I was a bit surprised by that. Only a few years ago guys like Corey Dillon and Curtis would need 20-25 plays minimum to be effective. I'd assume guys like Bettis, Lewis, Alexander were getting that too.
His runningstyle is what makes me wonder, if he can be a fulltime Back, not his size. How will it work out, when he is supposed to run between the Tackles 10-12 times a game? Will he dance and bounce too much instead of taking the 2-3 yards, that are there? How much can he dance around without getting tired in the 4th? Can he make the crucial inches on 4th and 1 when needed? I?m also not sold on his blocking, can he pick up big DEs and blitzing LBs on a regular basis? Most of the time it?s better for a RB to take your head down and run in there full speed instead of bouncing it outside and dancing around, I?m just not sure, if he can really do that, when he has to make every run, not just the ones designed for him. He?s a very strong and tough little guy, and I think there is a good Chance, that he can carry the full load, but it?s far from a sure thing, we?ll have to wait and see.
Great thread/blog. Lots to think about. It's probably just conditioning, but even faced with this argument my mind keeps going to "but what if he gets hurt." I guess like I've been making the argument about our QBs that we wont know what we have until we unleash them, the same can be said about Leon. Nice thread.
Sensible opinion indeed. When Leon did run through the guts, he had a few 60+ yard TDs last season - that was because the line did a superior job, and on top of that, TJ ground them all game, so by the time Leon's run came, the defense was pretty much tired. So, in that regard, I don't know how Leon will do as the featured back. When it comes to the pass blocking, however, I know Leon is not good enough. I still distinctly remember during the 2nd game of the season last year, how Leon AND Brett were completely victimized by Adalius Thomas - that is, one OLB. That was one of the occasions where I thought to myself Leon may not have the strength to be a full time back. So while it makes all of Leon supporters feel good, the fact stands that Leon may not be strong enough to be a full-time back and he may not thrive as the inside rusher (due to the lack of strength.) EDIT: I was of an opinion that maybe Jets should give Leon a chance as a full-time back, but now I don't think that's such a good idea - especially if there is a body of work that suggests otherwise.
I've been saying since he was a rookie he should be our #1 back. In 2006 when we didn't have a true #1 back, Leon was starting to take over the job in the NE playoff game, then we turned the ball over, never got it back, and it was on to the off-season when we got Jones. He's one of the best runners in the game, he needs to get the ball more than one or two carries plus KO returns.
my friend sent a message saying theres a rumor about Leon washington + 17th pick for Cutler in a 3 team deal WTF is that???
If that's the price Cutler costs, by all means do it. I doubt that level of swindling is possible in NFL though - barring Boobway fiasco.
Sounds like an old rumor from the day he demanded a trade. That rumor had Leon going to the Cards, the Cards sending Leinart to Denver, the Jets sending #17 to Denver and Denver sending Cutler to us. Doesn't sound very realistic to me.
Am I the only one who remembers the games he was the starter in 2006? Ya our imporved O line would help improve on those performances but the real value of Leon is to change the pace. The value of Jones to Leon is that the defensive fronts get acclimated to Jones and then Leon throws them a curve. If he was the full time starter they would adjust and he would be stuffed
Change of pace backs don't necessarily have to be the smaller scatback types. For years, Tony Dungy used Warrick Dunn as his feature back and used Mike Alstott as a change of pace to beat up the tacklers and grind out the short yards.
Leon only carried the ball 76 times and he rushed for 448 yards. TJ got the ball 290 times for 1,312 yards. About 4 times as many attempts as Leon, lets just imagine here for a second Leon was the one who got the ball 290 times...
