This week, the NFL offseason began for the Jets, and with it your chance to put many questionable characters – if you wish – in front of the proverbial firing squad. Up next, Shonn Greene … while he ended up with over a 1,000 yards, should he be the team’s “bell cow” back as Ryan called him in the preseason?
92 Responses to Firing Squad: Shonn Greene
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I agree he is good enough. With our WR’s and QB out of sync I think alot of teams were loading up to stop our running game. Bent earlier in the year that Greens yards before contact went from ~2yards in 2010 to ~0.8 yards. I think season was more of a rock bottom for him and like you said “He’s good enough.”
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Shonn Green reminds me of a ex-baseball player with the Mets named Cleon Jones.
An outfielder that always hit close yo 350 but with 60 RBI’s and Zero game winning runs!!!
Even Gil Hodges had to go out to the outfield, insult and yank himm off the field during a telivised game for dogging it!!!!
To think Tannebaum gave up THREE (3) picks to draft this guy!!
ANOTHER great example of a great job by our resident genius GM!!!
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Oh, it’s the offseason, time for Hank to come and be wrong about everything.
Hank, Greene doesn’t dog it. Effort has never been holding Greene back. They also gave up a 4th and a 7th, which turned out to be no-names with the Lions picking. Tanny got a starting RB, the Lions got a below-average OLB and 2 wasted picks. Tanny won that trade, in my view.
Greene had over 1,000 yards on over 4 yards/carry. Know what that tells me? That he should have gotten the ball more.
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In Hank’s defence (Did I just say that?) you were pretty much wrong with everything you said this offseason as well….although that doesn’t excuse hank, who only shows up during the bad times, that’s not something anyone needs to say about you.
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Additionally, I like Green. You have to go pretty far down the To-Do list before you start worrying about a RB on this team.
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I’m still trying to wrap my head around “you were pretty much wrong with everything”. I was pretty on my statistical predictions, all except for the wins and losses (the only one that matters).
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Your scratching your head? You thought Hunter would do a fine job, you thought Holmes was the obvious pick over Edwards, you had no trouble loseing veteran leadership because Rex could deal with it. You liked the Mason signing. You know, stuff like that. But again, I don’t confuse you with hank, your always here :-)
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My stance since Day 1 was that Hunter was the best fit, given the options. I never said I was thrilled about him starting, and he has proven to be exactly what I said he would be: decent.
How did Edwards do this year? As bad as Holmes was, he was still better than Braylon.
No one could have predicted that Schotty would make Sanchez so gun-shy that the offense regressed the way it did. You didn’t see any issues on the defensive side of the ball, did you? Offensive players bickering because the guy running the unit can’t manage the egos. They also have Mangold, Moore, D’Brick, Plax (yes, Plax) and Sanchez. That’s 5 guys who should be able to lead the offense. I put this first on Schotty, then on Rex. The inmates were running the asylum on offense.
Yeah, Mason was coming off 60 catches, sorry if I thought he might help the team. Cotchery was gone no matter what, so Mason appeared to be a good player to bring in to take that role. But I thought Rex was being silly when he brought up the catch total for Mason.
So to recap:
I said Hunter was a decent tackle, but there wasn’t anything better to choose from.I said Holmes>Edwards and stand by it.
Veteran leadership was in place, it just did nothing while the team unraveled.
Mason went from 60 catches to 20. He hit the “old age” wall after being very productive last year. But, Yeah, I was wrong about him.
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Hmmm, lets try to reason with you.
Woody could have been resigned, instead they paid Hunter. You liked this idea. Clearly paying Woody would have been better, if for no other reason then we wouldn’t be on the books for the rest of Hunters salery.
IF Edwards had gotten injured the first game of the season (big IF) and never played another down he would have been an improvement over the negative influence of Holmes. If he doesn’t get injured there is every reason to assume he and Sanchez would have continued to work well together. And again, we would be in better position going into next year having Edwards over Holmes.
Oh I forgot, you were vehament that replaceing Shotty before the start of the season was a mistake. Not enough time for another OC/players to get on the same page. Well? What now? If they had fired him we’d be in a MUCH better position for next year…and how much worse could this years offence have been?
