New KR: Who Ya Got?
After the terrible injury to Leon Washington yesterday, we wish him all the best for a speedy recovery from his surgery, which apparently has already taken place. Shonn Greene looks like he will step into the number two running back role, and if he continues to play like he did yesterday, the Jets should still be able to run the ball effectively. Who will take over kick return duties, though?
After the jump are the runners and riders (in no particular order):
- David Clowney: Blazing speed…limited experience (5-119 returning kicks in college and also auditioned for the role in Green Bay).
- Marquice Cole: Also very fast…Great punt returner in college (13.8 yards per return average including 27 yards per return including an 81 yard TD at Northwestern)…Ran back 3 kickoffs for TDs in high school
- Dwight Lowery: Took over the job yesterday and had a 17 yard return…Good punt returner (13.1 yards per return and one TD in college)…Returned a punt for a score in preseason last year, but had three fumbles in one game in preseason this year
- Danny Woodhead: 4.33 speed…Returned 3 kicks for 53 yards, including a 31 yarder, in preseason…Had fewer than 100 kick return yards in college, but lined up back there a lot and teams apparently always kicked away from him
- Ahmad Carroll: Experienced kick returner…Averaged 20 yards per return in Green Bay, but did break a 57 yarder…Returned two kicks for 47 yards in preseason
- Wallace Wright: Averaged 21.5 yards per return on 29 returns as a Freshman at North Carolina…Has returned two kicks for 31 yards in the NFL (as an upback)
- Brad Smith: Has returned 14 kickoffs in his NFL career, many as an upback…He has averaged 16.1 yards per return, with a long of 27
- Jericho Cotchery: Almost certainly too important to risk, but does have experience as a kick returner…Returned one kick for 17 yards this season as an upback…Has returned 22 kicks in his NFL career, with an average of over 26 yards per return and had a 94 yard TD in the overtime loss to the Rams in the last game of the 2004 season
- Darrelle Revis: Again, the Jets would be crazy to risk him in this role…Was a kick returner in high school and a great punt returner in college
- Shonn Greene: Returned six kicks for 119 at Iowa, an average of 19 yards per return
- Drew Coleman: Returned two kicks for 29 yards in college and 11 for 260 yards in high school
- Jim Leonhard: Already serves as the punt returner…Entered the season averaging 22.6 yards per return in the NFL on 11 returns, with a long of 36 yards…Fielded a kick for a seven yard return earlier this season
- Aundrae Allison: Unfortunately, because he is on injured reserve, Allison is not eligible to play this season, but he did do a decent job in preseason.
- An Outsider: Justin Miller is available, although the Raiders released him because he wasn’t 100% healthy. He did score two touchdowns last year, but can the Jets afford to give up a roster spot to someone who isn’t contributing elsewhere when they have so many injuries? I’m not sure who else is out there…Allen Rossum was available two weeks ago but the Cowboys picked him up.
So, who’s your guy – or do you have any other suggestions?
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the first few names mentioned make the most sense…I would like to see Woodhead get it. Why even mention Cotchery or Revis or Green? There’s no way they would risk those players so to even list them took away from the credibility of this posting.
I mention them to rule them out in case someone mentions the fact that they have kick returning experience.
Why wouldn’t they risk Greene? They risked Leon. I know they have one less RB on the team now, but they still might consider him an option. I think he’s an outsider anyway, but I wanted this to be a comprehensive review of who has experience on the team.
My apologies, I’ll be less thorough next time.
Honestly, I would try and sign Justin Miller.
From the in-house candidates, it’s gonna be either Lowery or Woodhead.
Let it be woodhead, I feel like this could be a place he carves his niche on the team
honestly though, none of the names on the list are that impressive
Yeah I’d let Woodhead do it. Has the home-run speed and getting him touches wouldn’t exactly be a bad thing…
I wanted Woodhead to get a better shot at it in preseason.
I agree with the comments above, but my outside bets are Wright, Cole and Carroll.
