Do you watch college football? USC had one non-major opponent on the schedule, and that was San Jose St. USC had the 44th ranked rushing offense and the 54th ranked passing offense. They attempted 379 passes to 438 rushes. Calling them more of a passing threat is a bit silly. How many USC games did you catch last season? I saw just about all of them. The year before, too. They're the best team in my local market, and I went to a Pac 10 school, so I tend to watch the Pac 10 above all else. McKnight looked like a complete RB last season, and had progressed considerably since his sophomore season. He's had a terrible preseason and is having difficulty adjusting to the NFL. No one is suggesting otherwise. This bullshit about him not being solid in college, however, is ridiculous.
OK, I will be honest and concede something for purposes of this: I HATE the PAC 10, I think they're incredibly overrated and have only 2 real teams. I'm an SEC man. So I may be biased. That said, I stand by saying he wasn't terribly impressive in college, because to me he wasn't (I was pissed with this pick at the time, and have seen nothing from this kid in the slightest bit to change that). Only time will tell.
Joe McKnight should be just fine. Last season he was a stand out star for that USC offense. During his first two seasons with USC he rushed the football 183 times for 1199 yards, which was an average of 6.5 yards per carry to go along with 5 TD's. During his 3rd and final year with USC last season he exploded for 1014 rushing yards, average yards per carry of 6.2 to go along with 8 TD's. He's only a rookie learning on the fly. Maybe too many Jet fans are expecting this kid to replace Leon Washington as of right now? Thats just not going to happen. When thinking about the future of McKnight, I always try and keep in mind that not even Leon Washington was an offensive factor during his rookie season, until Lamont Jordan called it quits towards the end of 2006. He's our #3 back behind both Greene and L.T, any production from this kid will become an added bonus for the Jets offense this season.
Not sure if this was posted anywhere, it's from a few hours ago. I for one am happy made the squad over Taylor, I do wish they could've found a spot for Davis but we are carrying more then backs. Everything else seems obvious.
I'm not going to read through eight pages of this and Mr E berating everyone for pointing out the obvious. Watching the game again and looking at the pre-season as a whole, I think the practice squad is the right place for McKnight. He obviously has ability and I'd hate to cut him, especially after drafting him, but he's not ready to play in games yet and would be a dead roster spot for that reason. As I understand it, this is exactly what the practice squad is for. Adding Chauncey Washington and John Conner to Greene, LT and T-Rich would really enhance the Ground and Pound, in my opinion. I also think Woodhead should be on the team somewhere, he's just too good of a football player to deny.
They can't put him on the practice squad. He would be claimed in a second. The guy has talent let's show some patience. It takes some players a little longer to develop aka Gholston.
It depends if there's a roster spot for a guy who can't contribute. Gholston had a lot of guaranteed money because he was drafted #6 overall, I'm not sure about McKnight. If someone picks him up he's not going to be ready to play for them, either.
My point is that another team will pick him up in a second. There are a lot of teams that would gladly find a spot for him and try to develop him. That's exactly why Tanny and Rex have him on the team, they know he would be claimed immediately.
He's afraid of contact, that's all it is. You can see it on his runs. He'll always take the ball outside because he doesn't have to get hit as much. Rex was completely right... He needs to drop his nuts and run. Maybe a fight with a linebacker will do the trick?
Naw better solution, have the Terminator tell him "either let the defense hit you or I'll hit you".....I think there's only like 5 or 6 guys in the NFL I'd fear betting hit by more than Conner at this point, lol...
He still thinks he can out juke everyone. Once he learns to hit the hole and get to the 2nd level, make one move to get 3 more yards and maybe deal with a safety 1 on 1, then he'll have success in this league. And no fumbling.
Is that not the practice squad? I'm not versed in all of that. I just don't think he's ready to play in games, wouldn't want to give up on him if there's a place to put him where he can learn, but right now there's better guys to fill the spots for real games.
The good news is that his problem is fumbling the ball not his level of skill. Hanging onto the ball can be taught, natural skill level cannot. The coaching staff needs to coach him up. They wouldn't keep him around if they didn't see the potential. There is no need to make knee jerk reactions and start cutting everyone that didn't immediately live up to the expectations. That's what losing organizations do.
I agree. I also think one problem is his vision hasn't caught up to the NFL yet. He's got a great first cut, but the huge difference in the size of the holes is causing hesitation at this level. I really had hoped to see him behind our first team line. The holes were pathetic for all 3 backups, but Washington is a straight ahead back and Woodhead has been at this level long enough to know that you run first and THEN trust the hole will open or cut it back.
No, the practice squad is different. We have a 53 man active roster, but only 45 can suit up. Clemens and 7 others will be sitting for every game.
It's not his only problem, it's just the most troubling one because it's a fundamentals issue that he had early at USC. Once he settles down and gets some coaching, it should go away.
I looked it up last night (McKnight's salary). It is about $500K in guaranteed money and then ~$350K is base salary for this year. Total value of the contract is about $2.5M.
Gotcha, thanks. That's what I meant, somewhere he stays on the Jets but doesn't take up a spot for someone we need in games right now. Like rex2009 said, he can be taught not to fumble and he can also learn to be more physical. Clowney to me looks more physical and aggressive than in the past. Before this year it seemed like he either ran past everyone or got hit and broke, this year he seems to me getting in there more. Probably because he know STs is his ticket to stay on the team.
