I do not think there is anyone on this site that thinks that aside from top flight talent the Jets are not also lacking Depth in all area's. I do not think the Jets can afford to pass on good football players. If they are picking in any round and the best player left on their board is RB, then by all means take him. Getting good football players is an obvious priority and if that means they are behind someone else on the depth chart, who cares. Especially RB where the back up is only a half second away from being the starter.
Thomas Jones rushed for a pedestrian 1,119 yards off 310 carries for a miserable 3.6 ypc. He had the lowest YPC of the top 20 Rushers in the NFL (by yards). His load was 5th in the league behind Clinton Portis, Edgerrin James, Willie Parker and LaDanian Tomlinson. Those guys should be getting 300+ carries, not Thomas Jones. Ok so he played on a crappy team and had a crappy year. Happens to everyone right? 2006 he ranked 11th in yards at 1,210 yards, 11th in carries at 296, and had 4.1 ypc (tied for 13th among the top 20 backs by yards) beating Ahman green, Jamal Lewis, Edgerrin James and Rudi Johnson among others. 2005 might have been his best season with 1,335 yards off 314 carries for 4.3 ypc. And that concludes his 1000 yard seasons, a feat that many speculate to be too simple to use as an effective evaluation hurdle. The fact of the matter is the guy has one good season, a couple average seasons and a bunch of mediocre ones. He is a career 3.9 ypc rusher who has been just good enough to not be wanted by any team he has played for. And to your point that he helped the Bears to the Superbowl and no one would be good on our team, we aren't getting any better anytime soon. We aren't suddenly going to have a line the caliber of Chicago's or make it deep in the playoffs next year so if Thomas Jones wasn't effective under the conditions that were presented to him in 2007, why would he fare better in 2008? Not to mention he will be 30 before the next season starts, a perilous age for running backs indeed. I never said he was supposed to be an every down back, I surmised that he may be capable of it a la Brian Westbrook. He has been a great player for the Jets and has contributed a great deal but when you say carrying a full load you generally refer to at the position the player plays. Leon has not carried a full load at Running Back yet. When he starts carrying it 250+ times a year effectively, then maybe we won't have a need for a feature back to compliment him. His efforts in the return game and on special teams do not change the fact that he has not solved our running back needs. As Miamipuck illustrated, just because we are more "set" at one position (example: running back) than another position (example: nose tackle) does not mean we can afford to pass on a Running Back if a great prospect is available. I'm not reaching for Paul Shirley in round 2 if Felix Jones is available. If the best player available is a running back, we take a running back, regardless of if we need a Nose Tackle or another position more.
We need to upgrade the OL first. A lot of guys can run effectively if you block, not many can if you don't. That's why low round guys can be good, they're good if the blocking is good.
The production that TJ did last season was remarkable when you look at what he was given. I dont know if you fully understand how terrible our O-Line truly was, but it was probably one the the top 5 worst O-lines last season. For any back to gain 1K in rushing, with our line, is an individual that really deserves no criticism for his efforts last season. Of course his YPC is going to be severely low behind the O-line we had. That is a no brainer, but to get those tough yards (TJ made most of the yardage on pure skill alone. IMO) while trying to run through a brick wall every carry, is remarkable to me. There was a reason why the media were all over the Bears with the trade they made with us. Looking at the season the Bears had (especially on offense), I would say the Bears really missed TJ running the ball. Sure they had QB issues that hurt their season, but we did not have Peyton Manning behind center ourselves. So I dont want to hear that argument. So, it looks like Cedric Benson is really paying off for them so far... :/ Good choices.. Good choices..
i dislike thomas jones. is it me or duznt he start to bak in the back field i would love to grab ray rice in the draft i hope the jets pull their head out of their azz and do it
I'll feel comfortable with Jones when people stop making excuses for him. He has been a journeyman his entire career and one good season isn't going to change that. However, I don't want to turn this into a bash TJ thread, the point is we are certainly not set at RB and although taking one in the first round may be foolish, there are going to be great players available in rounds 2-4. As for the Bears, people have known Benson sucked for two years, that is not news that they struggled to run the ball without Jones.
I definitely agree with Rambo on this issue... We are not "set" at runningback. Jones is a decent back but he is nothing special and is now 30. Guys like Ahmad Bradshaw, and Ryan Grant, show that you can pick up someone special later on in the draft. It wouldnt hurt to pick up one back day 2 and then sign another undrafted and REALLY give them a shot to see what they have.
