I meant what I said. While we all loved Martin and Jones, they were not as talented as Chris Ivory. That being said, they were ultra durable, ultra dependable, ultra consistent backs. Chris Ivory may be none of those things, but athletically Ivory is more explosive than those two guys combined.
Martin was special. There was nothing special about Thomas Jones, he was an ordinary guy who took advantage of a great O-Line. There is nobody in football that can match Ivory's combination of explosiveness and his ability to run people over. If he gets his 300 carries this year he will be officially considered a top 3 back. Unfortunately you still have all these fantasy football fans who drool all over big runs from a Jamaal Charles over the middle when giant holes open up, like they did years ago with Chris Johnson when people were saying he's a better back than Peterson. Asinine, asiten, asieleven as Stephen A. Smith would have said.
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I think Ivory is a better runner than Jones. He's more dynamic, breaks more tackles by far. If he could've played on that elite offensive line we had back then, wooo, look out.
Ivory was always this good since he joined the Jets, he just wasn't given the ball enough. When Ivory got hot, Marty would call up a cutesie play that took the momentum out of the drive. There were a couple times last year that Ivory was feasting and he was taken out. Also, Bilal was criminally under-used and CJ_NoK was criminally over-used which took away from the running game. Also, when you have guys like Marshall and Decker, defenses have to respect them instead of focusing their efforts in the run game.
I'll agree and disagree. You're absolutely right about Ivory breaking tackles...he beats Jones in that category. But the two backs are entirely different runners. T Jones would hit the hole and just break free with his speed. Ivory is more of a pounder and gets yards despite the lack of holes. Ivory is useful to have when your O line isn't as good. That O-line in 2009 that Thomas Jones had was one of the best offensive lines in Jets history with Mangold, Brick, Faneca, Woody, and Moore. I would take Thomas Jones in open space, but I would take Chris Ivory up the middle of the pile. For right now, Chris Ivory is exactly the runner this team needs. I think Ivory would thrive more in this offense than if Thomas Jones were to play in this offense. That being said, I'm not sure I can proclaim Ivory better than Thomas Jones, just because Jones had home-run threat ability and simply has accumulated a long history of stellar numbers.
This is the same board that years ago was completely fed up with Jones his last three years. I was too.... The guy could NOT fall forward and as others have said, a product of an excellent OL. The only thing you could count on with TJ is that he wouldn't fumble because his arms were like pythons. Thomas Jones could not hold Chris Ivory's jock strap.
He was walking through Minnesota's defense, the O-Line deserves credit for that one. He did have a really nice spin move.
Chris Ivory has been the most exciting offensive player we've had over the last two years. He will only shine brighter with equally talented players around him.
lets check back in a month or so and see if some of you are still on your knees for Chris Ivory. One good game vs. Cleveland and we have people making outrageous claims. btw- Thomas Jones was a much better RB. He had a better OL here but he deserves credit for his vision. You put Chris Ivory behind that 2009 OL and he runs head first right into the back of the lineman/the defenders barrelling his way for a few yards before running out of steam.. essentially the same way he looks right now. Jones had great vision- second only to Martin in this franchise and his patience was also impressive. He let the blocks develop before sliding around them and finding the open areas. A concept that Ivory cannot grasp. He gets the ball and runs like his freakin pants are on fire straight at people. Which is fine and dandy but it just makes him a one dimensional power back, not a complete package like Jones and Martin were. Ivory is not a 3 down RB either. Nice player to have in a platoon RB system but lets not build him up to be something he is not so we can be let down later. a classic Jet fan exercise
TJ had good vision, a good cut, and durability...a real workhorse back. Chris Ivory has better edge speed, and breaks tackles like an animal. He is a better pure runner than TJ ever was. However, if Gailey tries to ride him like a workhorse, we will lose him to injury. 20 carries seems like a bit much, I'd rather see him in the 15 range. If Ridley comes back his old self, I could see an even split between he and Ivory down the stretch.
Are you being serious or just being a troll? Ivory is realistically outside the top 10 runningbacks. His running style combined with the fact that his body isn't built for that contact makes him an injury waiting to happen. That's why he needs to get at most 20 carries with a spell back behind him and maybe learn that when he has 3 guys on his back that the extra yard isn't worth a dislocated shoulder on first down. He's a good runner, but people claiming he's better than JC, Lynch, Forte, Le'veon, Eddie Lacy, etc. are nuts and biased.
Ivory is fragile. All RB's with the exception of Curtis Martin and a small handful of hall of famers are fragile given enough carries. Give Ivory his 15 carries a game and give Powell a good number also. RB by Committee works and the Jets appear to have enough quality backs to make it work. And yes, Chris Ivory is a beast. Let's keep him healthy and enjoy beastmode for a few more seasons.
Ivory is an awkward pass catcher. He doesn't have bad hands, he just isn't a fluid receiver. That's the biggest flaw in his game. However it's a good flaw to have because it keeps him off the field on 3rd down and it prevents him from getting hurt on plays where he isn't going to play a particularly meaningful role anyway. We should just be glad that we've got a pounder with some speed who is willing to do the hard work to get gains on 1st and 2nd down and has the skills to pull it off.