To recap, everything you were in favor of worked out bad for us this year, and hinders us for next year as well…So yeah, you had as bad an offseason as Mr. T (if in fact your not actually Mr. T posting here)!
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Why is everyone so convinced Woody would have definitely come back if the Jets “just paid him”? He was 35, he was 350+ pounds and coming off of a catastrophic lower-leg injury that takes a year to recover from, if you’re 25!
So, you want me to believe that Woody was coming back and starting in Week 1? Really? I’m not buying that, sorry.
I’m not going to debate Holmes’ actions anymore. But, no, if Braylon played 1 down and got hurt he would not have been a better signing than Holmes. That’s just you being completely anti-Holmes, not that I blame you. But, no, that doesn’t make any sense.
Hah, you DON’T think firing Schotty in August would have been a problem? C’mon, Nick, you know that would’ve left the offense in a worse spot than it ended up in. Now they can install an offense the right way, with a full offseason, with their players in place.
And this offense could have been a lot worse. Like, if they sucked in the redzone, for instance.
I wasn’t in favor of these things, but I’m able to objectively look at the situation and realize what is realistic.
Firing your O-Coordinator in August leads to one thing, in the history of the NFL: a losing season. Never has a team fired its O-Coordiantor in August or midseason and improved.
Braylon wanted Holmes’ money and still can’t keep himself out of bad situations with bad people.
Woody wasn’t coming back unless they paid him $5-$6 million (my speculation), which is insane to do when the guy might not even play until midseason.
I also predicted Sanchez’s stats within 100 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. Not bad for someone who had the worst offseason ever, wouldn’t you say?
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When the worst case senerios of the choices you didn’t make are better then your current situation it’s time to admit you made a few mistakes and move on.
If we overpaid Woody for a year we wouldn’t have Hunter to get rid of/be over paid next year.
If we paid Edwards and he got hurt we would be in better position for next year then we are now with this Holmes mess.
If we fire Shotty and the offence was terrible we would have a year with the new guy under our belt and be in a much better position for next year.
So even if you were right and the Woody/Edwards/fire Shotty thing went horrible wrong, we’d still be in better shape then we are now.
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You realize Hunter can be cut at any point in time with no cap hit, right?
Braylon’s injury is very, very similar to a degenerative bone-on-bone condition. I’m genuinely concerned this is what he’s got going on in his knee. If not, Holmes is still a better receiver than he is. Remove Schotty and Holmes/Sanchez are fine.
Who is to say the “new guy” is still the O-Coordinator after a disasterous season? They might have been starting new this offseason anyway.
I don’t get how you can say they’d be in better shape. Hunter takes a paycut or is gone. Edwards can’t run, literally. He basically told the #2 seed in the NFC to cut him since he can’t play. The Jets were a disappointing 8-8. Firing Schotty in August/midseason means the Jets are 6-10 or worse.
So, yes, this could have been a lot worse.
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Sorry, cotch wasn’t “gone no matter what”, no one outside the fo could now that. and you loved the mason move. Having three primadona wrs was a lousy idea. no way to know if braylon would’ve had the same injury here, unless the team knew his knee was already shot, and again, you and I don’t know that to be fact.
I agree often with your viewpoints, but very often you say ‘this was this and that was that’ as if you’re stating facts, when it’s often speculation.
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What Bent said. Only, I would add that rumors leaked that Cotchery wanted his release right after last season, only the team tried to talk him into staying.
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Exactly – rumors. Seems to me like courting mason was the straw that broke cotch’s back. And if the tension in the wr meeting room was that bad, how can it be that Rex is just learning now what his players think? We’re hearing now that players think Holmes was a cancer. Maybe a year ago cotch was the only one with a problem with Holmes, but it doesn’t seem likely.
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Rex knew about Cotch being unhappy. That’s why they let him seek a trade and then released him, because the team was aware of Cotch’s unhappiness.
