That's what I was thinking. Sproles is 3" shorter and 10 lbs heavier, though. He actually can run between NFL tackles.
Sproles is probably a little more shifty/elusive too.. What I should have said was that they already have Sproles, who is pretty much just a better version of Demps.
Dudes fast and pretty tough. Tebow and Demps were scary on the read option. If the defense doesn't stay wide Demps gets the edge, if the defense stays wide Tebow rumbles up the middle for 5. Blocking is suspect. Catching is so so. Faster second step then first means he's slow to get through the hole. Unstoppable if he gets the 2nd level.
Sounds like a guy who could potentially help in our wildcat package right away and on special teams. If sparano likes chunk plays and the jets want to add speed it seems like a no brainer. We may have an advantage over other teams if he has a better shot at getting on the field this year in our jesuscat after no offseason. Only problem is, who gets cut?
If Demps was just a track star I would say forget it but thats not the case. He had good numbers playing at Florida and with Tim Tebow. Speed kills. You cant hit or tackle what you cant catch. Its not like the Jet offense is a juggernaut. Sign this guy and bring him in. I can guarantee though that Tannenbaum is trying to get him cheap so any other team that ups the anti just a little bit might get him first.
Demps provides an aspect to the offense we simply don't have now at runningback. McKnight is fast, but he's not like this. This is pure speed, and given that we want to run some read option with Tebow, he'd be a great fit there right away. He's at least worth a look.
Why would you not want to sign this guy, you instantly get the fastest man in the NFL. Whether it pans out or not, you have to try it.
Agreed; Sproles is better. Saints were just the first team/system that came to my mind because of the indoor turf along with the type of Offense that would maximize Demps' limited talent (yet exceptional speed).
I also think he's worth taking a shot on. Aside from Hill (and that's potentially), we don't have a homerun threat that can scare Defenses. Granted, ground-&-pound doesn't really call for that, but it'd still be beneficial to have a player who can take it the house on any given play. The last threatening speedster I can remember we had was Leon Washington, and I'm pretty sure Demps is much faster than him.
If you opened the paper tomorrow and read that NE Patriots with Tom Brady just signed Jeff Demps, fasted man on Earth, you would ALL shit your pants, sell your season tics, and move to Guam.
Anyone who knows the two UF hybrid running backs/receivers knows that there's the "fastest guy on the team" and "actually the fastest guy on the team". The former is Chris Rainey and the latter is Jeff Demps. Bring him aboard and silence all who call for the Jets to acquire Percy Harvin.
