...his name is Leon Washington. All these calls for the Jets to draft McFadden because we lack an impact offensive player miss a few key points: 1) Leon Washington demonstrates with every touch, that he is a threat that defenses need to account for. And I'm not just talking about his excellent work in the return game. Last year when every other Jets ballcarrier would get 2 yards behind our swiss cheese line, Leon would juke and spin and get 4. Anytime he's caught the ball out of the backfield he makes things happen and has already accumulated a handful of game-saving, season-saving pass reception-and-run plays. Leon Washington has breakaway speed, slippery moves, great hands, and a nose for the end zone. And he's already proven he can do it against NFL defenses, even with a leaky line and a creaky QB. Which leads to my second point..... 2) Despite all the evidence in front of him, Eric Mangini just can't bring himself to mandate more touches for Washington. I don't know what the issue is, (maybe a stubborn belief in offensive balance) but it leads me to wonder if McFadden would get enough opportunities to justify the pick. 3) Finally, I know there's a feeling the Leon Washington is too small to get the ball more, that he'll get hurt and breakdown. Well, it's the same things that people said about Charlie Garner in Philadelphia and Priest Holmes in Baltimore. And they were wrong. They let go of these young guys and Oakland and Kansas City swooped in and reaped the benefits of the Eagles and Ravens shortsightedness. All NFL rookies, whether they're big, doughy linemen, or skinny, "fragile" skill players, come into the league way behind in the muscle development category. The college life, even at a big time school, is still no match for the 12-months a year, carefully planned lifting and conditioning program the players in the NFL get. By their 3 or 4th year in the league, the underdeveloped rookies have turned in heavily armored vehicles and are ready to withstand a full time load of abuse. Given all these reasons, I believe the Jets should draft defense first, and simply play Washington more.
Certainly can't argue too much with this. I think we get the most bang for the buck by going defense at #6, but that simply may not be sensible and we won't know until draft day. If Gholston, Dorsey, Ellis and the Longs are gone by #6 and we have a choice between a CB and DMac, I think we have to go with BPA at that point. It has to be DMac. As far as Washington goes, I do look for him to have a year of growth and productivity. The presumed better offensive line play means that he should get passed the first wave of tacklers a bit more often, and then anything can happen after that. The guy should definitely produce some exciting plays this upcoming year.
GSour, I agree completely. I think this guy needs ten touches a game for us to be successful. Obviously, you can't get into Randy ratios or anything, but he's more likely to make things happen than anyone out there. -X-
The Jets have at least 3 potentially explosive players on offense in Washington, Cotchery and Coles. Washington is obvious, if you put him in space he's going for 6 fairly often. Coles has very good after the catch skills and makes people miss routinely when he is given the ball in space. He was a runningback all through high school and only converted to wide receiver at Florida State, mainly because they were stacked at runningback and he wanted a chance to play and had great hands. Cotchery is the most intuitive player when it comes to making yards after that catch that I can recall since at least Al Toon, maybe even longer than that. He makes the first guy miss, frequently immediately after the catch and then he's loose until somebody runs him down. If you give any of these 3 guys a QB who is both accurate and capable of delivering the ball in a timely fashion they are likely to break out with a huge season catching the ball. Put Washington in that kind of offense and he's going to break some runs too as the safeties are forced back to cover.
Here's the problem w/ Leon as a potential feature back(Which DMAC projects to be).. 1. He doesnt have the size/endurance to take on the load of 20+ carries a week. 2. He has proven to be a sub-par pass blocker due to his size 3. If he's pencilled in at starting HB, he's removed from what he does best: Return kicks. If anything, adding DMAC makes all our potential playmakers that much better..as it gives the D another person to worry about, more creativity within the playbook and another fresh body to add to a deep RB corps.
There is no arguing the fact that Washington is an explosive weapon for us. But not as an everydown feature RB. Washington is at his best and most explosive when he is in space and catching balls out of the backfield. I think him and DMac would complement each other really nicely and would form a pretty sick tandem into the future.
