This year, Greene plays for almost nothing. At the end of the year his contract will expire and he will be looking for big money. Right now based on his performance if you can get a fifth round draft pick and a case of cold beer for him you take it.
I didn't say our FO was particularly good at finding cheap talent to carry the ball. Just that it wasn't all that hard a task to accomplish. Since Curtis Martin retired: Leon Washington (4th) Kevan Barlow (4th) Thomas Jones (flopped 2nds) Jesse Chatman (FA) Shonn Greene (3rd, 4th, 7th) Danny Woodhead (FA) LaDainian Tomlinson (FA) Joe McKnight (4th) Bilal Powell (4th) Terrance Ganaway (6th) That's a pretty pitiful record. When they didn't go out and get a vet on the tail end of his career they spent a lot of mid-round value without finding what they needed. You have to wonder at this point if the scouting department knows what to look for in a back. It's not like a half dozen stars haven't been drafted in the 2nd round over that period.
It's certainly not good but pitiful is a stretch. The Jets have had a lack of success finding one back to carry the load, but the running game from year-to-year has still been one of the better ones in the league for several years. Leon Washington was worth a 4th rounder, Thomas Jones was very effective when he had an offensive line to work with, Greene has had success, and LT as a complimentary back did what we thought he would. The only disasters in there are Barlow and possibly Powell/McKnight. Greene has already contributed a lot, though for the price we paid to get him, he needs to be a little better. Even McKnight was a very valuable special teamer last season. This year is a huge litmus test for the Jets' recent draft moves at runningback. Every runningback on the team was drafted within the last four years. If the running game falls on its face, then you're absolutely right, the Jets have wasted a ton of mid-round picks on mediocre at best runningbacks. But I won't call it a disaster just yet.
I think the only good back in that run was Thomas Jones. Everybody else looked great behind a beefed up line. When the beef started to go away last year so did the results on the ground.
I don't care if Shonn Greene has 8 yards on 593 carries if it's an effective piece of winning games. Obviously that wouldn't be a winning stat line, but the only number that really matters is number of wins. The Jets know who they have and what they want to do with them, and at this point, I trust Sparano's plan.
Not alot of good runners in the NFL right now. Kids don't wanna be Emmitt Smith anymore..they wanna be Randy Moss.Guys either get figured out,banged up or too expensive/old. I think the Jets as well as many other teams have developed a plan of relying on a 2 back system & routinely making value choices at the RB position in the draft, hoping to keep the cycle going(to combat cap decisions/injuries),build depth, & hoping to strike gold w/ enough educated guesses.
I dont know I think theres a ton of good runners in the nfl atm. Not saying theyre great, but alot of good. Greene is pretty mediocre Backs that I think are good (or better) MJD Ray Rice McCoy Foster Gore Lynch Jackson Benson CJ2k Beanie Wells Forte Peterson F Jackson Demarco Murray LBlount Jonathon Stewart McFadden Hillis Pierre Thomas Tolbert Jahvid Best Cadilliac Williams (maybe?) Kevin Smith I mean a few of those guys might be a little bit questionable, but theres still a TON of good backs out there. Ill admit a lot of these guys are underutilized due to the ridiculousness of Goodells wet dream where the nfl bans teams from running the football, but theres still a laundry list of talent.
Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, LeSean McCoy, Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson, Michael Turner, Steven Jackson and we haven't even talked about the young guy who came out of nowhere last year in Arian Foster. Then you have people like Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson. Chris Johnson anybody? There's plenty of top-tier talent at RB in the NFL right now but the Jets don't have any of it, which is kind of par for the course everywhere but CB.
top-tier RB talent? I think not. Might be top tier today, but pick any year 15 or more years ago, and compare the number of good and great running backs to that list. For example, how does that list compare to 1995? Which of those guys would you take over Emmit Smith, Barry Sanders, Curtis Martin, Ricky Watters, Terrell Davis, Craig Heyward or Marshall Faulk? I'd put them closer to the level of Marcus Allen, Errict Rhett, Rodney Hampton, Chris Warren, Terry Allen, Napoleon Kaufman or Charlie Garner. Speaking of '95......how well could we ground'n pound with Craig Heyward and Natrone Means?
