My first thoughts on the Leon situation were that the Jets were letting Leon and his agent Alvin the Shitmunk find out true fair market value so the Jets could match a reasonable contract that they could not reach through direct negotiation with his agent. The Jets are pretty much hedging their bets in this situation. Leon is a very dynamic back (when healthy), so if some team really wants to gamble an unmatchable contract along with a 2nd round pick in a draft full of top notch talent at the RB position... well, the Jets will no doubt draft a runningback early. Leon gambled an lost in this situation by not taking the contract offered in 2009 with an uncapped year and restricted free agency looming. I had once thought that Leon would get a fair offer and the Jets would match. Now, I'm not so sure Leon is going to get an offer that he will want to sign. He's going to work out for some teams in probably the second week of April, and he may get some offers, but I doubt they will be the kind of money that he's looking for. The Jets will probably get him at a premium ($1.759mil) in a contract year and then he hits the street in 2011. Either that, or the Jets fall in love with a runningback in this year's draft and they trade him to move up for that RB. As far as your problem with LT versus Leon getting priority from the Jets, LT will put more asses in the seats, and will sell more jerseys. I think we know that's a simple truth of the situation. If Leon goes, we probably replace him with a bruiser instead of a scatback and go heavy on the ground and pound. Leon stay, we have 2 dynamic 3rd downers and possibly draft a bruiser early anyway.
The signing sucks no matter how you slice it. If the role is diminished and Greene becomes the primary back, then the 3m is a terrible value. Pretending that Tomlinson, with all his mileage and age, was merely a victim of a poor offensive line is even more foolish. He was a sub 4 back when other guys were succeeding a few years ago. He is more than likely done. Look, I don't think either is poised to have a good year. History suggests that Jones is due for a monumental fall off. But Tomlinson is already in the midst of one. And because he's a veteran and first ballot hall of famer, the Jets will feel compelled to give him inefficient, bad carries "out of respect." And that's terrible, and will lead to a sideshow we don't need. The Jets could instead be giving carries to someone who could develop and have a real future. To me, that's more valuable than Tomlinson's "versatility." -X-
Although I love Leon, I would not be so confident about his return as an explosive type. If he did indeed have a compound fracture to both bones, that is the kind of catastrophic injury that you don't typically return from at full tilt, particularly when you make your living with your legs. I think this is a strong draft class, and I would have preferred drafting a running back on day one and re-signing Leon. But now we've got LT, so we're kind of stuck. Unfortunately, that signing makes it more than likely we let Leon walk. -X-
Let's not also forget that while we may lose Leons wildcat skills, we gain LT's. Dude has thrown a lot of TD passes.
You really think Rex Ryan is going to give Tomlinson carries out of respect?? If you really believe that then you have no faith in the Jets coaching staff. Rex is no Norv Turner.
I don't understand why writers, TGGers are so fixated on this. Even if it were a downgrade, who gives a shit? Even if TJ stayed in NY, he would be playing backup anyway. Shonn Greene is the future, so essentially people are bitching about switching our backup runningback. Shonn Greene has looked great, he runs better than TJ, so the runningback position was really UPGRADED this year. We grabbed another cornerback, a clear need as seen in last years playoffs. We have a QB that will be more mature, Rex has a year under his belt and Braylon will have more experience with this team (also he showed up to the voluntary workouts). These factors alone, even before the draft, has improved this team on paper drastically. So don't get caught up about this backup runningback nonsense. Its really a just drop in the bucket for this team.
Yeah, it's pretty much an argument on who is the better backup to Greene. One thing that I like about LT though is his vision. He might not be as explosive or as fresh as TJ , but I really doubt we'll be seeing LT running into the backs of his blockers and diving to the the ground.
That's a good point, with him and Smith as a passing threat that could be lethal, LT has thrown 7 TD's in his career. Imagine just how sick it would be to put all 3 out there.
The reason I'm fixated on it is that LT was the main reason the Chargers didn't get to the AFC Championship game last year. I hate the fact that we were the team that profited from his inability to exploit our weakness against the run and yet we turned right around and signed him. It's like the Rams trade for Joe Namath in 1975, it almost can't turn out well for us because we appear to be clueless just by making the move.
But Sproles' ypc was just as bad this year as LT. Is he terrible too, or is there a common factor dragging them both down?
You mean like their terrible OLine? Or the coach who would rather throw the ball on 3rd and 1 than run for it unless the situation calls for him to completely out-think himself?
Sproles was at 3.7 and LT at 3.3. That's not the same by any means. I'm not saying that LT wouldn't have done better if he was behind a better offensive line, I'm saying that 3.3 YPC at 30 generally means somebody is done being a positive factor in an NFL offense, particularly after they also declined a lot at 29. LT could go back up to 3.9 YPC next year for us and he wouldn't help us at all, because a younger back with skills would be doing better than that behind our line.
Sproles was the change of pace back. Look around the league - those guys who get a third of the carries, or a little less, are putting up 5-6 ypc. In a way his 3.7 is more shocking than LTs 3.3ypc.
FWIW, if a back gets 20 carries per game that 0.4ypc equates to 8 yards a game. For Sproles with fewer carries it's even less.
Keep in mind the fact that the article is Clarke Judge’s opinion. The Jets paid LT more money then TJ got paid. That strongly indicates that it is Tannenbaum’s and Rex’s opinion that LT has more left in the tank then TJ. I’ll go with Mike T and Rex. It’s ridiculous to think that the Jets signed LT to sell PSL’s while sacrificing team production. I really doubt there is any one who is willing to cough up $20,000 because LT is on the team.
Clueless? I don't think Tanny and Rex did this for the hell of it. They did their homework on the guy and if they think LT can still do it, then he can. Please wait until midway through the season before you call this move clueless. Also, LT is probably better suited to teach Greene than TJ could anyway. TJ was a product of a good system, but LT has skills whether dwindling or not. I hope Greene learns a lot from LT.
Really ? And..what about in Pass Protection....? That's why he's here. He's the best pair of hands out of the backfield, and the most reliable blitz pick up...(probably even with Jones in the latter, superior in the former)
