I was having this discussion with a friend of mine, and I'd like to hear the board's input on this one. Who would you say are the quickest Jets players of all time? We are looking for one on offense and one on defense.
Santana Moss on Offense-Aaron Glenn on Defense. Leon Washington might get Honorable mention. Johnny Lam Jones was probably the fastest.
Lam Jones was the fastest, Freeman McNeil who was very slow straight line was the quickest. Bruce Harper was also pretty quick.
If I had to guess I would say Fastest is the one who would win a 40 yard dash. Quick would be football speed which would mean quick to the ball when it's in the air or shaking a defender.
Chrebet was pretty quick too and also straight line slow. I'd say Harper was probably quickest, with honorable mention to Glenn. Fastest would be either Lam Jones or Coles before the toe.
Yeah, had to be Johnny Lam Jones..too bad that's all he could do, run in a straight line. He had world class sprinter speed.
I think I can only explain through example: Coles is a quick player. He doesn't make his money burning people down the sideline- but he can cut on you on a dime, juke you out of your shoes and change lanes at full speed. Quick. Randy Moss is a fast player. He really doesn't break ankles after the catch or fire off explosive cuts (In fact he appears deceptively laconic making his cuts). But he will outrun any DB down the sideline and if he gets behind the secondary with the ball, no one will catch him. Fast.
Another good example might be Jerome Bettis, who is both quick and slow. He will burn no one, but he spent his career mastering some quick little jukes and spins and lane changes. Can anyone think of a player who is fast and (whatever the opposite of quick is)? Forrest Gump maybe.
It's also said about Moss that it is impossible to overthrow him. He is a true burner and like you said it is very deceptive.
I guess I was looking for more "Fast" than "Quick". We were looking for the player who were GONE when they turned it up to 5th gear.
You would have to give the fastest to Johnny Lam Jones...running fast was actually the only thing he could do right on the field.
Lam Jones, Dedric Ward, Laveranues Coles before his toe injury (4.32 40 was his fastest clock), Aaron Glenn, Wesley Walker. Those are the really fast guys I can recall. Justin Miller doesn't quite fit in there because you have to adjust for era. He ran a 4.43 40 at the combine and as fast as 4.41 in campus workouts. That's similar to Wesley Walker's times of 3 decades ago.
Everyone's favorite player - John Abraham - was both extremely quick and fast -- for his size, that is. I agree with Biggs that Freeman McNeil was extremely quick, he could break ankles. Curtis was quick too, though not fast. Wesley Walker was extremely fast, too.
Leon Washington is both quick and fast - quite a combination. Santana Moss was the smoothest runner I've ever sen in a Jets uniform and he could really move. Wesley Walker was also very fast, but had a rather awkward, hunched running style. The best effort I've ever seen by a Jet to run fast was by a linebacker (I think it might have been Matt Monger?) on a muffed punt. He picked up the ball and then went flat out for the end zone. He wasn't moving quickly, but my god he was trying - he was looking almost straight up at the sky and half glancing over his shoulder (which just slowed him down). He was tackled and it was all for nothing anyway because you can't advance a muff, only a fumble.