in a fantasy football mock draft chris ivory went in the 4th round can you believe it?! a fourth round fantasy pick for a JETS OFFENSIVE PLAYER?! last year no jets players were even on a damn fantasy roster
Ok... this is my two cents: 1. Jets got a good back out of 4th round pick. That much is sure. Chris Ivory is much better than any RB that was available during this year's draft. 2. That said, do not expect huge boost in the running game. I myself am hopeful that Ivory can make marginal improvement, going from 3.8 in Greene regime to hopefully 4.2~4.5 range. I figure that he will have to carry the rock about 20 times a game - so that's total of 320 carry approximately. That is good for 1300~1400 yards a season. A tall order, if you ask me. 3. Also, remember, when Ivory was running for the Saints, the main threat was not the ground threat. In other words, Mark Sanchez won't even exactly be half the QB that Drew Brees is now - so expect the defense to stack the box. Sure, Ivory did make some runs happen all by himself, but more often than not, he benefited greatly from playing within such a potent aerial attack system.
I like Ivory's talent. That said, what makes you think he can carry the ball 250 times let alone 320 before he breaks down? The Jets best move in my opinion is to do a real RB-By-Committee and try to get Ivory, Goodson and Powell each 150-200 carries. That keeps everybody sharp and in competitive stride and also minimizes the wear and tear and the very real chance that Ivory will break down with an injury as he has done almost every season of his college and pro careers.
Probably I was too simplistic and even naive to assume one back pulling majority of the shift. Good call there. Even with committee approach, I do not expect the night-and-day difference in the ground production, however.
just watching 1 minute of the highlight reel you can see that the guy is already more explosive than anyone that has been on the Jets roster since we lost Leon Washington. If they guy can stay healthy and share the load with MG the running game shoul dbe much improved from 2012. This will also help open up play action. Also since the running backs can catch it creates a nice security blanket they lacked all of last year...look at the passes to running backs in 2011 compared to 2012 - drastic change.
That I'm less worried about. The Jets are overloading on offensive linemen. The competition there should create a solid line this year.
Regarding the stacked box, I think morningwood will take care of that with a lot of vertical routes and a generally more pass happy approach. Of course our qb will still have to execute so there is still a limitation as you pointed out.
When Ivory was on the field in New Orleans, defenses already stacked the box. He made plays happen, anyway. He may not be Adrien Peterson, but he can make plays even when the defense knows to go after him. Having some good threats in the run game may help keep some QB pants white. Ivory wasn't a fan of RB by committee before, so we'll see how he gets used here. Other than wanting more runs, though, they say he always had a very positive attitude; and the Jets locker room could definitely use more of that.
If the run blocking improves and can open up some decent holes, a RBBC consisting of Ivory/Goodson/Powell/McKnight should definitely be able to do some damage. My main concerns with Ivory and Goodson are: 1: Is Ivory gonna be able to stay on the field? 2: These guys have never shouldered the load before; can they produce now that they're being asked to?
Truthfully the running game production hasn't been horrible the last couple years EXCEPT for the lack of explosion/big play. If Ivory/Goodson can same add some long gains to the equation it will make all the difference.
On some teams that would've been less than the end of the world but with our passing attack it was kind of the coffin nail for Sanchez imo. Our backs couldn't do nearly enough to keep the defense honest which just made it that much easier to bring pressure and take away short throws in passing situations. We all know what happened when Sanchez was forced to make decisions and difficult mid/long range throws. I think Ivory changes the dynamic if nothing else which will help out a lot whether it's Sanchez or Smith behind center.
