The whole direction of the article is saying that hes making progress, no one is saying that hes the new messiah.
You put McKnight with Tom Brady and you get the same results as Woodhead with Brady. When will people figure out that Brady IS the Pats? Bellichicken stunk it up with Cleveland, was 6-10 with the Pats in 2000, and was 0-2 in 2001 until Bledsoe got hurt and Brady took over. Brady will put Bellichicken in the Hall of Fame, not the other way around. Woodhead, Green-Ellis, Faulk, McKnight --it doesn't really matter if Brady is playing QB.
My expectations of McKnight going into training camp were for him to develop into a back that we can count on to share the load in 2010 if we suffered an injury to Greene or LT. That is basically the value we lost by trading leon. Sure leon was an elite return man and was used in the seminole but brad smith is better in the wildcat and in my opinon at least as dangerous in returns as leon was so we really didnt suffer there. We wont know if mcknight can be counted on until he is given the ball but its at least giod to hear from a teamate that hes working now. I think the problem people have with mcknight is that he came into camp completely out of shape and spent more time throwing up on the sideline than making plays on the field. On top of that we had two guys who produced better and worked harder in camp (woodhead and chauncy) that going into the season we would have felt more comfortable with if we had to depend on them. Bottom line is McKnight made the team based on the fact that the jets felt he has too much potential to cut him not because he outperformed anyone.
Big Vern, The Terminator, and Joe "Mercury" Mc Knight all get made on Dec 6th. They're our secret weapons waiting to be unchained. Watch.
This comment should be the culmination of the McKnight discussion until the kid begins to get legit time on offense, and not just ST duty. McKnight was a 4th round prospect who's main weaknesses stem from a college running style. He runs upright, likes to bounce runs to the outside, and doesn't hit the inside hole confidently. Though it is much easier to fix the "runs too upright" problem than the "doesn't hit inside gaps confidently" problem. But he is young, raw, and was drafted on potential. There were no illusions when he was drafted of him being able to come in and immediately challenge Shonn for feature back status. Let the kid have a season first.
The last two weeks McKnight has done a good job on STs. I've seen his number around the punt returner almost every time and not in a "oops there goes the returner running by me" sort of way. Just a step in the right direction to me which is nice to see
I'd like to see McKnight return some punts. KW has looked pretty clumsy in that role when Leonard hasn't been the sole returner.
On the positive side, it isnt just one tackle. He has now been involved in several tackles on special teams and has been first on the ball several times. Negative side is he is known for his speed and explosiveness. Thats something you usually do not need to "develop". Guys with that as their strength for the most part, come out of the gate faster then a lineman etc that needs to develop. Im neutral on the guy. Anyone with the gifts he possesses should be given at least a few looks an not given up on. Im just happy he is contributing well on special teams because that tells you he "gets it". Thats a great sign.
This is the rational way to look at McKnight. Special Teams isn't for pussies. So we know he is tough enough. That is a pretty good sign.... we shall see.
What progress has he made? he was brought in to fill the role of leon washington and his only contribution on O has been a few garbage time carries against Buf. I have not given up on the guy, I am happy he has done something on STs and I hope to see him contribute on O down the road but to act like he has made incredible porgess is not being fair b/c he hasn't.
Nice to see him playing. Kind of blows a hole in the "he only wasn't playing because there was no room" argument. He wasn't playing because he wasn't ready. At least he's doing something, which is nice to see.
He probably still wouldn't be playing if Cole didn't get hurt. I wouldn't be surprised to see him inactive against the Pats if Cole and Lowery are back. There literally is no room for him on the team unless Greene or LT go down. A special teams gunner got hurt and McKnight stepped into the gap that created and did a nice job. I don't see why that's an issue.
For where he was, puking on the sidelines...fumbling...unable to take critisism etc, he has come a long way. I agree though, his strides are strides that the front office didnt think were needed when they drafted him...or any other player any team ever drafts. He was a 4th round pick that this front office thought they might have caught lightning in a bottle. They still might have...but he is now a project. I like what I have seen from the kid lately. He is saying all the right things and watching Westhoff on the sidelines with him, the kid seems eager. The one thing you cant say yet junc is that he hasnt made progress with the rest of his game because the team hasnt used him there yet. If his mind is right, he does have the tools. Lets see where he is next year at this time.
There is literally no room on this team unless LT or Greene go down -- post #33. I'm not activating 3 backs when I have others who play certain roles better on ST, but even that's a moot point because he plays that ST role well enough to stay there in place of Cole. And I'm not giving carries to 3rd string back, McKnight or whoever else, when I have LT and Greene destroying rush defenses.
Yes. His name is Brad Smith. One of the best gunners in the league for the first few years of his career. Not much of a receiver, which was his drafted position. Mike Westhoff is a magician at developing football players.
if he was good enough they'd find room. We activated 3 RBs early last year b/c Greene was good enough and he even had a few carries.