Sounds like you already have. In fact, this is where your posts have been going for 2-3 pages now. We stole TJ, and behind a good line, he'll kick plenty of ass for us. RB is not an immediate concern, period. This is fine and dandy, but not at the expense of filling slots at other positions for now.
RB is the easiest position in the NFL to "plug and play". You don't need to groom a RB. When TJ is done, then we can worry about drafting another RB or picking up a FA. Hopefully by then we've managed to build a dominant o-line. Please do not draft a RB!
I happen to agree w/ you. This is all just a classic arguement of need vs. value. I still believe we need to add the best footbal players we possibly can regardless of position on draft day.Others feel differently...we shall see..
Really, the jets rushed for 1700 yards with no line or passing attack, and your not happy. Thomas Jones ran for 1100 yards, albeit a low 3.6 yds/carry, with possibly the worst offensive line I have every seen. To make matters worse he had no deep threat for the first half of the year. We are fine with our starter. We have the luxury of a solid change of pace back that we can move around. You will see him taking more of a Reggie Bush, Warrick Dunn role next year. The kid is going to be a playmaker in our offense. I will say that we need some depth. I can see us looking at a FB/HB type player. Get someone that can step in to the HB position if needed, but pave the way as their primary role.(Personally I would jump on Jacob Hester, he reminds me of Chrebet)
I agree Willie.....that is like the LAST thing we need. We MUST upgrade BOTH lines (our linebackers and secondary are coming along nicely) and forget about these so called "skill "positions
You will feel comfortable when people stop making excuses? Nobody has the need to make an excuse, since he was one of the most consistent players on our offense last season. When you hit a 1,000 yds as a RB in a season, usually that means you did your part for your team. Especially if you are running behind an island of shit like he was. I think you would feel better if you would stop making excuses towards reasonings on why you believe he sucks. You already went on for about 3 pages about TJ. It kinda already turned to a bashing thing, but regardless, this will be the last thing I say about TJ's contribution for this team.
2-3 pages? Really? I think I stated my initial opinion and 1 rebuttal. I apologize if I don't want my team to just "fill slots." I want impact players who can make a difference, not someone I can just send out there because we don't have anyone better.
All I'm saying is the sole argument I have heard for Thomas Jones is that our Offensive Line sucked. Seriously, the only thing I have heard was "Thomas Jones is great because he played behind a sucky line last year." No one has given me a reason why Thomas Jones is a great runner on his own, it is always someone else fault why he had a mediocre season. Totally disagree with that statement. There have been countless 1000 yard rushers over the years who weren't very good in the end. Not to mention I don't want my starting running back to just "do his part," I want him to lead/carry his team and make a difference. Especially if we are going with a young quarterback. 3 pages? Really guys? Did you actually read every post or just skip to the end and assume what Section 227 said was gospel? I'll reiterate what I said in the above post. If an intial comment and one rebuttal is enough to get your guys panties in a bunch then I feel sorry for you. This is a place where people come to discuss their opinions about the team. If you are too obtuse to consider opinions that are not sunshine and daisies, go post at the Dolphins forum or something.
Anyways, the intitial point was not the Thomas Jones sucks it was that he hasn't proven anything this year. Our offense and our offensive line is not going to suddenly get better next year. That being the case, and admitting that Thomas Jones is going to be 30, and Leon probably nothing more than a third down/change of pace back unless our CS starts utilizing him more, we should definitely consider drafting a running back. That is not to say we trade up to get McFadden or reach for Tashard Choice in round 2, but if the value is there, there could be a legitimate upgrade out there.
Okay, okay... you've made your point... you want us to draft a RB! An argument can be made for that, especially with the tantalizing value that will probably present itself in this year's draft. I just felt it's unfair of you to repetetively say that Jones hasn't "proven himself" this year. And then when someone attempts to defend Jones, you apparently want great statistical numbers from them to support their claim, a demand you know is patently impossible to come up with this year, given our abysmal O-line, a chicken-or-the-egg thing. But okay, lets' just agree that keeping an eye out for a good RB at a reasonable price this spring is a good idea. My only argument is that this is not my #1 priority this year, nor should it be Tangini's. We need to focus on both lines, REALLY focus on them. BTW, I disagree that our O-line cannot be measurably improved by next year. I'm not saying it can "suddenly get better," I don't know anyone who would make that claim, but it can be improved considerably in one season, which is where we need to focus.
