Let me first admit that I am a Rutgers graduate, born and raised miles from the stadium, so yes I have a real bias goin' on here. That said, I think Brian Leonard, the Rutgers FB/TB is a prototype Mangini-type player who does alot of things very well (Eric likes those multi-taskers) and may be a great fit for this offense. Line him up to block for Leon. Send him in the flat for a signature Pennington dump-off. Put him at TB and watch him get the short yardage first down. Put him on Special Teams and watch him behead people. Many scouts feel he has huge potential. He is a super-high character guy and super smart. Predicting where he'll go in the draft is gonna be tough. Some say late 1st all the way to 4th. The scouting combine should give us a better idea but I think he would be a great 2nd round pick. What do you think?
he'll be a mid 2nd rd pick. id rather the jets just draft tony hunt with our early 2nd and leonard becomes a nonfactor. the problem is too many other teams need him more and we have too many pressing needs to draft him where hes gonna go.
I am for it. I enjoy watching the guy and think highly of him. Some feel its not a needed pick, but it is a value pick considering all the things he can do and it cant be any worst than our 3rd rd picks a year ago(which still make no sense to me unless Schlegal and E Smith turn out to be pro bowlers). Some teams can put up a real goose egg when drafting, like the Vikings, but theres certain players you cant go wrong drafting, and i feel Leonard is one of those players
im gonna go on record and say he will be a Jet. I have a feeling he'll be suiting up in green next year and I like the idea. I look at him as our kevin faulk. Faulk doesn't get enough credit in N.E. and I think Leonard will be just like him for us, only he is an even better blocker. He's a great person and a "football" player. I would much rather have him than some goon who runs a 4.3 at the combine with insane measurables, but was disappointing in actual game play.
I've been busy .. I've had alot going on lately and haven't been checking the board often. Sorry if I'm bringing up dead horse thats been beaten to death. Besides the fact that he would be a good fit as a Jet, he would be immensely marketable for the front office. All around good guy, good looking kid, NY native who played on the Cinderella Jersey team. Can you say Jersey sales everybody? Also it would one up the Giants on draft day and thats always a plus. My wife is a Jets fan by marriage and, like many wives/girlfriends liked to cheer for Wayne Chrebet. Lots of women at the stadium wearing #80 on gameday. Chad is popular, but not Chrebet popular. Leonard would have that potential.
Since this guy will most likely be taken on the first day, where do you see him falling to us and what do you position do you see us ignoring (DT, LB, RB, CB) so as to pick up a fullback, the least of our needs....
I don't buy the marketability of him as a player. To begin with, he's a fullback, not one of the positions where you typically find players on a box of wheaties or selling you some consumer product. Geography has nothing to do with it. Chrebet had his following because he was a scrappy little player- his followers aren't there simply because he's raised in NJ and attended school at Hofstra. I don't see what someone with his credentials is going to do to boost sales. He'd be a rookie fullback- ok, and? Season ticket waiting list is over 15 years, most games are soldout. What else would you expect him to do? Sell some extra Jerseys?
No, the Jets shouldn't draft Brian Leonard. I just don't see him as good enough to provide the Jets with the upgrade at the running back position they need. He really wasn't as great a collegiate back as he's been made out to be. Moreover, we have Leon Washington to catch out of the backfield. If the Jets want a Rutgers player, it should be Clark Harris, the tight end. The Jets could really use another tight end. -X-
I have no official stats to back this up but ... I don't think this front office will draft by need. They will draft using the best player available cliche'. And honestly, that is the way to be successful. The question is how do they rate players. Anthony Schlegel, Brad and Eric Smith are good examples of how the Jets rate players ... Character and football smarts are a large part of the equation. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't just like any drafting methodology. The difference this year is that we have an idea of how these guys think and what they look for in a player. As far as need, they will be handled in Free Agency. We've got mad chedda this year.
If we're on the subject of Cinderella Stories, I don't see Leonard as filling that role. Now give me Coltson out of Hofstra, a 7th round pick passed over 6x by everyone, called too slow and not with starting potential, who not only excelled but up until his injury was a leading candidate for OROY- that's Cinderella...
I'm certainly not saying the Jets should draft a player based on marketability and I'm not saying Leonard is the next Broadway Joe. You are wrong when you say Chrebet was popular because he was a scrappy little player. Scrappy little players come in and out of the league every year and some have decent careers and get a little press. For a few years Chrebet's Jersey sold in the Favre-like numbers. if you think that doesn't matter to Ownership your crazy. Just being scrappy didn't justify those sales numbers and all the merchandizing (a Todd McFarlane Figure...). He was a local cult figure because he was the "cute little guy" girls had a crush on and "the everyman" that made us all think we could suit up and play in the NFL. Tri-staters like their local boys and all the NY teams know this and over the years have capitalized on it. And to the remark that he's a fullback and they don't get press ... there was some tight end that sold a few Jerseys for the other team ... Mark Bavaro.
What made Chrebet popular was his style of play and results. His good looks certainly didn't hurt, but since the majority of football fans are male, I don't see that as much of an issue. I'm sure that a few thousand female fans had to have his jersey because they liked the way he looked. Ask Artie the Plumber or Phil from Bayside why they bought their Chrebet jerseys, and I'm sure that it won't be because Chrebet had a nice ass or because he's local. He was our Rudy, plain and simple- location didn't matter. I am agreeing with you on the Bavaro front, and you are helping to make the distinction between impact positions and secondary positions. TE is certainly an impact position, see Gonzalez, Crumpler, Heap and yes, Bavaro. The sales and marketability of a FB just isn't on the same level- much like an OG who is consistently good every year- it's not happening.
Mike Alstott and Moose Johnston. They've sold a few Jerseys from the fullback position while helping there teams to the post season along the way.
Oh my god, if he goes in the 2nd round, the team drafting him may tear a hammy reaching so hard. 7th round, tops.
One of our needs is a playmaker, which I think Leonard would fill. Our offense runs a lot of screens, traps, draws, etc.- something I think Leonard would do very well in- mixed interchangably as a fullback/tailback/H-back kind of player. As far as those other needs you suggested, we have a first and two seconds - enough to grab Leonard and a player or two to fill those needs. Either way, I'm a believer against drafting for "need" anyways. Always draft the best player available for your system, regardless of need. Theres always free agency to fill needs.
You may lose your Most Knowledgable Poster crown on this one. He will not, nor should he, last past the 3rd round. Sometimes great college players sit behind great college players on the same team. This is the case here. If he's sitting there at our 3rd round pick and we pass on him for another Anthony Schlegel I will be seriously annoyed. You will change your opinion after the combine, mark my words.
I think what we are also looking at here is alot of Rutgers loyalty. I wonder whether folks would be so quick to jump on him if he was a graduate of Arizona state?
I agree. Local boys always look good through local, rose-colored glasses. Chrebet was an anomoly. I also disagree with one of the preceding posts that speculates that the Jets will not draft by need but will instead go for BAP. If last year's first two picks weren't need-specific, I'll eat my Jets autograph ball. Even the other players drafted... most were picked for need, then BAP. I don't see Tangini wavering from this strategy one iota in April.
