Jets running back Curtis Martin is taking it slow as he recovers from arthroscopic surgery to his right knee in December. But the 12-year veteran has no doubts he will be back on the gridiron in 2006. Martin however faces a tough challenge from Derrick Blaylock and Cedric Houston for the starting spot. The Jets' QB situation is also unsettled and new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has his work cut out for him. He must choose from either Chad Pennington -- who is recovering from a second major shoulder injury -- Patrick Ramsey, Kellen Clemens, or Brooks Bollinger for the No. 1 spot.
What do you mean "is he locked"? I have no idea what you are trying to say here.... and wonder if you do, too.
Martin will start every game & be the leader of this team once again. Everyone says he washed up & old, but back in '04 he was the rushing champ. Last year he got hurt and if we had anything to play for during the last part of the year, he would've still played. There was no reason for him to play injured behind that OL. Like I said before; you could take any RB you want to from last year and they would've sucked also behind our OL.
I agree that he would have kept playing last season if our games at the end had any meaning, but I feel that other RB's would have played better despite our OL situation. Curtis regularly went down on first contact for most of the season, and the injury slowed him down by at least one step. I expect Curtis to get some of his speed and power back once he is fully healthy, but the share of the running load will be spread to Houston and Blaylock. Our running game's biggest chance of success comes with a multiple player approach.
Having something to play for means having a legitmate backfield threat. It's slices both ways. If the running back sucks the line will suck and the the D will load up on the rush and kill the QB. The idea that an old injured Martin would have played if the games were meaningful is clasic Herm thinking. If early in the year we had a solid back who could break a few long ones it may have given the line a chance and the QB a chance? I contend the line sucked, Martin was old and slow and Chad was at best tentative. Throw in weak talent at TE and WR and you can point all you want at the line but face it the entire O was outright awful. That's the real reason this team is ranked at the bottom of the league and needs to be rebuilt.
Cedric Houston and Derrick Blaylock cannot keep Curtis Martin off the field. They're just not good enough to do that. Just about any first day draftee probably would have run Curtis into the old folks home, but nobody on the current roster will.
I honestly believe that for this season that if both runners were given the same amount of carries, Houston would out rush him. I think Martin is going to show his age next season come November. Cedric Houston as a rookie really showed me something. He displayed fantastic burst and explosion in his running. He proved he can catch the football and he also showed that he enjoys playing the game. I would love to see him carry the football 30 times in one game because I honestly believe he would wear out defenses out. I still think it will be a RBBC, but who knows maybe Martin has one more year in him.
Curtis Martin is the man and he will be this year because we will have a solid line but cedric houston is our future back he will play like a lamont jordan like role this year
Oh. No, he's not at all. It's an open competition, but Martin is the favorite. I thought you meant, "Is he a lock for the opening day roster?" which is a yes.
I don't think we have a viable starter other than Curtis, so even though he is on his last legs, he's the best we have. He will most certainly share carries though, I see him getting 20 per game tops, and sharing primarily with Blaylock...
Martin will be the starter at RB for the Jets. But his carries will be limited this season and he's not gonna be the workhorse. He will split carries with Cedric Houston and Leon Washington. Hey my 700th post.:beer:
