And Johnny Lam Jones was faster than Jerry Rice which means absolute nothing. Speed is a valuable asset on the football field but it is never an indicator as to whether a player has talent or not.
Woodhead does pack 200 pounds on an even smaller frame then Washington so you never know. Fair point, but people were remarking on how we were going to miss Washington's speed and quickness on the field.
Although Im upset that Leon went down and our Kick off returns will suffer due to it , Im Glad we finaly got to see Shone the Green Mile baby!!!!!!!!!!!! Now if we can keep this gound game churning , we will be able to take the pressure off Sanchez and have a more balanced attack.
From what I see right now it does not seem like a big loss but Greene is a rookie and we lost our solid RB/KR
I'm not going to quote any one poster, but for those comparing kick returning and punt returning...they're two completely different animals. Returning a punt is much harder. Often you're catching the ball with as many as three guys screaming in your face and the ball coming from a much higher trajectory. Making the catch and getting a strong first step is one of the hardest things to do is this sport. Not to mention the 2 to 3 seconds you have to think about whether or not you're making a fair catch. Now, the loss of the wedge technique definitely makes retuning kickoffs harder, but one, you're catching the ball with only your teammates in front of you, two, you have time to look up and see what's ahead of you, and, three, the ball is coming at you more on a straight line, making it easier to catch. There's a reason dynamic punt returners (i.e. Hester, Dante Hall to name a couple) are few and far between, whereas kick returners can be replaced, IMO. Still, the loss of LW is a tough blow. But one guy said it earlier, the loss of Jenkins is much, much worse, and replacing him in the starting lineup is much harder.
Agreed. Miller could return KO's, and so could Leon. Why didn't they return punts? Hands. A punt returner has to have excellent hands with the coverage being right on top of them immediately, as the ball arrives. Miller never could handle even a KO cleanly, but he had time to pick the ball up and run. Leonard is not a dynamic punt returner, but he never drops the ball. THAT is why he's in there, not for his return or run back ability. Woodhead seems to have the hands for it. He also has much more speed than JL. If he can show the CS he has the hands for it... I'd like to see the kid have a go at both KO and punt returns.
I guess the consensus here is that if Jones stays solid and Greene steps in there and changes it up, the real effect of Leon's injury will be on kickoff returns. I agree. Wow, picking up Greene could end up being a huge part of the Jets season at this point. I frankly saw using the pick on him as part of the long term strategy of increasing the team's leverage in relation to both Jones's and Leon's contract situations, but it's coming to the fore a lot earlier than that. I hope he's up to it, and he sure looked good against Oakland. Get better, Leon.
Ryan said in the press conference yesterday that you never have enough good RBs in the NFL, and they try to be aggressive to get good football players when they see the chance. Makes sense, good teams are generally deep and can overcome injuries.
I agree, that doesn't measure their bust speed, ability to cut on a dime and overall explosiveness. Leon is 10 times as athletic then Woodhead but hopefully Woodhead can have a impact, I see him setting up for screen passes or short slants WAY underneath.
No Leon is not ten times more athletic. Woodhead did better in the shuttle, and he would have posted the best overall time in the agilities among running backs had he been invited to the combine. Those are what measure stopping on a dime, cutting, etc. Yea Leon has an amazing talent, but so does Woodhead.
I know that some Jets fans have an unhealthy obsession with Danny Woodhead, but can we stop pretending that he's better than Leon Washington? Washington is a pro bowler, a proven runner, a proven receiver, and a proven returner. Woodhead hasn't even proven that he can stick off the practice squad. Get real.
Apparently, so is the severity of his injury. http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2009/10/ny_jets_running_back_leon_wash_1.html So hopefully the "career ending" talks will subside.
Yeah. This whole Danny Woodhead is as good as Leon Washington thing wasn't my intention when I brought him up. My only point was that Greene and Jones will have to pull the load in the ground game, and hopefully Woodhead can create a spark on special teams. Neither Greene nor Woodhead is replacing Washington. I'm just hoping they do a nice job filling in. Leon is at least the third most significant injury we've suffered this year, and probably the second worst, given that we had Edwards step in for Cotchery.
Agreed ... No matter what Division NCAA he played, you don't gain 7000+ yds in 4 yrs if you do not have ABOVE average skills
But he ran better than Leon wearing shorts and a t-shirt on a track at his home campus. He's got to be a better football player, right?
Leon ran in shorts and a t-shirt too, so whats the difference? It's not Woodhead's fault the NCAA's career leading rusher couldn't get an invite to the combine. And please point out to me where I said Woodhead would be a better football player? please?
There have been plenty of 'athletes' whose skills don't translate the same from the track to the field of professional football. I know it's not Danny's fault he couldn't get invited to the combine. It's also not his fault that he is the size of a GI Joe action figure. I see plenty of size comparisons between Danny and other NFL players, but just look at the kid - he reminds me of David Wright wearing his giant helmet. I hope the guy can contribute on the field, but at this moment his name shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Leon.
The Woodhead haters are amazing. You make it sound like anyone rooting for Woodhead says he's better than Leon, yadayadayada. OK, so some of his measurables at his pro say went on paper as slightly better than Leon's, but no one said he's better. Some might think measurables means he;s more athletic, but that was waht, one poster? Maybe two? Gimmee a break. We are Jets fans, and we hope Woodhead can help us. Yeah, there is a bit of "Rudy" to his story, but that actually seems to get some of you're backs up. Why? There were people on this MB that said Leon would be a turd (paraphrasing) at the NFL level. What is so wrong about hoping Woodhead can work out? Like REX said after DW's big preseason game... "What more could we ask of him?" Every time he has had a chance, he's looked pretty freakin good. That doesn't mean I think he's Leon II. I just would like to see him get his shot in real NFL games. There seems to be a groundswell of posters who just hate this kid, and I don't get it at all. Are you people really Jets fans? Seriously. Do you want Woodhead to be worthless? You sure sound like it... and YOU know who I mean.
its seems to be the norm for Jets fans to want the unknown UDFA to come out of nowhere and be a Jets favorite that has heart and does the little things right. It should be called Chrebet Syndrome. Here's a statement that i hope everyone can agree on: As the 3rd RB on the depth chart, you hope he can help anyway he can. its that so hard?
