I have to agree with Snell based on MadBacker's above post. I had forgotten about that very important run. But Lamont Jordan gets very little credit in my book. I loved the guy. He was averaging 5+ yds per carry, yet Herm sat him and ran the damned wheels off of a not-so-healthy Curtis Martin. Herm even chewed him out for mistakenly attempting to get back on the field. Herm had a nasty relationship with Jordan taht we'll probably never really know about, but I always thought the combination of Martin and Jordan was a killer, yet Herm couldn't get past his dislike for him and he mostly sat him on plays that would have worked well at the time.
Jordan had a lot of potential, but I bet his work ethic sucked, which is why Edwards didn't like him. After Herm traded him to the Raiders, Jordan was an off-injured bum unless he was playing against the Jets, which he made sure to tear us a new one every meeting.
I was too young to really remember Snell's playing days. But from what I have seen, I would say it was between him and Riggins.
Riggins was a terrific back. Proof of this is he went on to be a very durable player with the Redskins for maybe 12 seasons or so. Weeb Ewbank had a problem with Riggin's 1970 mohawk and the two generations couldn't have been further apart. It eventually cost the Jets' running game and Riggins became a free agent nd was gone with a "good riddance" by Weeb, unfortunately.
Haha yeah, if you want John Riggins ability, you had to accept his wild unpredictability. Riggins kind of reminds me of the offensive version of Bart Scott; he was crazy, and he played his position with reckless abandon. It's even more impressive when you remember he was only about 235. It's still big, but its not like he had the frame of Jerome Bettis to throw at defenders.
He had the 235 and the 'tude to go with it. But Weeb had his hands full with Broadway Joe at the time, hanging around 42nd Street Clubs in his mink coat until all hours of the morning and violating every freaking curfew in the book. But he put up with it because Joe was the man and he knew it. Then along came Riggins and he does the Mohawk thing after his rookie year and that was enough to push ole Weeb right over the edge. He fell out with Weeb that year and things were never the same. I liked Riggins a lot and it pissed me off when we let him get away. He would have remained a Jet were it not for the falling out with Weeb I think.
The biggest opposing team beast of a power runner that we had to play twice every year was Larry Czonka. He was like trying to tackle a freaking oak tree. If he could get a yard or two worth of stride, he'd make 5-8 yard runs like they were butter, just about always right up the gut. It usually took 2-3 guys to bring him down and he'd drag people an extra yard or two. Between him and Jim Kick, that was a devastaing running combo thst was damn near impossible to deal with.
Matt Snell. Riggins ended up being a far better runner, but that was mostly (but not completely) after he left the team.
Gotta stop Csonka. Gotta stop Csonka. Put a saddle on that hoss! Your brain has turned to mush due to watching too many Mets games.
It's too early for Greene to be mentioned in any historical discussions. I never got to see Snell play but he was key in SBIII and was a critical part of the offense during that era. I'd go with him.