no matter how you spin it {jacksonville garbage time yardage, he's too small}, Leon Washington is now one of the premiere rookie rbs in the league. he's more than flashed playmaking ability. he shows tremendous power and toughness for his size and a great center of balance. he's slippery to begin with and has evidently been learning form "the master" behind the scenes, a proof of which is his constant improvement specifically in hitting the hole {he's very quick to the hole folks}, and his handling of the media {deflecting praise to the OL etc}. Just to put what he's done in perspective, in to concrete numbers: Leon with limited action and just two starts under his belt: is now 28th in the league in rushing yards from scrimmage at 346 on 71 carries. the league leader, Chester Taylor has 590 on ~double the carries. Deuce McCallister has less than 100 yards more than Leon. Corey Dillon has less Yards, and Maroney has just a handful more... is tied for tenth in the league in YPC {tied with Deuce} at 4.9. is tied for second in the league in 100 yard games {2}. has a "season-long" of just 23 yards -- which I posit as a very very good stat, indicative of the fact that Leon's yardage hasn't come via one or two big runs. Meaning that his YPC is not over-bloated. is tied for 6th in TDs {2}. and he doesn't even have the most carries on the Jets {Barlow}. ~~~~ Now all said and done, Leon is firmly on pace for an over 1000 yards season, at 20 carries a game and 4.9 YPC from here on out, its 1228 -- in limited action as a rookie. Last week, he demonstrated the ability to carry the offense, to provide the initial spark {esp after the poassing game didn't click at forst vs Det.}, and providing the filler throughout the game, as well as providing the ability to close out the game strong. two of these things have been sorely lacking on the Jets. In particular he looked just as strong finishing the game on 5 and 9 yard carries for the first down to ice the game as he did early. he looked on 20 carries as if he could go 10 more if we needed him to. he looks to be in tremendous shape and conditioning. And finally, while the line is gelling, it still isn't premiere. Leon is doing it with 2 rookies and a mediocre, smallish run-blocking line. ~~~~ So, where do we stand with Leon, the Jets RB situation, and the criticisms of everything? There's been a lot of talk about drafting a RB in the first round, whether an AP or Marshawn Lynch or Bush or Irons, or other elsewhere. Do we hedge our bet on Leon, or no? What do we do on the RB situation?
We have more dire needs than RB. As the line continues to gel and Pennington continues to demand respect lanes will open up. If we can get another role player at RB in the second or third round I think that would be better because Leon has obviously shown he can run. I think we just need to find the biggest guy who can play on the D-Line and then look at OLB. I wouldn't be opposed to taking a big WR either or perhaps a TE because Baker is not quite a touchdown maker although he is serviceable.
If Brian Leonard is around at our second round 2 pick, I would be all over that after selecting a NT followed by a passrushing DE/OLB hybrid (somebody 250-270 range in the Ware, Merriman, Porter role)
Theres an option missing . Leon is not an every down back (yet anyway) but as RB by commitee goes I like Houston and Washington doing that. I think CM is done and we will definatley not see him next year and the same with Blaylock so that opens up 2 rosta spots , one to be used on a RB I hope.Not sure whats happing with Barlow. But I agree with Rambo , if we can pick up a role, player in the 3rd round that would be good. Washington is a perfect example of where quality can be found with some good/great scouting. So don't be surprised if we pick up a fringe player.
