That's right, I said it. I've been saying it for a year now!!! Thomas Jones lacks open field moves and has no discernible acceleration. Leon is explosive both moving laterally and vertically. The bottom line is that the Jets move the ball more effectively when Leon gets it than when TJ gets it. Alright... bring on the "Leon is too small to be a feature back" comments. I'm ready for 'em. :beer:
haha.. well yes, i would definitely say that leon is a better and more talented back than thomas jones. however, that doesn't mean that he can replace thomas jones as the feature back. TJ adds something at the point of attack that Leon can't. Chatman seems to be more possessing of those qualities that TJ brings to the table.
I just find it painful watching Jones run the rock. The guy has definitely lost something, if not everything (except the biceps, of course). He reminds me of Curtis Martin '05 version... which was painful. Leon for president!
Jones isn't doing the cutback running he was known for. He's not playing to his strengths. He barely gets carries anyway. Wasn't the report on him that he gets better with the more carries he receives.
Its obvious he lost something. It could be the injury from last year, he might have lost a step? It wouldn't surprise me if we make a late move for a cut player to replace him.
He definitely has what it takes to be a starter on this team, but will that diminish his other key roles? (aka kick returns)
At the very least, I would like to see Leon get twice the number of carries he got in '07. At this point I see Jones as running on reputation (and salary) more so than on his ability. As for making a late move to replace him, that's not happening.
Im no expert by any means, so 2 theories are at play here 1) They are downplaying TJ in an attempt to "vanilla the looks", if the league is saying "wow look at TJ running all over the place" he factors into opps. game plans, every1 knows leon is a scatback who makes things happen......so 2) ......or TJ is done and can't break the wholes any more, God knows the line opened up enough holes (and gave Brett all day).... but I don't see what he is bringing to the "point of attack"....all good, just my untrained eye, and left over brain cells.....:up::rofl::wink:
The reason he looks slow is because he is slow. He can't turn the corner. We saw it tonight. Same crap we saw at least twice a game last season.
I"m glad you started this thread because I was going to start one if you didn't. Right now, he sucks. He's slow, he has no moves, he can't fake out the first guy like Curtis used to, & he can't power over anyone. Basically, every time he gets the ball he gets caught from the side and falls ahead for a couple of yards. Theres no burst when he gets the ball. There's no feeling when you're watching that he's gonna go anywhere. He doesn't look like he's running hard. Dude is sleepwalking.
Gator, I agree with every part of your analysis. The problem is that we're stuck with him, I guess. Right? Ugh.
I agree. TJ has one speed and goes down on contact. LW is our most explosive player. It wont take long for the coaches to make changes and make LW the featured back. Its pretty obvious TJ is not the player we thought we were getting
