From the get I looked at Leon as a carbon copy of Curtis martin. (Size,Elusiveness,) one big diffence is speed ,Leon is much faster then curtis ,even in his prime. The one thing that Leon hasnt displayed yet is vision in finding the hole's albeit small ,there were holes Leon ran right past and missed altogether. With a year nder his belt and some real time to get some run blocking cleaned up ,I think Leon will do the job! one area filled ,several more to go!
I think you could do alot worse than Leon as a featured back and we shouldn't go after a runningback just for the sake of adding another guy to the rotation. With that said if you can get a guy like Kenny Irons late in the 2nd round I think you pull the trigger. There's no question guys like Washington and Brad Smith could be major weapons for years to come but if you get a chance to upgrade I think you have to do it.
He just needs to get a little bigger, in size and height, and then I would label him FRANCHISE RB. He is def. capable of doing it, in my opinion. For now, I'd label him as the Jets 2007-2008 starting RB.
In my mind the jury is still out on Leon being the featured back. I'll give him absolute credit in one area though, blitz pickup. In the preseason and early on he was absolutely atrocious in that capacity and I posted here that he will never be a featured back if he can't protect his QB. Lo and behold in the second half of the season he improved in that area and hence began getting more opportunities. I read that as he takes to coaching well and is able to learn. I'd still like to get another back in here to share carries, but I am giving Leon the benefit of the doubt for now....
Are you guys REALLY paitent enough to let Leon become a full time RB? The problem most people aren't seeing is that RBs take a BEATING, game in and game out. Can Leon handle that load realistically? Hell no, and we all know that. It could take Leon 2-3 more years to work up the bulk and strength needed to be a full time NFL back. The Jets are a decent team NOW and with a good offseason (and this offseasons strengths are our weaknesses) could be on the verge of joining the very good to elite level. Thats not even going into how the Tri-State media would never have that kind of paitence, meaning many Jets fans won't have that kind of paitence. Or that Leon is a crazy good third down back. Or that two back systems have alot of pluses, and Leon is the kind of guy who could be the lightning to someones thunder right now and be damn good at it. To me the best thing the Jets can do to upgrade is to draft/sign a big guard/tackle and trade for Micheal Turner. Like I've said before, this offseason's FA and draft class main strength is defense, and theres a suprisingly high amount of 3-4 DL and OLBs available. I think the Jets also realize this, and thats why Turner has been talked about for quite some time. If the Jets DO draft a RB and it's not Peterson/Lynch...I like Kolby Smith alot. He took over after Bush fell, and he runs harder, has a great NFL RB body/size, and his speed is decent (ran a 4.51). He's a nice draft sleeper.