And yes, it’s a rumor, but it’s not one that anyone (team or player) has come out to publicly call inaccurate. I believe it because it makes sense logically. Cotch wanted out, they tried to talk him into staying, then they brought in Plax (not Mason) and Cotch wanted out. Mason was a reaction signing to Cotchery telling the team he wanted out, I believe.
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Right, Cotch seems like the kind of guy that would hate Holmes. I think it’s entirely reasonable to believe that if they had taken Edwards over Holmes Cotch would still be here and Mason would never have been signed….although I give Mason a pass now becasue I can understand why he coudn’t deal with this team.
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I have to agree with Brendan here. I would have picked Holmes over Braylon at the beginning of the season. I’d prefer to have both players in the lineup but in August, if forced to choose, Holmes is the bigger playmaker.
As for Mason, the Jets did the best they could to replace Cotchery who was done with the Jets. Cotchery did not want to be a #3 WR. Why he chose the Steelers is puzzling given his role in that offense. Had he stayed with the Jets, he probably would have had a significant role, but his departure gave the Jets time to develop Kerley. Brad Smith wanted too much money to have kept him.
Finally, the Wayne Hunter debacle. Hunter played solid in the playoffs last season against good teams. There was no reason why anyone would have suspected that he would fall off so much. Moreover, there was no one available to add so the Jets were stuck with him. Realistically, Vlad or a better o-lineman from the 2010 draft should have filled that role, but not every draft pick is a home run.
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Ray Rice for Santonio Holmes. I solve problems it’s what I do…
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I don’t know a person outside of Santonio himself that would do that trade.
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Good point. even in the final game immediately following the jets second possession and TD, the next possession schotty calls pass and 123 and out. I actually said it on the live game feed. It looked like the Giant game all over again.
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What I wanna see is what joe mcdaddy can bring to the table
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looking forward to seeing McKnight get some touches but i personally fear he is too fragile.
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I worry about McKnight fumbling and how he will perform in pass protection.
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These firing squads posts are a little confusing. Is the yes or no in regards to should he face the firing squad as in he’s a problem or the question before it of could he be the “Cow Bell”?
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Put a good OL in front of him and he can rush for 1500 yds. Oh, and he also needs a competent OC who can call an effective game.
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We have already seen what he can do with a good line in the playoffs now imagine him with a oline that doesn’t take 6 wks plus preseason to get it together.btw I’m tired of the excuses of it takes time to get the running game in order while other teams run all over us in the preseason.
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Shonn improved his pass receiving and pass blocking to become a more complere back. Greene is not an elite back, but he is good and dedicated to his craft, needs a strong companion to make this running game go.
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I feel for the guy, as soon as he gets hot they pull him out. We never see him in the fourth qtr when he would be most effective. A new OC, another year of experience for Connor, Keller learns how to block (I can dream can’t I?) and who knows what numbers Greene could have.
PS At least he fixed his fumbling issue pretty early in his career, takes A LOT of backs years to correct this. Maybe Anthony Lynn should be our OC. Dude would not put up with BS and would most likely stick to the run game.-
LOL – Keller learning to block.
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Should the Jets get rid of Greene. That depends on what RBs are available.
Greene is like most of this team, ok but that’s about it.
I’m not sure what a cow bell is but I’m sure Greene is not it.
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If an OC who was truly dedicated to the run (like Callahan, for instance) was Greene’s coordiantor, Greene would impress a lot more. Remember, Greene’s big runs the previous two years usually came int he 2nd half of games, when the “stick to the run” mentality would start paying dividends against a worn-down and tired defense.
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Totally agree about Greene being misused (see above post). I do wonder about Callahan’s “run-first” reputation. From the numbers he put up in Oakland, which are impressive, it seems like he has more of a balanced offensive philosophy. Of course he had Rich “The Cannon” Gannon, so maybe he was more balanced because he had a very good QB in his system? Either way, he was productive, so already he’s got more upside then Schotty.
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He is definitely balanced, my post should have been clearer. Where both Schotty and Callahan are balanced, Callahan isn’t afraid to run it 5 plays in a row if it’s working. He’d be more comfortable relying on the run for an entire game if the defense can’t stop it. That’s what I meant by “run-heavy”. But you’re right, he runs a very balanced attack.
