Link: MDS on Justin Miller
MDS wrote an excellent article in the Sun that I missed mentioning earlier today. MDS questions what Miller’s future career holds in the NFL, but more immediately what it means for the Jets, and specifically, Leon Washington.
But giving the kickoff return job to Washington, who also returns punts, likely limits the Jets’ ability to get production out of him on offense. Washington has the talent to spell starting running back Thomas Jones and contribute as both a runner and a receiver, and he has played well when given the opportunity on offense. But returning kicks is a demanding job, and few players who handle both punt and kickoff returns do much of anything else.
People might discount Miller’s injury to the team as a whole, but I think it’s quite serious.
It matters to special teams play, CB depth and as MDS alludes to, indirectly to the offense as well. Although when he played on defense last year, Miller was picked on, he was also the best corner the Jets had in terms of creating stops (shocking, I know … check your Football Prospectus if you don’t believe me). My thought is that the Jets should give over kick return duties to Wallace Wright, or even knock Pociask off the roster and promote Chris Davis from the Practice Squad.
8 Responses to Link: MDS on Justin Miller
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jetsgrumbler says:
i wouldn’t mind if mccareins was returning punts in the CFL.
maybe there’s a free agent DB out there who can also return kicks?
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Also, I saw the Pats resigned Ventrone. That guy looked amazing in the preseason on kickoff coverage, an area in which the jets have been truly terrible thus far. They should have had him on the roster.
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Andrew The Great says:
I think Leon Washington needs to get the ball ALOT more…Thomas Jones doesnt seem like he likes to run outside..anyone else notice that? I know he isnt as fast as Leon Washington but atleast make an attempt.
Also can i please get a sit rep on Pennington’s ankle?
Also, Rutgers 3-0 baby
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Bent says: I like Revis as a PR too, but not a KR. However, right now he’s too important to the defense. Miller wasn’t, otherwise he’d never have been returning kicks this whole time.
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sjfalcon2001 says:
I’ll admit, I’ve been limited in what I can watch (I live in New England, so I only get 7 or 8 games a year), but from what I’ve seen, Leon is our best returner right now. His runs just seem to be more explosive than the others, including Miller. If he continues to do returns, I think he has the potential to break one for a TD.
That being said, I’d rather see him in the backfield on a more consistent basis and if returning kicks meant less playing time, I’d opt for Wright or Smith.
As for the idea of McCariens doing it, he can’t catch a pass, so what makes you think he can field a kick?
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SackDance99 says:
MDS makes a lot of assumptions that I’m not sure are true. For instance, I always thought that the main reason that a team does not want a valuable offensive player to return kicks is because of the threat of injury. But, his thesis that a starter (whether on offense or defense) bites off too much to be the kick returner is overbroad. How about Gale Sayers, Deion Sanders, our own Bruce Harper, Tim Brown, Roy Green, Steve Smith, etc. To the extent any of these guys, like Smith (who was a terrific keck returner), gave it up, my guess was because of the threat of injury.
That being said, I don’t want Leon returning kicks. He could get injured and an offensive weapon that the Jets need more than 3-5 times a games returning kicks would be lost. I liked what I saw from Brad Smith, who is sneaky fast and great in the open field, during the pre-season and it gets him on the field.
Tim Dwight is looking good right now (for 3rd WR and PR – if he’s healthy)..and what happened to mccairens returning punts?