someone reported word from their draft room was Singletary was looking for a tough RB to pair with gore. i think thats the scenario your implying.
Not to be a jerk, but neither did you -- the Jets moved up because Greene was the #1 rated guy on their board at the time and they didn't think he'd last as long as he did. Our running backs coach had him as his #1 rated running back - over every other back in the draft - that says a lot. Instead of drafting a boom/bust player in the 4th, the Jets got a player that they see as a clear-cut starter...
He reminds me of Emmit Smith. Emmitt didnt have burning speed but all the other stuff made him a hall of famer.
ive stayed away from the board the last 2 or 3 days cuz well need i explain. i went into the draft with the mindset that i like kellen clemens, and liked him coming out of college, and i wanted to keep our picks and address the lack of depth on the team. but its hard to argue with the players we got. i have no problem with quality over quantity. and i have no problem from having 1 QB i feel has alot to prove but I think can start in this league. to having 2. only thing that irks me is Maclin fell to 19 and he was my favorite player of the draft. i think we could possibly be in the same Brees/Rivers scenario that SD was come the end of next year. back to the original point. Shonn Greene is a beast and I think he has the potential to be a great 1-2 punch with leon. i did notice his OL was really good though, but so is ours. Long as he maintains the show of balance, quick feet, and vision he had at the college level, this will turn out to be a steal. totally love the Greene pick. cant wait to see him take the field.
Not to be a jerk, but I got all that on Sunday night when I first heard about the trade. I'm not new to the draft. I understand the situation. The Jets feel Greene is a no-brainer. Fine. All I posted was a damn opinion. I didn't love the guy the one game I saw him play. Keep in mind, I abhor forming rash opinions based on one game. So in this particular case, don't go nuts with what I write about Greene. Furthermore, I do question trading away multiple picks to move up 11 spots. What is the big deal? I posted an opinion. If it bothers you guys that much, I won't post opinions anymore. JoeJet was the one who really has a lot of nerve. Then Hobbes totally missed what I was bitching about with JoeJet's asinine comment.
Greetings from a Hawkeye Fan (and a new Jets fan). I wanted to drop by and see what you are all saying about our man, Shonn. I posted the below on another Jets board, so if you frequent other boards and read this, my apologies for the redundancy. I watched every down he played, sometimes more than once, as I'd watch replays after attending games. I'm obviously a Hawkeye Homer, but it doesn't take much of a reach to like Shonn Greene. I do have a bit of FB knowledge, as I played small college ball, did some assistance coaching and recruiting, and my oldest son now plays FB at the same small college as I did. None of that makes me an expert by any means, but I do have more than casual observer evaluations of Greene's skillsets. Below is the scouting eval posted by the creater of this thread, along with my additional comments in BLUE after each scouting evaluation point. Sorry if this becomes too long. Athletic Ability: A natural runner who has excellent instincts. When given the chance, he has very good hands and doesn?t seem like he?s fighting the ball. A very good athlete. SG is truly a special athlete and a physical specimen. I saw it posted here somewhere that Shonn ?Thinks too much and isn?t instinctive?. Of all the things you could say about him, the most apparent if you saw him run is that he is VERY instinctive. As far as athleticism goes, below are the results that Shonn put up, along with the same measurable by Knowshon Moreno, rightfully considered a supremely gifted athlete. Vertical Leap: Greene 39? ? Moreno 35.5? Broad Jump: Greene 10?6? ? Moreno 9?7? 225 Bench: Greene 23 reps ? Moreno 25 reps Let me say that Moreno deserved to go as high as he did, and the guy awes me with his play. Moreno is also a stellar character guy, and is going to be a force in the NFL. I just used him as a comparison of numbers. Character/Leadership Ability: Is well liked by his teammates but wasn?t considered a leader of the team. True on both accounts. Shonn is a rather quiet, very humble guy. I doubt you will see him as much of a vocal leader, as he is more of a ?lead by example? type of dude. Iowa had a very similar type of player, in this regard, a few years back named Bob Sanders. Hitman Bob didn?t say a whole lot, but carried a big stick. Shonn has a very similar personality to Bob? they both love contact and like to dish out punishment. Competitive Nature/Work Ethic: When he was academically ineligible in 2007 he let himself gain a lot of weight and didn?t seem to keep himself in shape during this time. Worked hard to get back in shape when he was reinstated on the team. Could raise some flags with NFL teams about his dedication. The weight gain thing was totally exaggerated, mainly by some Iowa message board dwellers. There were reports of Shonn getting up to 300 lbs when he was away for a year. Those rumors have been proven false by all accounts. Some of his teammates/friends said he maybe got to 250 or so, but shed that extra weight before and during Spring practice. He WAS somewhat out of shape after the year away from