I just don't understand giving up on one of your best players and drafting a project/question mark to replace him. You can say we'd have lost Leon in a year and got nothing for him, we basically got nothing for him now and lost out on one more year of him being here. Even if he wasn't ready for the first few games, Santonio Holmes won't be playing the first four games either, I don't see anyone complaining about that.
The thing is probably the trade was a question mark for another question mark. An injured question mark for a rookie question mark.
The Holmes comparison doesn't work. Holmes is out with a suspension, Leon is still recovering from a fairly serious injury. The fact that if he does play early on, it will be with a rod in his leg is enough for me to consider that perhaps it is time to move on. Plus with Keels as an agent....
Too bad we couldn't get an exclamation point, that would've been a great move. As long as no period is involved I'm good-
We'll see. I can argue with you guys from now until training camp, it's not going to do us any good. I won't be convinced until one of two things happens--either Leon proves he can't play anymore or McKnight proves he's as good as Leon was. My gut tells me neither is going to happen, which is why I don't like the move, but only time will tell. I hope I'm wrong, mainly aboiut McKnight because I wish Leon well--especially since he's out of the AFC.
Next year when Conner takes over as our lead blocker, tell me again that we got "basically nothing" for Leon. He wasn't going to be available in the 7th round. I truly believe McKnight can develop into a better back for our system than Leon, too, and will be better utilized. He's only a project in terms of bulking up to be able to consistently carry the ball in the NFL. He's not a project in terms of developing him to run in the zone running game. He's been doing that throughout his career at USC. The conditioning issues don't make him a project either, since that can be dealt with almost immediately. If it couldn't, Percy Harvin would have been a bust in his rookie year.
I think you'll be right that Leon can still play, wrong about McKnight. I just don't buy it that you're fully "hoping that you're wrong" about McKnight. It's a huge stretch to insist that it's a dangerous sign that he's not conditioned. He hasn't even worked with the team's training staff yet. It's a very easy fix this offseason. Good luck, BTW, if you're holding out for McKnight and Leon to be the same back. They're not. Leon was a good, underutilized scatback and a phenomenal returner. McKnight is a more rounded back who can be highly effective in a one cut system AND make 2nd level guys miss with his arsenal of moves. He could be a much better pure runner than Leon ever was, let alone than Leon is now, but I doubt you see the explosiveness Leon demonstrated in the return game when he was healthy.
Again I hope youre right and I'm wrong, your whole argument is based on projections. We're going for it all this year, to me if Leon can play he's more valuable then either of those guys because we still have Tony Richardson at FB.
Actually, I'm pretty sure we got a couple of exclamation points oh, damn! I can't post pics Well, imagine a pic of Wilson and Conner in here
I don't think there is a such thing as "much better pure runner than Leon ever was", any time he had the ball he was a threat to go al the way. As for McKnight, I don't get what you're saying. As long as he's a Jet I want him to be great, to me we've downgraded that spot until proven otherwise, that's all I'm saying. How can a young guy going into the draft be so out of shape he's throwing up on the field? I've never heard of that before. Dropping passes out of the backfield doesn't excite me either.
I love Leon, but it's time to move on. He'll always hold a special place in my green heart but he's trapped in Seattle now and we are stuck with-
The other side of that is he is a rookie in his first practice with a NFL team. Perhaps he gets a pass for nerves?
Because we already know what Leon is at the pro level and I'm sure they had a first hand look at how he's coming along. That's why I say if he proves he can't play anymore then the Jets maybe knew that, then I'd be ok with the move. As of right now I'm not.
So you're certain he's coming along well because a team had access to him medically and was only willing to part with a 5th rounder for him afterward? Seems like a whole lot of uncertainty to me. And we know what Leon WAS, not IS. You're basing all this on him returning at the same level. That's a projection.
That's fair. It goes along with the first part, though--either Leon recovers or he doesn't. Speed and agility doesn't come from the bone in your leg, it's not like he ripped up a knee. His vision and instinct is also still intact. Sure, he also said he ate some bad food on Jets Nation then threw up again the next day. I'm not writing the guy off after two days of rookie camp, again I hope he does great. I really hope between Greene and LT it's a non issue. All I'm saying is I'd rather have Leon in that spot right now, only time will tell. I'm not trying to be champ here, I like just about everything we've done this off season except this. I'll take a pass on the Faneca move because I'm not going to pretend I know anything about offensive line, I don't. I hate Jason Taylor but if he's good enough for Rex he's good enough for me. Holmes for a 5th, can't go wrong. Loved drafting Wilson, getting Cromartie, Cooner sounds good too. The only thing I don't like is moving Leon, maybe that works out too, but to me it's the one move I don't like. This weekend didn't do anything to change my mind yet but it's very early.
No, I said I'm certain that the Jets knew how he's coming along. Maybe that's why they moved him, that's my best guess. You can't believe what a team says, when they signed him before the draft he was coming along great, now not so great. Sounds like it was more about the agent than the leg, but again we're going for bear this year and we had him signed for this year. Obviously, but Leon recovering from an injury is a more feasible projection than someone else turning into a better player than he is just because we want him to.