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Sometimes I get the feeling that BS is the only OC who would get 5-6 yds a carry on three straight rushes and then insist on passing the next 8-9 downs. Of course he’ll throw in one sweep in the direction of the worst run blocker and use the slowest RB to prove he didn’t abandon the run.
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Thank you for saying that. For all the people who were screaming about the loss of TJ (who played behind a better line) a few years ago, you would think that fans would see that. TJ would fall forward for 3 yards, fall forward for two, and then bust one long.
Our lack of commitment to run, our injured line and our RT wer the issues, not Greene.
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Notice everybody on the firing squad is on the offensive side and by all this it feels to me that schotty isn’t getting enough of the blame…all u hear in the news is about santonio being a quitter and Rex lost all control. Believe that but he runs the whole ship. Schotty is in charge of the offense, where r the stories of him gettin the blame. U hear nothing on the defensive side in the news. Just saying
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I’m sure they’re just going in some kind of order. I’ll bet they flip to defensive players next, and then special teams players after that.
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I can’t believe it’s nine months till next season.
Ugh.
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Come on man!
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Shonn Greene is a journeyman back at best.Poor hands.I would trade him if they could get a 3rd or 4th rounder and pick a running back with speed who can make people miss in open space.He also has chronic rib injuries which i believe keeps him from getting the rock 25-30 times a game.
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Those poor hands caught him 30 passes this season, as a guy who wasn’t the 3rd down back.
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Seriously? He improved in almost all areas. What do you want him to do? When they passed him the ball he caught it. When they let him run he ran over people and didn’t fumble.
HE IS NOT THE PROBLEM
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4.2 yards a carry. Not sure where the argument would be to not have this guy back.
The argument should be why didn’t he get more carries.
Draft another back and I’ll be more than happy with Greene, McKnight and ……
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This team reminds me of Lennie from Of Mice and Men, they don’t know their own strength and instead of petting the kitten they crush it to death…
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Have we given up on Bilal Powell as our depth RB?
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Run for 1,000 yards, Yards per carry over 4.0, runs north to south. Over came bad first, not helped by Mangold going down.
I keep Shonn Greene and remember the impact he had prior years with his running style during cold weather. I actually saw a few safeties/DB cringe when they went to tackle him in teh 4th qtr on cold days.
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Am i really seeing a “Firing Squad: Shonn Greene” article up right now?? People are losing their minds!
Give green an upgraded line, and a playcaller that commits to the run and he will get a lot better than 1000 yards.
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I love how the same guys who are down on shown are also the ones who hated the hunter move and lament how bad the oline was this year.
How can anyone possibly know that Greene can”t be the bellcow if the oline has a crappy year?
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Not sure how anyone can be down on Shonn Greene. Is he MJD or L. McCoy? No. But he’s a 1000 yard back that averages 4 yards a carry on a team that doesn’t give him the ball enough. 9 out of 10 people will tell you that the more you give him the ball the better he does. So what does Schotty do? Not give him the ball enough. He’s improved on his pass catching, runs hard and is a great back for a Pound and Ground offense we always say we want.
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I for one am not high on Bilal Powell at the moment. Doesn’t hit the hole hard at all…looks very indecisive to me. Haven’t seen any potential catching passes out of the backfield and I’m not confident he can pick up the blitz. Maybe he pulls a McKnight and really improves this offseason but I didn’t see one flash from him all year.
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He only really saw significant time (if you can call it that) against Denver. Our line was horrible most of that game and we did not committ to the run (surprise). He did look good coming out of Louisville, appeared to be a steal in the fifth round (is that # correct?) I’d say give him a proper off-season and if he can’t be a good back-up get another RB in the 2013 draft, considering how many picks we NEED to spend on Oline and OLB’s this year.
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I wonder if Joe Beningo still thinks Mark Sanchez is as good as Matt Ryan
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I wonder if Matt Ryan will actually decide to show up for his playoff game this year…
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My guess would be no. If you want to talk about a guy who has been absolutely surrounded by top-tier talent and has underperformed it’s Matt Ryan. Guy is only productive in his comfort zone (GA dome) Giants will eat him alive. I predict at least 5 TO’s for the Golden Boy.