football, which is to be expected. It?s pretty tough to stay in true game shape without actually playing. He worked damn hard to get back into shape, and his performance speaks to that work ethic. Football Intelligence: Knows where to go on the football field and seems to understand his assignments. His academic problems might be a concern at the next level with more complicated schemes and assignments. He will have to put in a lot of time and his desire could be questioned. I?ve read some people say that he isn?t very smart. Not true at all. I?m not saying the guy is a Rhodes Scholar, but his academic problems were simply from losing focus on his studies. Iowa?s offense isn?t overly complex like some (Florida / Urban Meyer?s for example), but we are one of a dwindling few programs that still runs a pure pro style offense. Shonn?s ?football smarts? are quite apparent, as he quickly picked up the playbook after his absence, and I never saw him go the wrong direction at the snap. Size: Is a little short but is very well built. Is a powerful runner that uses his lack of height to get low on defenders and uses his strength to run over them. Lack of height? He isn?t Adrian Peterson tall, but he was measured at 5?10 ? at the combine and 5? 11? even at the Iowa Pro Day. He DOES run with a very low pad level for a 5? 11? guy, which combined with his balance, footwork, and agility, makes him VERY tough to get a clean hit on. He will likely play at around 230 in the pros, which is a pretty large RB. He is a large framed guy and very muscular all over with an extremely strong lower body. One of the times I spoke with him was after a scrimmage, and in a T-shirt he is a freakishly built athlete. Toughness/Durability: This was his only year of being the full time back. He didn?t miss any games and played through minor injuries. Is a tough runner who likes the ball in his hands. Only one year of full-time duty, so it?s hard to gauge his long term durability. His build and frame SHOULD lend itself to durability. For those of you that watched some of his videos, on the long TD run up the middle against Wisconsin, you will notice where TWICE he had a hitch in his stride on that one run, but still ran away from the DBs. It turned out that he had tweaked his ankle early in the game, and was playing through some pain... to the tune of 217 yards and 3 TDs in a 38-16 rout. His toughness and willingness to play through pain is unquestioned. That was/is one of the major knocks on Chris Wells of Ohio State. Many OSU fans felt like he kept himself out of games with minor, non threatening injuries. Position Specific Traits: Ball Protection: Lost two fumbles this year but security didn?t seem to be a concern with the coaches. Does a good job of securing it when he delivers a blow to the defenders. I?ve seen it said here that Shonn didn?t fumble at all during his 1850 yard campaign. He actually did fumble twice, once in the opener, and once later. But ball security isn?t an issue with him? he secures the rock quite well. Elusiveness/Feet: Does not seem to take on big hits unless he is delivering them to the defense. Has good feet and quick choppy steps to bypass defenders. Coach Ryan time and time again spoke about SG?s incredible vision, which I?ll add to later, but in my opinion, his footwork is what stood out the most to me last year. He has very quick feet for a guy of any size, and incredible footwork for such a big guy. Having great vision doesn?t do you much good if you don?t have the footwork to instantly cut. There were VERY few solid, clean hits on Shonn, unless he was doing the hitting on purpose. Pass Catching: If he concentrates and keeps his eyes on the ball he has shown the ability to be productive in this area. He didn?t get many opportunities this year but doesn?t struggle when they do throw to him. Uses his hands and doesn?t let it get into his body. Most Iowa fans WISH we would throw to our RBs more, but we just don?t. Iowa tends to use TEs as safety valves, rather than RBs, and we have a long history of great TEs (like Dallas Clark). Shonn actually appears to have pretty soft hands, but time will tell if he can show that skillset in the NFL. Pass Blocking: He gives a good effort in this area but seems to go low on defenders. Will need to work on staying on his feet and taking on the linebackers. He can sometimes get in too deep and with his lack of height will have a problem locating outside blitzers. Shonn DID miss some blitz pickups, but mostly in the first half of the season. On the game winning drive against undefeated Penn State, Shonn had two HUGE blitz pickups that allowed our QB to get rid of the ball and get us into field goal range. I?ve already commented on the ?lack of height?. Power: Has very strong legs and likes to deliver a hit and run over defenders. Is naturally low to the ground and keeps his legs moving after contact. Not much needs to be added? just watch his videos. Vision: Has very good instincts and has the vision to locate the hole and hit it. A natural runner who seems to know when to cut up inside and take what the defense gives him. I?ll go with your Coach Ryan on this. I?m not sure about the Curtis Martin vision, but maybe so. SG always seemed to be one step ahead of the defensive pursuit, both at the LOS and in the open field. Speed: Doesn?t have breakaway speed but is quick and it takes a while for defenders to run him down in the open field. Shonn isn?t a 4.4 guy, but he sure as hell isn?t slow by any means, even for the NFL. His speed increased as the year progressed, as he was working his way into better game shape. Lets compare his speed to Knowshon Moreno. At the combine, Moreno ran a 4.62 snd then ran 4.60 and 4.63 at his Pro Day. Greene ran a 4.67 at the combine, but then clicked of 4.51 and 4.54 at his Pro Day (29 of the 32 NFL Teams were there in Iowa City). Anything in the low 4.5s is pretty damn fast times for a 230 lb guy (BTW, Moreno is also 5? 11? and plays around 217 lbs? also not a tiny dude). CONTINUED BELOW
