris, Revis, etc, I'll even give you Revis, but aside from him Leon was in the best position to change games--put it away or put us back in it. He's done it too many times to count. Unless he's finished from a broken leg, which I doubt, I think this is going to come back to haunt us, at least he is out of the AFC. Pete Carroll passed on the USC back whom he coached in order to trade for Leon Washington, not sure I like that. Saying a guy "could be like" Leon isn't the same as the guy we had that we knew what he could do. It leaves us with Greene, yet to prove he can hang onto the ball and play 16 games, LT who may be over the hill (hope not!) and a rookie whose own college coach opted for Leon.
So a 27 year old man can't take responsibility for who he surrounds himself with and what information that person puts out about him or how that person handles his interests?
Leon may end up getting a bigger payday somewhere else than he would have gotten with the Jets, but his career won't be as good. Just my guess.
This is so full of hyperbole it's ridiculous. Leon changed games "too many times to count?" Greene has yet to prove he can hang onto the ball? Come on man. This is exactly why I was happy the Jets traded Leon. People completely overvalue the players they like. Leon made his own bed with his agent. He's trying to come back from a significant injury (regardless of ligament damage.) And he's a third string running back on this team. Sure, there was always potential for him to return a kick to the house, but how many times did he do that? 4 times in 4 years. He never returned a punt for a TD. It may seem like he was able to do it a lot, but that's not necessarily the case. As I've said, he was an "exciting" player, but not necessarily "great."
I'm not even talking about the kick returns so much, because as I mentioned we've always had guys who can do that--Justin Miller, Brad Smith most recently. Leon didn't return punts, so it would have been hard for him to take one to the house. Although Leon always gave us good field position and took a lot of them close, like the New England game that set up a TD on the Thursday night in 2008 and San Diego on MNF. I'm talking more about the plays he breaks from scrimmage, like the Miami game in 2006 in the rain on a screen from Chad for the winning score, or icing the Tennessee game in 2008 when they were 10-0 with a long TD, the Buffalo game the same year. That kind of thing, unless LT can return to form which to me is as much a crapshoot as Leon recovering from an injury. Regarding Greene, what did I say that is hyperbole? How many times did he put it on the ground in limited time as a rookie? Has he played 16 games yet? Did he not get hurt in the biggest game of his life? Not trying to trash the guy but we've gotten rid now of the two backs who have carried our offense and put a lot of faith in Greene. I hope he's the next Earl Campbell but that is also a crapshoot.
My point regarding Leon is that he didn't have the huge impact people credit him with. Yes, when he broke a play, he really broke a play. But that was the be-all-and-end-all of his effect on a game. If he didn't make magic, he didn't do much at all. I didn't have a problem keeping Leon, but after the whole thing with his agent, it was time to go. He overvalued himself, and this was the cost of doing business. As for Greene, he fumbled early, then not at all. Playing up his early troubles to make the point is insincere at best. I'll give you that he hasn't played a lot yet, and that he had some health issues, but I'm not overly concerned. I honestly don't think we're any worse right now than we were a year ago at running back. I also think we're actually better, with a more effective Greene replacing Jones, and a more versatile LT replacing Leon. I hope this guy we grabbed in the draft works out too, because that will make us nice and deep at the position, which will only help late in the year. Anyway, people (and Rex) can talk all the "ground and pound" they want. I fully expect to see us throw a lot more than last year in 2010. Ground and pound was great before our QB proved he has the goods. Running back will be far less significant this year.
why would it worth holding on to a player who has no role on the team that other players cannot fill and who may not return to form?
I hope you're right about all of this because I want the Jets to be good, I'm just not taking the whole pitcher of Kool Aid down yet. While I agree we shouldn't have stood pat off a 9-7 year, playoff run notwithstanding, sometimes you fuck too much with a good thing and you fuck it up. Defense and the running game was our staple, in cold late games that's how you win. Now we've shipped out the main guys responsible for making the running game work. Hopefully Sanchez builds off his late success, but factor in his penchant for turning the ball over and the bad weather in important games, I don't think we win without a running game. Between Greene and LT I'm hoping they can replace Jones' 1,400 yards and what Leon brings, that's a tall order no matter who you are. Also, it's not insincere to bring up Greene's fumbling, why would it be? He only played a handful of games, fumbled in a few--helped cost us the Miami game--and got hurt at the end when we needed him most. Like you I hope that was an abberation but it's all we have to go on right now so I'm slightly concerned. Regarding Leon, I agree with you about his agent, but again my point is from a football perspective I think our running game isn't in as good of shape as it was last Thursday with him gone.
