Dan Martin of the New York Post apparently thinks the JETS' offseason additions of Jesse Chatman and former Raven Musa Smith puts Thomas Jones' role as the feature back in jeopardy (http://www.nypost.com/seven/05292008/sports/jets/jones_puts_jets_future_on_the_line_112926.htm).
This is a shamefully stupid assertion. Sure, TJ averaged a paltry 3.6 yards per carry and managed only 1 rushing touchdown all year, but this can hardly be put entirely on his shoulders. Every JETS fan remembers quite vividly the whole Pete Kendall disaster, and the way management seemed to allow their egos (and a failure to recognize the importance of the OG position its due credit, an issue for another day and another post) to be the determinative factor on a question that wound up being key to the failure of the running game in 2007.
Kendall's presence clearly raised the level of play of future Pro-Bowler Nick Mangold and potential-flop D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Without him, the JETS desperately attempted to replace him with late-round draft pick (one who is clearly a project at best), Jacob Bender from Norfolk State and Adrian Jones. It was a nightmare; one which was only exacerbated by poor quarterback play and the lack of a homerun threat. They have realized the error of their ways and have doled out mega-deals to Alan Faneca (great signing) and Damien Woody (umm, okay) to plug their holes on the O-Line.
Despite the fact that defenders were getting through the line like "nectar in a sieve" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nectar_in_a_Sieve), TJ still managed to finish with 1100+ yards. During the 2005 and 2006 seasons with Chicago, TJ had 1335 and 1210 rushing yards, respectively. This was with 8 men in the box on nearly ever single traditional rushing down (lets not forget that his QB in Chicago was Rex "ewwwwww Gross"-man).
I'm certainly not TJ's biggest fan, and he is more of a power runner than a game-breaker (the JETS' haven't had a true play-maker in recent memory, if at all in the past decade), but the guy is an effective power back, especially when he has a decent O-Line, like in Chicago.
I leave you with a YouTube clip of a beautiful stiff-arm by TJ against the hapless 'Phins: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Q3cGgSuorU .
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Beat writers can be so stupid sometimes.
Since we can never seem to totally agree on something, here:
I think the Jets knew exactly what they were doing when they let Kendall go. He was, as they say, a lockerroom Lawyer, and not one of Tangini's guys. They railroaded him out because they didn't want him and his attitude and were willing to deal with the consequences. Do you think the same guys who spotted leon and drafted Revis and Harris could not see that Kendall was head and shoulders better than Bender or Clarke or Jones?
As the saying goes, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet.
The one flaw I see in that logic is that no matter how much of a ding-dong Kendall was... if they knew the way the season played out in his absence (of course his absence was far from their only problem), they'd have taken it back in heartbeat.
Lockerroom lawyer or not, Tangini's handling of the Kendall situation is universally considered a flop (except by you, of course). In hindsight, he's gone now and they have someone better, and last year was no Super Bowl team with or without Kendall.
Toodles, and have a wonderful weekend.
Post a Comment