While our O-line has been poor this season, I really do believe that they are one veteran offensive lineman and one star RB away from being looked at as a great offensive line in the NFL. Great running backs make their lines look great. Most people say the opposite, that great lines make great backs, but I would argue the other way around as well. With this said, grab a vet in the offseason, throw him on the line, and draft... MCFADDEN
I like McFadden and wouldn't be disappointed if the JETS drafted him, but name me one aside from Barry Sanders (and maybe Sweetness) that fits this bill.
A great line can make a great back, not the other way around. There's only one runningback in NFL history that was non-line dependent, that being Barry Sanders,
Thomas Jones has run over a 1,000 yards this season with all the o-line problems we have endured this season..We have other priority's I believe.
Nahh you are wrong there have been many others that can or could get around a bad OL............... Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, OJ Simpson, Eric Dickerson........ you get my point I am sure.
Don't make statements like that without backing it up with facts. Show me an example of a RB thriving in a situation with poor offensive linemen. The best argument I can use is the situation in Seattle. When Steve Hutchinson was there, Alexander led the NFL in yards. Now he's terrible. And look where he ended up- Chester Taylor was very good last year and AP is amazing.
Jim Brown had a great line in Cleveland, so we can't prove or disprove that one either way. Gayle Sayers had an average line in Chicago and took a knee and was retired, which makes the point.
Curtis Martin was a great running back with an average line. If you noticed what I said, I said we were a star running back AND a veteran O-lineman away.
The Jets offensive line was among the top 5 in the NFL for most of Martin's tenure with the Jets. When the line declined precipitously in 2005 Martin was effectively retired instantly. The last few injuries on the line, then Curtis injury and over.
I was being sarcastic.................Not to disprove what you said by any stretch. It takes a once in a generation back to have a shit O-line and still be good. Lets face it Jim Brown would have been successful running behind 5 Adrian Clarke's. I agree with you the premise of this thread is pretty much ridiculous. Sorry sarcasm sometimes gets lost on the internet.
Some say (Emmitt Smith being one of them) that Adrian Peterson has a chance to be the greatest ever. Others say McFadden will be even better than Adrian Peterson. Now I'm not trying to say McFadden will be the best RB ever, but he has the potential to be close. The underlying point is this... he's too good not to draft. The "don't draft him b/c our line sucks" argument is flawed.
This whole thread is flawed. Let me trace your logic from the above statement. Person A says AP could be the greatest ever. Person B says Run DMc is better than AP. Therefore, Run DMc doesn't need an o-line to be good in the NFL. Good work. Adrian Peterson is playing behind one of the best run blocking o-lines in the league. When teams stack the box he does nothing. If nothing is done to correct our o-line, there are very few backs in the history of the game who could have success behind it. We also have a ton of money tied up in the RB position to begin with. Something can and should be done about the o-oline in FA before the draft even happens, but that wasn't part of your argument.
No, it isn't. The draft one ridiculous athlete at one position instead of another ridiculous athlete at another position argument is flawed. I've said it a million times and I'll say it again: Forget the line, forget our running backs. The problem is McFadden first and foremost, before you even think of the line argument (which is valid at the same time). We should in no way burn our first round pick on a man who has horrible fumblitis, often fumbling without even getting touched by a defender, has injury history with his foot and has gotten into bar fights.
Mcfadden= Flavour of the month. Next year there will be a brand new and exciting flavour. WE will NOT draft McFadden
Why did I waste my time watching two minutes of breakaways set up by blocking and speed? He wasn't really touched once in the video and the few times he did get hit he went down like a sack of bricks. Ask Reggie Bush if vertical speed helps you between the tackles. Check if once you can't run between the tackles, if people won't cover the corners. Wait, they will. Congratulations, you showed us a highlight video. Not even a good one at that. G-D forbid I show you a real college runningback's highlight video. Say . . . Mike Hart or Tashard Choice?
