Let's see how it works out before we automatically call it a failure. The offense seems to be an interesting group of parts right now. Hill and Holmes, on paper, should be a decent receiving corps. We're going to be a balanced offense. Barcs is right, ground and pound is just a catch phrase. Ideally, they would be a run-first offense, and the personnel seems odd for that. How the Jets use Tebow as a runner will be interesting in that regard. The Jets have also stockpiled RB draft picks over the years, maybe they can catch lightning in a bottle. It's a position where it can happen, even from an FA/practice squadder. The bigger question will be the offensive line. Slauson being healthy should help, though he loses his longtime coach in Callahan. Moore being healthy should help, too, but he's older. Hunter is a problem. He was never great, but I don't think anyone expected last year's performance. I'm curious how the Jets feel about the young offensive linemen like Howard, Schlauderaff and Ducasse, who will all now get a full offseason with the team. That said, the OL should be fine. D'Brickashaw and Mangold are two studs at their position, and the guards are mostly fine. There's no reason you can't win with this offensive line with smart coaching, quick decision-making and offensive execution: it's not like it's a sieve.
Both blocking systems are complicated. In some ways, I would think the man to man is even more complicated and requires more communication and coordination amongst the OL and additional blockers. It's not as simple as "just beating the shit out of the guy in front of you" as you had suggested.
Success will come if they can run the ball much more effectively and get the offense into favorable downs. That is 100% the key. Running the ball 100+ yards per game.
This is something that isn't talked about enough. It's going to be important to have success on first down. Way too many times last year we gained less than 4 yards on first down. 4 yards is the absolute minimum you need on first down. If you don't get 4 yards on first down you are already at a disadvantage for the rest of the 4-down set.
What I hope the team means by ground and pound is that the offensive mindset is going to be physically dominating. We will force defenses to crowd up and we will go over the top and take huge chunks of yardage with our passing game. The short passing game is dependent on mismatches, quick hits, picks, finesse and rhythm. Ground and pound should simply mean an offensive philosophy that's about beating your man one on one. If we can actually do that, something I'm suspect of based on our personal, we should be able to move the ball in big chunks through the air and physically beat up teams late on the ground. We are depending on Shillings and Hill being very effective players for us this year. If we aren't able to do that this is going to be a demoralizing season for Jets fans.
Are you aware nearly a thousand of those yards came from LT? Last year Greene looked like he didn't have another 10 yards left in him, let alone a few hundred. And 800 yards from that motley crew? As I notice every year, off season optimism is a wonderful thing.
^ Greene is like a Lamont Jordan. He is not a #1 running back, I agree. I can't hate on Greene bc he has done some great things for us in the post season, I like his initial contact (I think he usually punishes defenders). Lately, he has been looking pretty banged up. I never understand why Schotty runs him up the gut so much? It seems like when we give Greene an opportunity on a pitch, option, sweep he has nice speed and beats defenders on the edge. He has a lot of problems in that he doesn't block extremely well in the pass, his vision is straight ahead, he is injury prone, he can't catch a pass. We need a #1 running back to complement Greene, no question. I am excited to see what Tebow can offer on the wildcat. Mcknight has to step up big for us on the ground. (no more smoking weed, no more coughing up the football). We need him to have strong endurance, stamina and hold on to the damn football. I agree with you 100% that Greene is much more effective with a back that can split the load. TJ was here, Greene did great.. LT was here Greene did fine.. Hopefully, the wildcat will help Greene out. We were spoiled to have GREAT #28 for so many excellent running seasons. I like Greene he has done a lot to be proud of, post season. I hope he got some much needed rest and will be ready come week 1. I use to love watch him punish people when he was on Iowa. The guy is a running back and I am glad to have him on the Jets.
I think the reason they did not run much outside is that in fact he does not have much outside speed, but you have observed this differently. It's my impression he's not great out there. But the main point is he really is not a workhorse RB.
I disagree with you here bc I have witnessed his speed against the Bengals, Patriots, Chargers. Once Greene gets his legs moving in space he is pretty dangerous. That flip play Sanchez tosses to Greene on the outside is always a nice gain. It almost looks like an option pass to Greene, but Sanchez only really takes one or two steps at most and then he flips. [YOUTUBE]2g80WQJqwLA[/YOUTUBE]
His “speed” is nothing more than average when he gets outside. On that play he had to basically outrun one defensive lineman and after that there wasnt anyone within 5-10 yards. In pretty much all aspects of Greene’s game, nothing is above average. He is very effective as a #2, but as Big Blocker said, part of the reason why he didnt run outside much is because his speed and acceleration is average, and the team speed wasnt great. Hopefully we’ll see more outside runs/screens this year (ideally a good deal with McKnight) with better team speed on offense and a great run blocking WR in Hill- a player that could quietly help this run game, especially to the perimeter and downfield.
Yup. I totally disagree with you. I think Greene has more game speed than McKnight. Mcknight has shown me really nothing in speed, other than getting gassed before he can reach the goal line. McKnight also has the baby rookie fumbliatis problem, a factor I cannot stand with running backs. Hold onto the ball. I do think McKnight has good hands and is improving every year, we need a bigger step this year. Greene has burned a lot of teams on the outside. Once he gets to the 2nd level and that second speed no one can catch him. There are a ton of videos on youtube. That play that I posted a video of is one of the best plays Greene runs. Every time we run that play Greene picks up a handful of yards. Pound him inside and than give him a shot on the outside. Greene is a good running back with a proven track record, a fucking idiot offensive coordinator that never understood the ground game hampered Greene production (and his banged up rib). Greene has a lot of tiny weaknesses that prevent him from being elite. He will never be Curtis Martin, or AP or LT. He can run people over though and he can burn people on the outside. He protects the football, he pushes the pile and he can be a mother fucker to bring down when he has someone to split the load with him. we need another guy to complete the one-two punch. I hope Tim Tebow and Joe McKnight and maybe this kid from butler can help out. Edit this thread is about Sanchez. and my point is that if we have a strong running game we will improve our passing game. I also think Sanchez has a tremendous ball fake that has to be used way more, play-action and I think Sanchez is very mobile and we should roll him out of the pocket more.
Also, we don't run outside much bc Holmes is a fucking pussy and doesn't block for shit. Burress, Edwards cotchery those guys laid wood on dbs and always stuck their neck out for the running game. This is one of the biggest reasons I dislike holmes. Lay a block, "captain."
Well, obviously I tend to agree with you about Greene outside. As for McKnight, the problem with him is I think the CS doesn't like the idea of him running between the tackles, which is probably why he doesn't do it. Heh. So, if he's in there as the only RB, the D knows it's probably not a passing play (unless to him, of course) since he's not much of a blocker, it probably won't be up the gut, so that means they're thinking either off tackle or a pitch out or something like that. That's one of the things I don't like about McKnight. He's not versatile.
Speaking of the Sanchez Tebow stuff, I went by the Jets Shop and asked if they had any McElroy jerseys. Heh. The girl behind the counter didn't know who he was. The guy there had to think about who McElroy was, and said isn't he the guy who was talking about what was going on in the locker room? I had to tell him he's also the third string Qb. So, no, no McElroy jerseys. Yet.
Pretty good article by Kim Jones about the Jets. Says that Mark has his swagger back. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000...z-exudes-starter-swagger-as-jets-circus-opens :jets:
