Jets Friday Afternoon Recap & The High Comedy Of Jealous Giants Fans

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A few highlights from this afternoon’s practice:

• Sounds like Mark Brunell had a quality day at the office and could be well on his way to burying Kellen Clemens on the depth chart or knocking him off the roster. I have been anti-Brunell as the #2 all off-season but maybe the old veteran will prove me wrong. I am interested to see how he plays in extended action during the pre-season. He hit Santonio Holmes on a couple of long completions today and also had a nice connection with Dustin Keller.
• Joe McKnight and Aundrae Allison were working alongside Kyle Wilson on returning punts. The Jets haven’t had an explosive punt returner in a long time, which makes the addition of Wilson a little extra exciting. It is always risky to have a rookie back there, though.
• Throughout camp Mark Sanchez and Dustin Keller have been on the same page and have connected for a high amount of completions. Keller was a slight disappointment during the regular season in 2009 but much of that had to do with Sanchez’s struggles. We saw what this combination could do in the playoffs last year.
• Marty Schottenheimer was in attendance today.
• More Matt Slauson with the starters at LG.

A reminder the Jets will have their annual Green and White scrimmage tomorrow night at 6 PM. I will have a preview of the scrimmage either tomorrow morning or afternoon, followed by a recap on Sunday.

The High Comedy Of Jealous Giants Fans

I don’t know if fellow Jets fans have experienced the same increased bitterness towards their team from Giants fans this off-season as I have, but personally it has been overwhelming. Look at this recent post I had left on my Facebook wall:

I’m writing this to you as a wake up call to not only you but to all JETS fans that are acting like they already won the Superbowl when they haven’t won jack in our lifetimes. (You know the game that makes you the best team in the NFL for a single season like the NY Giants when they defeated the Patriots) I thought you should watch this video as a reminder that even after all the big name signings and TV contracts I want you to remember at the end of the day its the JETS and they’ll find a way to f— it up. (Note the video was the infamous ‘Jets Draft Blunders’)

I have seen plenty of this, along with hearing Giants players like Brandon “tip-toe” Jacobs and Justin Tuck take shots at the Jets this off-season. I have to say I find it very entertaining, not quite as entertaining as a Rex Ryan press conference, but close enough. We get it Giants fans, the Jets haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1969 and you guys won just two years ago. So, why do you care so much about the Jets dominating the headlines and receiving more national coverage than the Giants? Just worry about your team, their subpar defense, declining offensive line, and laundry list of injuries. There is no reason to be angry that Giants Stadium is now a pile of dust and the Jets are primed to make the New Meadowlands their own because they built a team on running the football and defense, the same things that won the G-Men three Super Bowls, and the same things they can no longer do.

By the way, the Giants also showed a ton of heart last season in those final two games.

Response To Rant Of Angry Giants Fan – Shonn Greene and Ron Dayne Comparison Makes No Sense

Here is my response to Dan Donohue’s assertion that Shonn Greene could be the second coming of Ron Dayne, which was posted here:

http://turnonthejets.com/2010/08/03/rant-of-an-angry-giants-fan-1-why-shonn-greene-is-the-second-coming-of-ron-dayne/

Response To Rant Of Angry Giants Fan – Shonn Greene and Ron Dayne Comparison Makes No Sense

I honestly don’t even want to humor this argument because it is a way to deflect the reality that Shonn Greene is about to rush for more yards than Brandon Jacobs in 2010, by a decent margin. However, that is a different article for a different day (and in reality an article I wrote already, right here http://turnonthejets.com/2010/07/13/10-new-york-football-predictions/ . Let’s go through Dan’s argument for the hell of it:

First off, I would say Shonn Greene’s running style reminds me much more of Eddie George than Ron Dayne. Yes, George did eventually wear down but not until after he ran for 10,441 yards and 78 touchdowns. George weighed 235 pounds and Greene weighs 230 pounds, not the rotund 255 pounds Dayne weighed back in the day, with his Doritos guy and all. I am aware George is 4 inches taller than Greene but their upright form is where I see the similarity.

Moving back to Dayne, in his rookie year he averaged 3.4 yards per carry, which isn’t in the same stratosphere as Greene during his rookie season when he averaged 5.0 yards per carry. Dayne’s 3.4 yards per carry is much more comparable to the 3.7 yards per carry Brandon Jacobs averaged last season, perhaps it would be more suitable to compare the two of them.