How fast is Woodhead? What was his 40 time?
The Jets have been able to throw anyone in the mix at KR and be successful. From Jonathon Carter, to Chad Morton, Justin Miller, Jerricho Cotchery, Leon Washington, Mike Westoff is the best in the business, someone will step up.
I’m all for woodhead to return kicks..if miller was resigned, I’d say convert him to a wide receiver cuz he sucks as a corner!(Devin Hester like)
JR,
It’s in the post above. 4.33 timed 40.
I would go with Cole….He just looks like a KO guy. He is small fast and seems to have that “quickness” in the open field……I have no evidence that he could work out there but just a feel………but I would give Miller a look. You can not replace what he can do on KO returns….you just cant.
Miller is worthless for 95% of the game but that 5% could make a defference.
Smith, Wright, Lowery, Carroll are not great options. I guess Woodhead or D Coleman could get a look but I just dont see them providing much.
For as great as Westoff is our KO has been average at best ….and that was with Leon back there.
The new rules have eliminated a big part of our ST success.
maybe thats why he is calling fake punts every week….lol
I would sign Justin Miller as there is an open spot on the roster and maybe he can have a chance to be in the defensive back rotation, plus we have lots of injury prone people back there……..
JUSTIN MILLER!
other fallback for me would be Danny Woodhead……It is impt to make sure whoever they use back there DOES NOT FUMBLE!!!!!!!………….
I’d say Miller as well, I remember him taking a couple to the house last year..once for the only score the Raiders has on a Thursday night game against San Diego. Let’s see if he can still do it.
Justin Miller!!!!
No outsiders for the return game.. too many people are dinged up.. If they need to sign anyone, it should be a D-Lineman..
If Ellis goes out, like he did yesterday, our line would get whooped by most teams..
As any of you who have seen me post here over the past years would know, I am devastated about the loss of Leon. I am heartsick. Nothing I enjoy more during the game than when he touches the ball … no one else comes close to having that kind of ability on this team.
That being said, I’d be for Woodhead, Cole or possibly Brad Smith — Smith has very good speed and seems to do well in the open field. Also has proven to be tough to bring down. I’d give him a shot.
Hopefully it won’t be much of an issue. If we can keep playing good defense, there won’t be many kicks to return anyway.
Note: The Jets are 25th in kickoff return yards this year and 19th in average per return. Leon did break a 43 yarder.
Miller would be great, he already knows the scheme, lets do it
They had to totally change the scheme when they changed the rules though…although I’m sure they could just tell him to “run where they aint”
Bent…
I am just saying we are not as good…. We seem to be starting at the 25 yrd line every drive after a KO.
Leon and the return have been held uder control for most of the year….at this point anyone can get us to the 25 yard line.
Again I would go with Cole….but its a just a feel for what I think he can do.
The other guys might have speed but a guy like Cole who plays CB and is quick had more than stright line speed like B Smith or some of the other have…..change of direction and then getting back up to speed. Its actually what makes Miller so good…….which again confuses me on why he sucks at CB.
Cole
Woodhead
Coleman
Are my choices is Miller is not an option
i’m for woodhead or leonhard, whoever has better hands. i like a compact returner, who is a smaller target.
Give it to either Brad Smith or Batman Carroll
My guess it will be Danny Woodhead if it is not Cole.
Danny has speed, elusiveness and great hands. I’m sure Rex will try him out this week in practice. I bet we might even see him in some of Leon’s plays (probably 4 to 5 to test the waters) as well against the fish.
Ahmad Carroll is the easiest choice – good productivity smart on ST and is not a significant ingredient in the offense or defense.
i would have to say woodhead too… hes just like leon but a little smaller …does anyone know if clowney might of had some ko experience in college hes fast and got some moves too
just looked up woodhead and cole’s 40 times woodhead been clocked at 4.33 as his fastest and cole according to northwesterns website is a sub 4.3…maybe since cole dont see any real gametime and woodhead is undersized and might be another injury risk cole could get the job
I can see 3 weeks from now us saying I can’t believe how good M Cole is on KO’ returns….
The guy just screams of being good at it. he is quick, fast and has the ability to change directions at top speed while playing corner.
It dosent matter how fast you are its how fast you can change direction and make people miss….
Again……
Cole
Woodhead
Lowery (but he will never be any good at it)
“does anyone know if clowney might of had some ko experience in college”
As mentioned in the original post, he returned 5 kicks for 119 yards in college and also tried out for the position with the Packers in Green Bay.
I don’t want Justin Miller unless another two guys in our secondary gets hurt. Even though he broke some nice returns, he did fumble the ball sometimes.
I have no faith in Marquice Cole, Ahmad Carroll, or Drew Coleman’s ball security
I’d love to see Danny Woodhead or Brad Smith.
I like to see Woodhead get a shot. I think he has the speed, hands and evasiveness needed to get the job done. Any player who is critical to our game i.e Revis, Greene should be out of the question. If Miller is not 100% why bother and I don’t want to give up a roster spot for a KR. I think that Westhoff will figure this out in no time.
forget miller its gonna take a couple games to get the rust off ….plus im pretty sure last year i heard something that drew coleman was the fastest jet he can be an option
miller is proven, but how is his injury status? david clowney can fly, so he might be a good bet. woodhead is just as fast and has solid hands.
Woodhead.
J MIller is tempting, with his Pro Bowl KR history, but I’m loathe to give up a valuable roster spot to a S Teams-only player based on nostalgia. Does he have the same home run potential he had in 06, or even last year with the Raiders? If so, why is he on the street? Is he even in shape? My preference is someone already on the roster, who can also contribute as a position player.
I’d start with whoever is not going to hurt you. I’d be leery of teaching KR duties to someone with very little experience in order to avoid fumbles, negative plays. Speed is enticing, but lack of experience on KRs can be deadly.
I’d give it to Carroll until someone beats him out in practice.
i don’t have faith in clowney’s hands and perhaps focus/maturity.
The Jets will be fine returning kicks. They have lots of speedy players, so someone should be able to step in for Leon, the same way Leon stepped in for Justin Miller. Returning kicks is like 75% blocking anyway.
I have no problem with Clowney’s focus on the field. He’s our best blocking WR and he’s been making plays when given the chance. He does some stupid Miami dance and tweets too much. But when he’s on that field you can tell he means business.
I like Coleman or Carroll best. Woodhead would get killed returning kicks. I’m pretty sure Lowery had some nice returns two years ago in preseason, so he might be a good option.
I would not want to see Lowery or Lenonard back there on KO because injuries are more likely at speed. I would not want to risk our best back up CB or our starting safety and PR. I agree with those who say they could do it but…
The thing about KR is that the position is more than just speed. Vision, cutting ability and the strength and smarts not to put the ball on the turf are essential and not things we are likely to know but Westhoff is likely to be able to find out this week if he does not already know.
But, with so many non essential options (Woodhead, Wallace, Carroll, Cole and even Smith — maybe they will add a throw across the field option for him) there is no need to add Miller who could not convince the CS to hire him when we were looking for DB help.
This is not going to be our problem against the Fish.
The question is whether we can run against them and stop the run. We did give up 6.3 ypc versus the Raiders but thankfully Al Davis was too dumb to run the ball, preferring to showcase Jamarcus throwing to Heyward Bey, a hundred million dollars of waste.
Harlan
REVIS WOULD BE INTERESTING. ANYBODY WHO DOESNT FUMBLE WOULD BE GREAT. GREEN DOESNT FUMBLE BUT WE NEED HIM TO RUN THE BALL. A BACK UP RB IS HUGE ON A TEAM. ESPECIALLY IF HE’S GOOD LIKE GREEN. REVIS IS MORE ELLUSIVE. COTCHERY CAN FUMBLE. I’VE SEEN HIM FUMBLE BEFORE. WOODHEAD IS SHORT. PERFECT!!!
NO HANDS CLOWNEY. NO WAY!!
I like woodhead for the job the most, i totally see him as one.
i wouldnt mind justin miller also, blast from the past.
what’s an upback?
I’m against Miller because it would cost an active roster spot for someone who only plays on kickoffs. I’d rather have Woodhead, who may also be able to work into the third-down specialist role.
As far as the averages in kickoffs this year, those numbers are poor because of the amount of penalties we’ve committed on kickoffs. That’s even more of an issue to me than who returns the ball.
When a team gets an early lead, the defense plays primarily the pass. So, I did not stress when the Raiders ran well because a good defensive team can always tighten up on the run in the redzone. I love Buttle’s saying “you pass to score, you run to win.” The Raiders sooner or later needed to pass to score and couldn’t do it because the Jets shut down their passing game.
As for returners, I’m with Drew. I’ve seen enough of Cole to be intrigued by his speed. The key to a good returner is vision and the ability to cut at full speed. With the Jets now thin at RB, I’d be concerned about Woodhead back there and the Jets’ depth at CB would be compromised if Coleman or Lowery got injured. Ahmad Carroll is also a decent candidate.
If Miller is 100% healthy, he wouldn’t be a bad pick up, but IMO the Jets need to sign another RB. If either TJ or Greene gets injured, Woodhead would get too many between the tackles carries…not a good idea.
i have confidence that westy can turn just about anyone on our roster into a competent kickoff guy
i would try out carroll, cole, woodhead or coleman. all these guys have at least 2 players ahead of them on the depth chart.
Like I said before…our KO returns have been average at best so anyone can get us to the 25 yrd line like Leon has been of late…
M Cole is the guy…..
SD99,
I agree with you 100% that Woodhead that we need some more depth behind TJ and Greene. At the very least, we should sign another RB to our practice squad. I wouldn’t mind seeing Woodhead get a couple touches each game, but he doesn’t have the ability to break tackles like TJ or Greene.
And to all of those saying that Greene was a waste of a pick, I bet you wish you could take those words back. He looked incredible yesterday, and should be a vital part of the offense. Its easy to see why the Jets were so eager to get him in the 3rd round. Losing Leon hurts,and I feel terrible for him because he seems like a great guy, but I think Greene will step up and really produce as the #2 back.
And I definitely like the idea of Cole returning kicks. He seems to have the quickness and explosiveness to succeed there.
Why spend a roster spot on Justin Miller ? Save that spot for depth.
I say go with Woodhead
It should definitely be Woodhead. He plays well every time they put him in. He is a play maker and I think he could really help the Jets. When they put him at running back he does good, when they put him at receiver he does good, why wouldn’t he be good returning kicks?
Sorry Bent, I apologize for not rading that lengthy breakdown.
I’m going to choose to ignore those statistics for now, since I still think the Jets have an elite return game.
Lowery or Woodhead.
Miller is not an option. IMO that is not a good use for a roster spot.
Jesus?
An eilte return game? Come on man… I usually agree with almost everything you say but our return game have been bad this year. Leon has barely broken one past the 35 all year
In my opinion M Cole can give us the same thing as we have been getting if not actually better. Anyone can get us to the 25 yrd line.
The kid has experience in the return game and has all of the tools to be successful….We have seen the other guys and I am not impressed.
I think it should be Woodhead but if that were the case he would have went back there yestedray. In the past it has been Brad Smith so thats who I am going with unless Lowery proves himself while Smith is hurt. Again, I would like to see Woodhead get the opportunity though.
I’m going to say Steve Weatherford.
Drew,
I know the stats say otherwise, which is why I said i’m going to choose to ignore the stats. My point is, over the past 5-6 seasons the Jets return game has been elite. So far this year they have gotten off to a slow start which is why they rank so low, but its only been 7 games. Plus, coincidentally, the Jets have faced a bunch of kickers who manage to force a touch back nearly every time, which has hurt. The only point I was trying to make is I have faith in the return game, mostly in Westoff who is the best in the business.