MJD is 27 and he's got almost 7K yards in 50 games started. He's got an even chance to go for about 12K yards at this point. He's got 4 more years to get 5K yards and then he's 31. His carries aren't high because he didn't start the first 3 years. Ray Rice is 25 this year and very quietly on a pace to exceed Marshall Faulk by the time he's done. It probably won't happen, since Faulk had an amazing 9 year run, but Rice actually has out-gained him on the ground and caught more passes through the first 4 seasons of his career. Rice is on pace right now to catch about 700 balls in his career and go for about 12K yards on the ground. Chris Johnson looked beat last season and could easily be on the Earl Campbell progression at this point. He's still on pace for 12K yards though in a passing era. I think there have never been as many good two-way backs as there are right now.
Greene is like an average looking prom date, you'll get your picture taken with her, but you're not putting it on your dresser.
Br4dw4y5ux, that is a truly strange pair of comparisons..... I understand where you're going, numbers wise, but it's hard to get past the fact that Rice/Faulk and Johnson/Campbell are not comparable players on the field. Ray Rice reminds me a lot of Earnest Byner, Fred Taylor or Travis Henry, for instance. Also, I'd put MJD and Frank Gore in this category. Johnson shows flashes of Dorsett on his best days, but more like Larry Brown, Larry Johnson, or Nobody today reminds me of Faulk. He reminded me of Chuck Muncie and Thurman Thomas. Nobody reminds me of Campbell, who I think was likely the most talented RB ever to play. Christain Okoye came closest, until Steve Atwater broke him.
I don't give a damn about the running style, I'm just worried about production. Our line was horrible in pass and run blocking all of last year for obvious reasons, and Shonn Greene still managed a 1,000yd season. You do not run for a 1,000yds behind a bad run blocking line without having some talent. On top of that, he was hurt for the majority of the season, which I think if we are going to knock the guy then that is where it would be at. He just can't seem to stay healthy. He has a decent burst, I don't buy that either. He made several plays through the gut and on the outside with speed alone. He isn't the fastest guy in the world and can be caught from behind but he gets the job done. Face it, we do not have a flashy RB that makes you go out and buy his jersey. I get it, but flashy doesn't win you ball games with this offense. Clock management does.
Is everybody on the other team always better than what we have? Can the Jets do no right? It gets old after a while of how everybody on the Jets suck and the guys on the other team are the best. IF we bring in FA they are old or a JAG. I don't care how good of a back you are if your line sucks you will suck. An average back can look behind a good o-line. I worry more about the o-line than I do the RB position. We just needs the backs to stop fumbling and pick up the blitz. I see Mcknight making a lot of big plays and Greene grinding out the yards a good combination.
Are any of these guys hall of famers? Do any of them really dominate on a consistent basis? I'm not saying they aren't good players...I just don't see a truly "great" runner in the NFL right now.
I dont know if any of them will end up in the Hall of Fame or not, but they are all at a whole differant level of RB than Shonn Greene. You can look at stats all you want but if Greene played for the Ravens last season for example, he's their 3rd RB behind Ray Rice and Ricky Williams : seriously. I'm not saying Greene is a complete jag or anything. I'm just saying the Jets should stop trying to make him something he is not. He's a rotational back. If you keep his legs fresh by only giving him the ball a few times throughout the season he can come in periodically and break tackles (like we saw in '09) but he's not a starting RB. Tomlinson is a hall of fame back but he was a shadow of himself with the Jets, but even at that stage in his career the Jets were a much better team the last couple years with him in the backfield instead of Greene. When he got hurt midseason last year the Jets offense really took a hit because Greene couldn't hack it. Now he's gone us Jets fans will really see an upgrade is needed.
you seem to think that only elite players are capable of being a starter. How can you discount the stats when the stats completely contradict everything you are saying? The stats say over 16 games Greene is capable of absorbing carries,producing more than 4 yards a carry...and reaching over 1000 yards. How is that "not hacking it?"