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Shonn Greene’s numbers were BRUTAL this year. He was 35th in the NFL in yards per carry and there are only 32 teams. You can blame it on the offensive line if you want and project that he might do better behind a better line, but you can’t say he had a good year running the football.
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Tied for 33rd, but that’s counting guys who had a LOT less carries. Basically, you’re counting 3rd down backs whose YPC are ALWAYS higher than average because they rarely run. Jahvid Best had a higher YPC than Greene, wanna sign him?
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All the guys on that list ahead of Shonn had at least 100 carries, so that is a nice sample size. However, you are absolutely right that it’s much harder to have a higher average when you have 250 carries. So it is a good point by you. Greene can take the pounding that very few backs in the NFL can take, so that is definitely a plus.
I am not saying the Jets should get rid of S. Greene, just that I think he is certainly a below average back in the NFL, and his numbers seem (to me) to support that.
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Below average? I have to disagree there.
As Bent pointed out, a big indicator on how much a runner’s YPC is indicative of O-line play is the yards before contact. Greene was getting a mere 1 yard before being hit early in the year, because the line wasn’t blocking.
I think the Jets need a better complementary back, but Greene is very good, IMO.
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Bent, you do a great job with this site. It is one of the best (if not the best) NFL team blogs I have come across.
Thanks for all your hard work.
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The Jets are not getting rid of Shonn Greene, they have too many other holes to address. My opinion is that he is a below average NFL starter. His stats this year seem to support that opinion.
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However, the yards before contact stat does seem to support Brendan and Bent’s opinion that the offensive line was to blame and not Greene.
Maybe Greene’s performance will prove me wrong next year. We’ll have to wait and see
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I’m not absolving Greene completely, for the record. A truly elite back would be able to do more with less, I would think. I’m more arguing the “average” thing. He’s at least average, I’d say slightly above average. He’s not elite, nor will he ever be elite. But he’s definitely a good player and can be very effective as a lead back if the coordinator uses him properly.
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I think that Trent Richardson might slip to us in the draft. If he is there i think we take him. I seen LT hit holes behind the same line Green was running with. Green is a short yardage back, while Richardson is the next Stephen Jackson.
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I think any back gets 1000 yards with shottie and a bad olne is good.though I still think he is more of a 1-2 punch with another back.
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Ground and pound. Honestly we don’t have the RBs.
Brendan, you were dead wrong about Holmes. You made him made him out to be a good character guy. I agreed with you that he is a better player than Edwards but that doesn’t mean you were right about Holmes. But by no means were you wrong on everything.
Holmes is a quitter and a cancer. He must go.
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Greene isn’t the issue.
The real issue is with the ground and pound philosophy. It works with a dominant OL and defense. The Jets are too far away from that. All the stars need to be aligned for Sanchez to be successful.
The quick fix is to get that dominant QB which Sanchez is far from. The Jets need to get Manning. If Manning is unavailable, then go for Flynn.
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The Jets have one elite dominant player on the team- Darrelle Revis.
After that, there is not much any other teams have to gameplan around. Sure you have Holmes who is above average, but with the other players around him beyond just average and below average starters his effectiveness is pretty much negated.
Shonn Greene is an average running back. He is going to pound and pound the ball. He is not going to outrun anyone and he is not going to make anyone miss in the open field. He is average, and the only way he can take over a game is if we have a lead and he can just pound the ball.
I am pretty sure we have all seen him break a round and expected him to juke out or elude a defender and take that run to the house. Though that is not going to happen. At best the run will be for 20yds. Any more and there might be a flag on Mulligan





Though pass protection was worse, the O line wasn’t very good. Could a better back have made lemonade? Maybe, but we also witnessed more than a couple games where Greene was running well and Schotty inexplicably started favoring the pass.
I don’t think Greene is an elite back but he’s good enough. I would allocate resources elsewhere – RB is not a problem.