Woodhead or clowney. NO WAY we sign miller. we cant pay some guy just to return kicks. hes not what he used to be. hes injury prone. and is a d-bag on and off the field. rex ryan wont want him, woodhead needs to touch the ball more.
When looking at the Jets return game this year its important to remember that teams were using directional kicks to try and pin Leon in a situation where they had an advantage. The teams will sacrifice some yardage in order to try and prevent the big return or the home run. I don’t know what yard line the Jets start on avg after they return a kickoff but I do know that it has been around the 30 yard line most of the time. Leon was fielding a lot of high kicks near the sideline and not gaining as much yardage after fielding the kick but its still a good position to start a drive.
They say good return men avg abt 30 yards per return and we were starting our drives at the 30 then who cares what Leon’s yards per return avg. was. Now that Leon is out though teams will start kicking the ball deeper and trying to pin us inside the 20 so its up to whoever they put back deep to step up and show what they can do.
I would say Woodhead or Justin Miller. Its really between those two.
Everyone else is average at best IMHO
Steve K
I am not down on Westoff at all….but the fact remains that the other top KO guys. Cribbs, J Jones, P Harvin, D Sproles, E Royal do not seem to be bothered by the new rules or the directional kicking that i assume other teams are doing to them also.
i dont have the stats on those guys but i will bet they are much higher then Leon was in return yards and their teams have a better starting postion than we have this year
Eddie Royal, and Cribbs are KR monsters.. I Wish we had them.
My vote would be no to Justin Miller. He’s a waste of a roster spot, and a horrible CB. I say plug someone in that is already on the roster.
Leon wasnt even producing as a kick returner. honestly he wasnt producing anywhere this year compared to last year. he has not broke a single long return or a single long run. i was happy when he went down because now shonn greene gets a shot that he deserves especially when we picked him 1st overral in the 3rd round whe ni though we should go after i big back up NT for when big jinx burnt out.
WOODHEAD thats all we need
That’s really messed up Rich… being glad he went down.
I’ve been waiting for shonn greene to get some carries too. Cause I liked how he ran in his college highlights. He runs with power, and is relentless… can run you over, or make you miss him. But I was thinking he is better suited to replace TJ then leon.
i would try revis out who was an awesome return man in college and he posses’ great hands as it is…the injury risk comes into the situation but thats football
rich you must be out of your mind….leon washington is by far the most versatile player on the jets team and the best offensive player….probably a bigger loss than jenkins
Rich,
Woodhead is not Leon. He’s smaller, goes down on first contact a lot more frequently, and lacks Leon’s experience. Woodhead could be good, but he could also be nothing more than a practice squad player. To say you’re happy that the Jets lost one of their only home-run threats and a exemplary citizen is just wrong. I’ve been clamoring for more Shonn Greene, but at TJ’s expense, not Leon’s. Greene and Leon sharing carries would have made this team a lot better. Either way, cheering the injury of someone who put their livelihood in jeopardy is pretty low, especially for someone who is as good a person and role model as Leon.
For someone with Millers talent there really must be an off field issue or he would be playing, somewhere.
There are plenty of candidate on the roster, I would start with Cole and Carroll, as some have said it should be non-essential personnel.
Woodhead will be on IR after one game running full steam into NFL quality special teams players, sorry, he is not an option.
Rich, I echo Brendan’s comment, if you really cheered when Leon went down you simply have no class.
plus the only reason why leon hasnt been producing on kock offs this year is because you are not allowed to have more than 3 guys on a blocking wedge meaning everyone not just leon will or has seen a drop in production on kick off returns…this is the real reason why leon was foolish for holding out for an xtra mil because his kick off yards and tds were most likely to go down because of this rule change
I’m surprised no one mentioned aundre allison who is already on the team and was a beast on KR when he was in minnesota
that’s because he’s on IR
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