Actually I thinking about it, Hector's running style was hurt a lot by the poor offensive line of the Jets.
I'm still curious if flower child George Sauer had continued playing what kind of career he could have had. I actually liked Sauer more than Maynard as a kid but he just disappeared and as a 11 year old I never understood why. Walker was just outstanding but yeah, had he had 2 eyes he would have been better, and even if incrementally better he would have been an all time great. _
Besides the emotion and the dislike of the New York Jet fanbase, the idea that Jet fans are one of the worst in ALL of sports is absurd - not even close. - Wisl Krakow - Ultras Sparta Praha - River Plate (Arg.) - Universitarios de Deportes - Millwall F.C. - As Roma - Galatasaray - Al-Masry & Al-Ahly - Arizona Coyotes - Oakland Raiders
Can't argue on Sauer at all, IMHO that is the most dangerous receiver duo the Jets have ever had and it's not even close. In fact the 67-69 Jets were probably the most loaded team from top to bottom the Jets have ever had. They had their best running back duo with Snell and Boozer perfectly complimenting each other as FB and HB. You had Sauer and Maynard on the outside as receivers. you had arguably the best offensive line, from left to right of their history, the only line I can think of off hand that was as good would be the 2009-10 Jets O-line. 68 you had Tackles in Winston Hill (one of the best all time Jets) and Sam Walton (the weak link), Guards Dave Herman and Randy Rassumussen (sp?), one of whom kicked out in the post season to replace Walton. And John Schmidt at Center, probably the 3rd or 4th best Center the Jets have had (the jets have been blessed with really stellar centers for most of their existence). and of course Namath who was one of the NFL's best QBs until the shoulder injury in 69 or 70, I forget which year off hand. But for all the praise the offense got the Defense was really the teams mainstay. Defensive line of Verlon Biggs and Gerry Philbin on the outside. Philbin was one of the best pass rushers of the era and Biggs was a monster. On the inside you had Jumbo John Elliott who was a beast, I can never remember who the other DT was though. I'd rank that Dline up there with, and probably slightly better than the Sack Exchange of the 80's. Both of which I'd rank above the Jets current D-line, but only because the current D-line is young and really hasn't established itself for more than 2 seasons, if they do it this year then they rank up there with the other two. the Jets of that Period had probably the best Linebacking corp (when you include the unit as a whole, there have been better individual LB's but none better as a group), I loved the group of Baker and Grantham on the Outside and Al Atkinson on the inside. That was a very good and talented group of LB's and I think Grantham ranks as a top 5 LB in Jets history. Even the Secondary wasn't a slouch at the time., it wasn't elite but it was above average. You had Billy Baird, Johnny Sample, Randy Beverly, Jim Hudson and others. it doesn't match up with our current secondary at the corners, but those were among the best safeties the Jets have ever had. yes I love that team, not just as a kid but when I look back at them as an adult I realize just how good that team really was and if Namath hadn't gone south with his health that team could have been a monster for a decade.
You mean the guy who's so good that in a QB hungry league he's been a two year backup despite being a free agent both years and being able to sign with ANY TEAM....you mean that 'great guy'. Wins and losses are team stats. You interchange 2 of the losses that Obrien had and put Sanchez there and they are still losses.
O'Brien was a rookie in '83, Thurman came along in '88- that's much later and by that time we were losing talent and getting worse for the most part. Hector was an excellent complimentary back, THE reason we made a rare PO app under Ken in 1991. Wesley dropped balls but was a dynamic deep threat. Shuler was one of the games best pass catching TEs. Toon was a great possession guy, perfect compliment w/ Walker early on and part of some really good WR corps post Walker. The OL was NOT poor, sacks aren't always on the OL. the OL was good, not great. Walton was not a great HC obviously.
you do know he missed all of his last season w/ us w/ an injury to his throwing shoulder, right? you do know he was signed by an offensive guru to a 2 year deal, right? wins and losses are team BUT w/o a quality QB you aren't winning. Ken had the better teams around him compared to the weak era of AFC football and couldn't win a single playoff game. Not ONE but his backup could w/ the same team.
I like your posts. You make an opinion and, for the most part, you back it up with logical statements. I may not always agree, but at least what you offer seems somewhat logical Yeah, Hector wasn't as dangerous as McNeil, a poor man's Tony Dorsette IMO, but he was steady and durable and, considering McNeil's penchant for injury, quite important. I don't think people think he was more than the was: a journeyman back to took up the slack the numerous times McNeil was injured.
McNeil and Hector were an excellent duo. Freeman could have been a HOFer if he could have stayed healthy but unfortunately he never could and Hector was a great compliment to him and great depth when Freeman was out.
Watch the Jets of that period, look at who was on the O-line in that time. Not all sacks are on the Oline, but that o-line was bad, I know, I watched them. I also know that a large part of why O'Brien held the ball long times was the play design of Walton, it was the exact same way in Washington before he joined the Jets and the same in Pittsburgh after he left the Jets. RE Schuler. best receiving tight end? or even one of the best. Is he Ozzie Newsome? Nope. Is he Todd Christensen? Nope. Is he Kellen Winslow? Nope. is he Doug Cosbie? Nope. mark Bavaro? close. John Spagnola? close. Paul Coffman? nope. Steve Jordan? Close. Jerry Bell? Close. Rus Fancis? Nope. In short he was a middling TE and not even teh best recieving TE the Jets had had up until that point.
when healthy that OL was pretty good. he was on par w/ pretty much all of those guys as a receiving TE outside of maybe the top 3.
The Dolphins and the Bills Colts were better than us during Kenny's tenure and even the Colts and the Pats were better than us a few times. They just were. I never got the sense we were ever the best team in our division. _
He was at best bottom half of the top 10, at best. When healthy that Offensive line was bad. Talk all you want, I watched that team.
I had McNeil on my fantasy team back then. It was a TD only league, because there was no internet back then and it was easier to keep track of. F'in Johnny Hector was a TD vulture. McNeil would get knocked out of bounds on the one constantly, and Hector would come in and push it over. Killed me. Even today, if a RB in our league has a bunch of yards but doesn't score, we say he got "McNeiled".
Kenny was w/ us 1983-1992 * playoff apps Buffalo: 1983 8-8 1984 2-14 1985 2-14 1986 4-12 1987 7-8 1988* 12-4 and took off from there, still had 5 years w/ Buf mediocre or awful. 1989* 9-7 1990* 13-3 1991* 13-3 1992* 12-4 Indy: 1983 7-9 1984 4-12 1985 5-11 1986 3-13 1987 9-6* 1988 9-7 1989 8-8 1990 7-9 1991 1-15 1992 9-7 Miami: 1983* 12-4 1984* 14-2 1985* 12-4 1986 8-8 1987 8-7 1988 6-10 1989 8-8 1990* 12-4 1991 8-8 1992* 11-5 Not one team won a SB, only Buffalo came close. The early Miami teams wer every good, the later Buf teams were very good. They didn't have a Brady Pats like team running the division.