Leon is a great player and when given the chance he is explosive. The problem is he is not an every down back. If Dmac is as billed Defenses have to come up with a game plan to specifically stop him as oppose to just stopping our team right now. A player of that Caliber makes everyone better. Those kind of players are rare.
I fear he might be taken when it is our time to pick. We might have to embrace the horror of using the pic on someone not named Dmac or Ghoulston. All for a meaningless win against the Chiefs.
GSour i completely agree. But I am one of the people who hopes we get McFadden. Right now with a better line id like to see leon get 40 percent of the carries. but in all reality Thomas Jones is a nonfactor looking forward in this franchise. hell be gone in a yr or two. what would be better than to have Leon and McFadden long term? throw in the natural injury risk factor and having those two makes total sense. Leon and McFadden can split time in the slot or 4th reciever while also being a spellback and if theyre more effective jones can become a spellback. point in case it gives an Offensive Coordinator endless oppertunities. and if a RB goes down no worries and minimal change of gameplan with that much depth. thats the rationale to drafting mcfadden. im also big on trading down a few spots for a CB or Limas Sweed if ellis or dorsey are there at 6. if not lets hope gholston is there. either way were not in as tricky a draft position as most think. point in case, ive been one of the biggest leon supporters since we drafted him. felt he was severely underused last yr and would like to see him get more carries. but in the big picture like i said thomas jones is a nonfactor so getting an elite prospect for depth and a potential superstar within a yr or two is worth it to me.
Totally agree with you. Now that we have an apparently improved OL, I can definitely see a strong and balanced offense that has a chance to be explosive. An offense that can execute and minimize mistakes coupled with a dominant defense....it looks like things are shaping up that way.
I don't think anyone is saying that Leon should be the starter.I agree that with a better Oline, Leon should get more touches.T Jones should still be the starter and we should forget about DMC. With a deep running back draft such as this we should be able to pick up another RB in round 4.If both Gholston and DMC are available I will be stunned if we pick DMC.The need will be more for a pass rusher than for a RB.
we should draft matt ryan, bc if we don't have a capable qb none of these offseason acquisitions matter, and i dont think we have that right now, matt ryan is going to be a good qb, i dont know if i can say the same about kellen
No one can legitimately question his durability as he has not yet shown himself to be injury prone and his resiliency and endurance have never been tested by an expanded workload over the course of a full season. I personally believe he is capable of generating the same impact offensively as a player like Brian Westbrook who is similarly sized and as Warrick Dunn, who is actually 15 pounds lighter than Leon and performed extremely well during his 12 year career until suffering a statistical drop off last season.
True. I doubt Clemens will ever be better than he was last year because football is such an individual sport...despite the shit OL, WR's droppin shit, and a mediocre at best running game Clemens NEVER showed us that he, the almighty QB, can solely carry a team on his back and thats what a QB is supposed to do.
We don't need a back from the 3rd, 4th or 5th round. You draft McFadden because he is special not because you need him. He is the best player in this draft and I don't think I have seen any scout ratings that says otherwise. If he falls to 6th we should grab him in a heartbeat.
not drinking the kool-aid...no matter how good it looks As well as mcfadden has performed i'm just not a believer. I'm not even sold he's an upgrade from Leon Washington. Durability? Mcfadden shared duties in the backfield so I'm not even sure he's all that durable. Think of Maroney and Barber at University of Minnesota. Both are good but neither are studs. Honest question: If mcfadden was that much better would he really have been sharing touches as much as I'm reading? give me gholston or trade down for something high teens and pickup stewart from oregon
Last season the problem with running the ball lay with the O line. That problem has been addressed significantly.The pass rush(if you can call it that ) was just as bad.The only addition to that group has been Calvin Pace.Why wouldnt the Jets get another pass rusher if Gholston is available.I don't see the logic in picking DMC, when we have two capable runners and we can still get another good back in later rounds.DMC may be special, but I dont even think he is the best running back in this draft.
