Without actually hearing the comment first hand, I'm gonna guess it was a comment that he would re-phrase if he had a chance to. It could also be deferential to the OC's decisions or to the fact that Conner was famously handpicked by Rex. Any which way, I have to agree with you that Conner doesn't go anywhere. But I'll disagree that Tanny was purposefully misleading in his comment IMO.
Forget the comments, just look at the numbers. Greene, Powell, Gannaway and probably McKnight are safe but I'm not even sure about McKnight. Tebow is going to fill someone's position. Baker is making the team as an HB/FB. Connor is a good blocker not a great blocker. Maybe he makes the team but I don't see a spot.
Conner absolutely should be in trouble. His pass catching is abysmal for a supposed safety-valve and his ball security when he runs always seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Even his blocking hasn't been effective enough. Needs a great camp to make the team, in my opinion.
Why do people put such an emphasis on FB's catching the ball or even running it on here? FB's are in the game to be lead blockers for the most part, and Conner graded out as the 7th best blocking FB in the NFL last year. All this crap about him not blocking effectively is silly. Rex and Sparano want a ground and pound offense. They aren't getting rid of the 7th best run blocking FB in the league in only his 2nd year. He's cheap, young and he's a good blocking FB who will likely get better. He'll be in the Jets backfield this season. Don't forget we let LT go, so we have another RB slot open. If any RB gets cut this year I'd bet on it being Powell.
He's one of the best blocking FBs in the league... Plus, we don't need him to catch or run, he blocks.
Teams don't tend to keep two FB's these days. I think that's all Tannenbaum was saying. If the Jets keep Ganaway in a FB role the odds are pretty good they find another home for Connor, hopefully in a trade.
Connor is also a pretty good ST player, which can be the deciding factor in who to keep. He's also a better blocker than Baker. My guess is Baker is back to to PS to make room for a blocking TE.
Connor can block we know this, but it would be nice for him to contribute in other ways as well. FB dives on goal-line plays to punish defenses, things like that. If were truly ground and pound, then I think the full-back should have a little more of a role. Could be dangerous on some play-action plays with Stephen Hill taking the top off a defense
The comment from Tanny sounds fairly benign to me and also sounds like it could have easily been taken out of context. That said, if they are planning on having Ganaway compete for Conner's roster spot I don't see any problem with that. I like Conner as a Jet and as the right kind of guy for the type of O the Jets say they want, but if he gets beat out because Ganaway turns out to be a beast with more weapons, so be it, you have to be happy with that. I agree with LTJF that Powell is more likely to be cut than Conner. Conner has played a good deal of quality minutes and Powell has barely seen the field. If they see Ganaway as a guy they could use as a RB/FB than maybe that makes Powell expendable.
Maybe he meant for trade bait. There is no way they cut the guy. He's still on his rookie contract and costs nothing.
His blocking was very average last year. If not for Hard Knocks, nobody would care about Conner at all.
If all he can do is block people his value isn't going to be high enough to hold a roster spot. It also tips off plays when he's in the game if we don't use him other than to run block.
This is what fullbacks generally do. It's not very common to have a Mike Alstott or Richie Anderson type guy. Most fullbacks just block. He was graded as the 7th best blocking FB in the league!
