Nothing ground breaking - but its talkin Jets. http://profootballweekly.com/PFW/The+Way+We+Hear+It/default.htm?mode=afceast Jets may need aging Martin to carry more of the load in ?06 NY Jets With RB Curtis Martin coming off the first major injury of his career and the lowest rushing total of his career, one of the biggest questions for the Jets in training camp will be determining how much of the load the 33-year-old Martin will be able to carry in 2006. History hasn?t been kind to backs of Martin?s age. Of the NFL?s top 10 career rushers, only six played beyond age 33, and none rushed for 1,000 yards after that age. However, there don?t appear to be any solid options to take the job away from Martin. Derrick Blaylock hasn?t been durable enough and missed the team?s June minicamp with an undisclosed injury. Cedric Houston has not showed he?s anything more than a backup, and rookie Leon Washington looks to be more of a third-down option and kick returner. After watching Martin go through the motions in minicamp, there are questions about whether his surgically repaired knee is still not 100 percent or if he was just held out of practice for precautionary reasons.
I hear this statement all the time, but I simply don't understand it. If Ronnie Brown or Cadillac Williams played at Houston's level under the same conditions as we had last season, they would be praised to no end.
Exactly right. What chance did Houston have last year to show much of anything? I can't wait to see what he can do behind a decent O-line this year, now that he's got the rookie jitters out of the way and has a little experience.
totally. These people look at his numbers and say he's nothign sspecial, but never saw him actually play. When he was in there he showed nice speed, decisiveness and - my favorite part of his game - the ability to get those tough yards, running over people, through people, etc. He may never be a star, but he is better than a backup, imo.
Could be Houston's breakout year, no question about it. He's got to be itching to prove something this year, especially with a decent O-line. Thank God Herm isn't still the coach, otherwise he'd be sitting on the sidelines watching Martin the entire year. What a stubborn jackass Herm was, especially when it came to giving anyone but Martin the ball.
I was watching NFL Total Access last night and they had Herm on it. After I got done screaming "FUCK YOU HERM" at the tv several times, I heard him say something along the lines of "in this day and age, you really need two running backs". No shit Herm. You had two. You had several. You only used one.
so true. I often wondered if Curtis Martin was Herman Edwards' son--the amount of playing time Martin got over Jordan was like a little league coach calling his son's play on every down.
Damn right, Houston was a monster last year, and I know he can handle more of the load this season. Houston is going to be a good player in this league, just watch guys.
Brown and Williams are in a totally different class than Houston. What did Houston show last year? Nothing
He ran very well (a ypc just under 4 I believe) with a shitty offensive line and he'd be starting caliber if you put him behind a decent or good OL. As said before me he showed good speed in elusiveness, as well as the ability to always get the extra yard or two after getting hit. On most of his carries he was hit at the line or just after the line and still was able to put up solid yardage. Very impressive, IMO.
The only reason he was a 6th round pick was because of his thyroid condition. He was a first round talent, and now that his thyroid condition has been treated, he will emerge as a total steal!
When we drafted him, he was a 3rd round prospect, probably a 1st day prospect, and we got him in round 6. I have a hard time believing that a prospect that was that good would fall to round 6 simply due to a thyroid problem which we fixed before last season even started.
You're probably right, but I remember him doing very well at Tennessee earlier in his career. If I remember correctly, it was the thyroid condition that limited him during his senior year and his draft status fell considerably. I think he showed great promise last season as a rookie. If his development continues, I see no reason why he can't become a solid NFL stater.
I'm wondering where you got that from.... for most people with thyroid problems, it's a mix of meds that get it under control, and it's pretty much an educated guess to start with, then blood tests, then a med adjustment, another blood test, etc. That can take as long as 6 months to get it right. 3 months if you are lucky. After seeing him at TC, he appeared to have better speed at the end of the season. I'm not at all convinced the thyroid situation was completely behind him by the start of the season. Even if it was, it meant he had to be behind on his conditioning. It's a whole lot easier to gauge a players speed at TC than it is at a game or on the tube, simply because you are within 50 feet of the players. I want to see him again this year, and compare his burst and speed against what I saw last year. I had read he was projected as a second rounder before he entered his last year of college ball. He just might surprise some people.
I don't know much of anything about thyroids, but if you read what posters say about Houston (not trying to pick on parafly here), it seems like people have made Houston out to be a much better prospect than he really was. I have trouble believing his thyroid problem is fully cured, and if it was, I'm sure he wasn't nearly as good a prospect as we think he is.
