Sanchez dumped one off to him and he was pretty shifty... not L. Washington but not too bad IMO. I think that some screen plays to him would serve us well.
Of our three backs, he's the quickest, and also the best receiver. Putting the ball in his hands wouldn't be such a bad idea.
It is definitely something I would like to see more, especially out of the slot. If we actually threw some screens to the slot then that BS fake screen play that I cannot stop harping about might actually effective. I'd much rather have him take a few more screens than black blitzing LBs and DEs.
Lately it's looked like TJ's the every down back and is spelled on early downs by Greene and 3rd down by the ring bearer.
Thomas Jones says hello. It's not close, Woodhead has caught what <10 balls in his career? The Jets just refuse to use Jones in that role this year.
No, Woodhead doesn't have very good hands and him and Sanchez have had problems getting their timing right when they have tried going to him. I'd be much happier seeing some screens to Dustin Keller or Brad Smith.
Woodhead is the one guy who was actually given reps at wide receiver, though admittedly, I never realized just what a big time receiving threat Jones had been earlier in his career.
How about screens to Jones, Greene, Keller, Smith, Cotchery. How about some outlet passes to Jones, Greene, Keller, Smith IMO thought is good. Woodhead is at best 5th or 6th best option for both.
Greene has terrible hands. It was the biggest knock against him coming out of college. Woodhead has the same skill set as Leon, albeit not up to Leon's level. Screening the ball to the small, shifty guy is a great way to pick up some yards and I would still love to see what Woodhead could do in the open field. Jones doesn't really have the proper lateral movement or straight-line power to be as effective in screen passes. Cotchery and Keller would be great screen options, but not out of the backfield. As for Smith, I would much rather have him blocking on a screen than taking one. The outlet passes to any of those players would be a great addition as well, but we do not run the screen enough which would really help Sanchez get into a rhythm and add another component to our game which we have have almost completely abandoned since Favre "retried".
Woodhead is our back that gets us 4-9 yards every 3rd and 10+ The Jets always have one of those guys, it's usually on the playcalling though.
Great points - much more thoughtful than mine. I don't agree that Keller wouldn't be a great option out of the backfield. I'm also skeptical about Woodhead. As much as I would like to feel differently because of the guy's heart and effort, I just don't think he will be a playmaker at this level. Hope I have to eat those words but when we have third and long I want to see the ball going to Keller, Edwards or Cotchery
Where did you get your information that he does not have very good hands? All his coaches from high school, college, and up to his current Jet's coaches would say otherwise. As far as the timing with Sanchez goes, that takes a lot of reps together to develop that timing and they haven't had it. If you noticed, Clemons both looked for him and hit him more often than Sanchez because they get more reps together and he was used to him. Also Clemons checks down to the dump off more quickly than Sanchez does. Sanchez spends more time looking for the longer pass. As an old football coach and ex receiver myself I can attest to the time it takes for a QB and receiver to get used to each other. The more time they spend working with each other the better the timing will get. I've already seen some improvement in that area in the last month. On the other hand, I do think your argument to throw some screens to Dustin and Brad is a good valid argument which was your main point to begin with so although I strongly disagree with your assessment of Woodhead's hands I do agree with your main idea. Good job and good post.
I would feel more comfortable with Keller coming out of the backfield if he had some experience there with this team, but Schottenheimer barely uses him as a regular TE or in the slot as it is. I wouldn't really bank on him getting another role where he is going to be underutilized. We don't really need Woodhead to be a playmaker like Leon, just someone who can pick up 4-5 yards on a screen and read his blocks.
