He's a rookie 4th rounder. If he keeps this shit up for another three seasons, then it will be a huge let down. It's a little concerning that he's out of shape, but McKnight shouldn't be letting anyone down yet.
If McKnight is essentially red-shirting this Season, then who becomes the #2 RB in the unfortunate scenario that either Greene or Tomlinson misses, say, 8 weeks? I've seen it mentioned several times throughout the thread, but is there a definite answer?
Everyone has tremendous talent in the NFL, the ones with the great work ethic to go with it are the ones who make it. I'm not writing him off already, but this is a HUGE red flag to me. He has a tremendous opportunity in front of him, he needs to want it.
MrE I usually have similar opinions as you, but on this I have to say he definitely let us down if there is no other side story to this, and he really is simply just out of shape. The guy is a professional athlete, there are no excuses to being out of shape when your job relies on it.
McKnight's vision and quickness are god given - it has nothing to do with work ethic, and I think that's one reason why he acts this way. I completely agree about players become great because of work ethic though - Darrelle Revis is a perfect example of that. I've been saying something similar to this for a while now: if McKnight gets his head on straight, the sky's the limit. However, if he lets a negative attitude get in the way of his talent, he'll fail miserably. He was such an up-and-down player at USC, but when he's on top of his game...man, he's a dangerous player.
Amen. If someone just handed you a mill+ and said "you've got 3 months to ______" whatever the blank (short of illegal) is you fucking get it done. He had a miserable rookie camp, which means nothing. But if this is his response to that adversity, it means a ton.
This is starting to become a pattern with this guy, and he hasnt even played in one game yet. This is not a good start, that's for sure. He's really not helping people forget about Leon..
It's just training camp though. I'm disappointed that he failed the conditioning test, which proves he's out of shape, but calling him a "letdown" is a very premature. If this keeps up, then we've got something to be worried about. I've seen what this kid can do when he wants "it". Hopefully his teammates and the coaching staff will help him mature. Ryan is a big time motivator, but money's even bigger. He's got the ability to be a special player on this team - I just hope he embraces it.
Okay yeah, I agree with you that you can't label him as a "letdown" as of right now but he definitely did "let us down" It hopefully won't be permanent though, because I've seen what he can do too and he has crazy talent.
I disagree. :up: The kid being a 4th rounder is exact reason why this s*** shouldn't be happening, not the other way around. This was a very deep draft where we had many really good prospects to choose from (see Cam Thomas), so accepting the possibility that we might have to wait up to three seasons for a return on our investment is scary, to say the least. Not to mention, our drafting philosophy is quality over quantity - we can't really afford to miss on 4th rounders too often, if at all. Thus far, the kid reeks of lifetime underachiever. I hope he turns it around before the end of August...
If you can't get motivated by Rex and LT and Sanchez then you don't deserve to be in the NFL let alone our team. There were plenty of other players left on the draft board that could've been key aspects to this team this season but Sanchez gave you the seal of approval.... now it's time to show everyone your worth it.
The reason he was around in the 4th is because of this stuff. He's always had attitude problems - I'm sure our coaching staff and front office was fully aware of this when they selected him. No player in this draft class, as deep as it may have seemed, should be considered a sure thing. I know you had a man crush on Cam Thomas, but he's a Charger. Joe McKnight was our selection - get used to it. We already have "quality" at the running back position. What's wrong with drafting a developmental prospect that can DEVELOP behind our current RBs? I'll answer that for you: absolutely nothing. Give me a break. That must be why he was named the "Male High School Athlete of the Decade", right? He's an underachiever because he wasn't the next Reggie Bush at USC? There will never, ever be another Reggie Bush. That was such an unfair comparison that he couldn't live up. He's one of the most prolific high school running backs ever in the state of Louisiana. This post reeks of lifetime ignorance.
Not that worried about this. He will either get himself in shape or he won't. If he does great, if not it just means that another hungrier player will get a chance. Who cares if he smokes pot or drinks a beer, the issue is whether he can play ball.
That's twice this bullshit happened, the first I give him a pass for cus it was his first experience in the NFL but for this to happen again right before training camp is discouraging
