It is NOT the lack of a "feature back". There are so many threads, about getting Turner or Portis or drafting Bush or Marshawn Lynch to fix our running game. But the truth is that none of these guys would be more successfull than Cedric/Leon in our current offense. The problem is Chad. Sorry guys, and Chad supporters but it is true. The biggest problem with Chad at QB is that he ruins the running game. With no running game, we have to then rely on Chad to win our games for us, and to his credit, he is smart and talented enough to do that fairly often. But we will never get to the next level until we improve our running attack, and we will never improve our running attack until we have a QB other than Chad behind center. Here's what happens. Chad cannot make all the throws in the NFL. He cannot throw the deep out and struggles mightily with the long ball. He MUST rely on underneath passes and short passes over the middle to move the chains. Defenses know this, so the safeties do not have to cheat wide for the out and do not have to play deep to offer support for the CBs in go routes and deep slants. So the safeties move between the tackles and close to the line of scrimmage. The Jets need to run against 8 and 9 man fronts continously. That is very, very difficult and our OL just does not run block effectively enough to do it consistently. The solution to this is to get the safeties off the LOS with deep outs, slants and GO patterns (even if they are not completed), Then you can go against a 7 or 6 man front, and have success running the ball. Right now, there are simply no holes for Leon and Cedric to go through, and with Chad at QB there is no way to get them to stop stuffing the box, because the opponents KNOW that Chad cannot beat them to the sideline or deep. If we had Turner, or Lunch or Bush, or heck even Larry Johnson or Adrian Peterson they would not fare very well in the situation we have. Even Franchise RBs need a hole to run though and they are simply not there for the Jets. And this has been true for as long as Chad has been QB. Even with Curtis. Curtis was great but we had exactly the same issues with him running as we seeing know. But Herm would run it 30 times and our OL back then was ,uch better in run blocking so Curtis got his yards, but he had to grind it out. If you look at Curtis' average yards per carry you can see this. (Side note: Leon's numbers compare favorably here, so in lieu of the other issues I think it is premature to give up on him as our feature back.) What is the solution? Three things: 1. Improve the OL with upgrades a guard and RT. A year in off-season conditioning will really help Brick and Mangold. 2. Start Clemens. Clemens can make all the throws and will be able to open up the offense and keep teams from stuffing the box. Whether he is very succesfull or not early with long passes and deep outs is somewhat irrelevant, as it is just as important for there to be a tangible threat of this that the opposing defense must respect. Now you face 7 man fronts, that you can get down to 6 with creative motion packages and with the improved offensive line there are now holes for the running back to get through. But Chad has proven over time he is incapable of doing this and other defenses know this. As long as Chad is our QB, we will never address this issue and our running offense will always struggle 3. Dont use a high pick on a running back. See if Cedric and Leon can be effective and use the high picks on stopping the run, developing a pass rush and shoring up the offensive line. I believe that Mangini knows this as well. No question the best thing for the team this year was for Chad to start, and have Kellen learn. And Chad overachieved. But for us to go farther in the playoffs we need to be able to dominate in the run, score in the red zone consistently and stop the run. The first two will never happen with Chad as the QB, hsi limitations just prevent this.
Curtis Martin was the leading rusher in the league in 2004 with Chad as quarterback. You can knock Chad on many things, and it has been done, but killing the running game is not one of them.
LOL... problem with the running game is we don't have a feature back. The Washington Kool-Aid is killin me. I love the guys abililities, but don't see him as a feature back... Just don't see it... not that he can't have success here, but If you get the chance to get a feature back, you take it...
Start Clemens now and I bet you, we won't make the playoffs this year. First of all you don't know how good he is. Who cares if he throws deeper then Chad? So can Eli Manning but he sucks and is very inconsistant. The Jets can live with Chad's lack of arm. He leds the Offensive, great play action QB, and extremely intelligent. Clemens... who knows... But we can't just throw him in there. If he wins the job in training camp then OK... but we can't just say he is the better QB and say Chad is the problem when he led the Jets into the Playoffs.
Get a feature running back now and it will help Chad and he's Play action, as well as Clemens when/if he takes over.
found this on NFL.com ... I don't know who our O-line coach is, but it sounds like this guy could help a lot. ALEX THE GREAT Lost in the shuffle of Jim Mora's firing was this development -- Atlanta also lost coaching consultant Alex Gibbs, one of the top offensive line coaches in NFL history. In each of Alex Gibbs' three seasons with Atlanta, the Falcons led the NFL in rushing. Gibbs notified the Falcons in December he would not return, and he now is awaiting his next coaching move from the comforts of his home in Arizona. Gibbs is regarded as one of the rare coaches who can overhaul a team's running game, have an impact on its passing game and improve an entire offense. He did it with the Raiders, the Chiefs, the Broncos and the Falcons -- and he will do it for whichever team hires him next. His price tag never is cheap. But the results Gibbs gets are undeniable. Any team that wants one of the league's top rushing offenses can be assured of getting what it wants by hiring Gibbs, one of the highest-profile free agents now available.
Actually so do I. I'm a little too tired to break everything he said down. Maybe I will tomorrow. I will say this though, it would be a HUGE mistake if we don't re-sign Clement to be our RT next year.
I'm not the biggest Pennington fan, but his play action is literally one of the best in the league. With CMart, he could at least sell it once in a while. With a nobody, it's useless. This offense needs a good running back to make Pennington's lack of arm strength less obvious. Just remember that throughout a game he gets weaker due to fatigue. He was slinging some decent balls yesterday, but by the end of the game, there wasn't as much zip on the ball. Bottom line, if we had a feature back, it makes his arm strength less of an issue.
CURTIS. MARTIN. but seriously.....it is a combo of our really light and inexperienced line, and no real true threat at RB......An upgrade at RB is a must, but so is getting a road grater at guard(s) and/or RT, along with d'brick bulking up This will help chad and our passing game,because he works so damn well with playaction (see 2002)......his INT's should go way down with a legit running game, because he will not have to force things so much like he did this year Overall, i expect our offense to be atleast a top 12 unit if everyone stays relatively healthy and we make some upgrades in the offeseason for the lines and bring in a nice back to complement Leon.....Cedric should stay as well as the #3 the sky is the limit
This is very interesting...and I'm intrigued. Do we have the right type of line to run his zone blocking scheme? Anybody have any insight into this?
More like an ok RB that is past his prime, and it depends on the type of RB you have, some RBs can run effectively in mediocre line, while others are dependent on it, Edge was a product of Indy's offense, because of all their weapons, as well as his style being dependent on the line, he was able to thrive while he is in his prime, the Cardinals have a rookie inconsistant QB, while Edge is clearly on the downside of his career or the Colts wouldn't have let him go for nothing