General Comments: Greene could be a workhorse if given the chance. He has only started one year in college so he doesn?t have a lot of wear and tear on his body. He doesn?t have breakaway speed but he is a powerful runner and is built to take on defenders. If he can dedicate his time to improving and learning his playbook he could eventually become a starter in the NFL. OK, by now you?ve surmised that I think a lot of Greene?s abilities? I simply saw too many amazing things from him last year to conclude otherwise. As many of you have stated, Greene is a fantastic fit for the Jets, both as a compliment to your current RBs, and within Ryan?s offensive philosophy. Sanchez is going to grow into a great QB for you (I used to not like him much, but his increased maturity and incredible accuracy has won me over). If need be, Sanchez is one of the very few young QBs who I think could handle the pressure of playing early (more so than Stafford at this point). Iowa started a new Sophomore QB last year, and the best friend of a young QB is a pile-driving chain mover, which is what Greene gives you. But he ended up showing much more than power back skills. His vision, footwork, and short space burst allowed Greene to turn many 4-5 yard gains into 10-20 yarders, or more in many cases. Greene can run with or past most NFL safeties, and he can run over or through many of the CBs. Also, after Shonn's first few games, EVERY opposing coach stated before each game that their defensive philosophy was to try to stop the run (Greene), and make our young QB beat them if he could. Nobody stopped Greene, even against almost constant 8 man fronts (and as a bonus, our QB played pretty well down the stretch). So Shonn ran for 1850 yards (142/game average), in a run-oriented conference, against defenses designed to stop him, and was just reaching top game shape in the last 1/2 to 1/3 of the season. We haven't seen the best of Greene yet. The bottom line is that I have a new team amongst my list of favorites, as I?ll be catching a lot more Jets games in the years to come. I hope Greene becomes the type of dominating back for you that I think he will, and I hope you are able to take back the Big Apple, and even more in years to come. Cheers from Iowa and good luck this season! P.S. I hope you guys are able to pick up Marvin Harrison... I think he still has a couple of good playing years in him, and would be phenomenal to mentor your young WRs, as well as Sanchez. .
I am not saying he will have his career #s, but looking at this video Greene reminds me of Emmitt Smith how he finishes runs off....
I like Hawk WAY MORE than the fans that came here for Favre........ Ive watched just about every video on youtube about this kid. Im convinced a lot of his production has to do with some great o-line play but there is no denying he is a great runner. Im very excited to have him on the Jets.
Yea, I thought about not posting my Marvin Harrison opinion. I watch the Colts quite a bit, mainly to watch ex-Hawkeyes Bob Sanders and Dallas Clark, and I thought Harrison was a bit pouty when Reggie Wayne emerged and Marvin wasn't the clear go-to guy... But he is one hell of a tough possesion receiver at this point of his career, and he blocks downfield like a madman. By the way, I can't post the link (have to have 50 posts on here first), but there is a video on Youtube called "Shonn Greene 2008 Season Highlight Video". 9:50 long and doesn't have the flashy music, but the quality os better than most. I sometimes appreciate the subtle things, and at the 5:48 mark there is a pitch right to SG for a TD. Watch when he gets to the sideline after shedding a tackle. There is a quick burst to outrun the angle pursuit. Again, very subtle, but most pure power backs don't have that extra gear.
Man, I totally missed this post. I knew you wouldn't like the Greene trade, but damn. I didn't think you'd like the Sanchez trade-up either. Will wonders never cease?
onewithdog, you are very correct that Shonn got some great blocking last year. Iowa is known for very good O-lineman, as Ferentz was the O-Line coach for the Ravens before he came to Iowa... it is is forte'. Greene did get almost 1000 of his 1850 AFTER contact, so it wasn't all good blocking. Iowa runs a fairly complex zone-blocking scheme, very similar to Denver and Baltimore, and the RB has to be very good at eing patient and reading his blocks. Quite possibly, 4 of the 5 linemen who started for Iowa last year will be playing on Sundays. Our left tackle, Brian Bulaga, might leave after next season if he keeps up his play. Kiper, like him or not, recently put Bulaga on his short list of Top 5-10 players in next year's draft. The only O-lineman we lost this year was Rob Bruggeman, our center (also can play guard). He so should have been drafted, and Tampa Bay picked him up as an UDFA. He WILL play many years in the NFL... just watch.