Generally, I hear what Dan is saying about Thomas Jones softening the defense for Shonn Greene. It is true that Greene still has to prove he can be a full time starting back. However, in the few games Greene was given “lead back” carries, he showed he was up to the task. As a matter of fact, here are his stats when he had 13 or more carries:

• Vs. Cincinnati – 13 carries, 62 yards, 4.8 YPC
• At Indianapolis – 16 carries, 95 yards, 5.9 YPC
• At Oakland – 19 carries, 144 yards, 7.6 YPC
• At Cincinnati – 21 carries, 135 yards, 6.4 YPC
• At San Diego – 23 carries, 128 yards, 5.6 YPC

I don’t know, even though I agree to an extent about Thomas Jones softening up the defense, I am also kind of anxious to see what Greene can do with that amount of carries on a regular basis. Greene left the AFC Championship Game because he couldn’t breath from taking a rib shot, when he tried to come back in the coaching staff held him for Thomas Jones, who wasn’t half bad himself last year.

Peter King has said he thinks Greene is a 1400 yard back. I have said I think he will finish in the 1200-1300 yard range, I think most fans or people covering the team think he will be a 1100-1300 yard guy. Ideally, he will be filling the Thomas Jones role from last year with LaDainian Tomlinson and Joe McKnight combining to fill the Leon Washington role from the first 6 games before he got hurt. Tomlinson and especially McKnight won’t get enough carries to come anywhere near 1,000 yards in my mind. You assertion that Tomlinson will run for more yards than Greene on less carries is about as crazy as saying you expect Jake Delhomme to throw more touchdowns than Peyton Manning.

I didn’t spend much time talking about Ron Dayne because well he is…Ron Dayne. Yet, I would prepare for to see the Jets top notch offensive line and ground and pound approach lead Greene to a superior season than any running back on the pass happy, questionable offensive line Giants.

Go Shonn Go…To The Most Random Song For A Football Highlight Video

Rant Of An Angry Giants Fan #1 – Why Shonn Greene Is The Second Coming Of Ron Dayne

Welcome to the first part of our new series “Rant Of An Angry Giants Fan.” This off-season we have all noticed how surprisingly bitter and jealous Giants fans and players have been of all the attention the Jets have been receiving. Poor Justin Tuck can’t go three days without making some kind of comment taking a slight at the Jets. Anyway, enter Dan Donohue a good friend of TOJ, who likes nothing more than to come up with elaborate and far-fetched ways the Jets will struggle this season. Here is Donohue’s take on Shonn Greene…don’t worry my rebuttal will be coming in a few hours…take it away Dan:

Shonn Greene vs. Ron Dayne – Who ya Got?

Both bruising Big 10 running backs with illustrious college careers, we saw how Dayne translated to the NFL, could Greene’s similar style of running be a tip of the cap as to the future for this NY backer?

The numbers -

Dayne

#11 Draft Pick

Rookie Year- 228 carries for 770 yards (3.4 ypc) 5 td’s 1 fumble lost – 2 playoff wins

Being the #11 overall pick Dayne was immediately given a huge workload and asked to produce. Giants fans made the mistake of setting the bar too high for Ron Dayne claiming him to be next coming of Jerome Bettis and inevitably they were let down. There is no debate the Dayne Train is right up there with Ki-Jana Carter as being statistically one of the biggest RB busts in NFL history but that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t an intricate factor of the Giants teams success for a few years. In the early years of his career Dayne’s bruising style of running opened the door for an counterpart, the quick flashy dual-back to soak in the spotlight.  If you look at Barbers career, what was the one single event that transformed Tiki from a 300 yard per year rusher to a perennial 1000+ rusher? The addition of thunder to the lightning created a perfect complement that has become sort of the norm for the NFL backfield today.

Greene

#65 overall pick

Rookie Year- 108 carries for 540 (5.0 ypc) 2 TD’S, 3 fumbles lost- 2 playoff wins

Greene’s 5.0 YPC during the regular season and his performances against the Bengals and Chargers are reasons to be enticed by this guy’s upside. In his two playoff games he certainly looked as good as any running back in the game. But without Greene’s playoff performance last year, do the Jets go into the season with a 540 yard rusher at the helm, with a supporting cast that has Super bowl promise written all over it? It is not debatable that Jones softened the defense up week in and week out and Greene ate up the 5.0 yards per carry, primarily in the 2^nd and 4^th quarter against a tiring defense. (Check the ESPN splits)

TOJ followers I ask you to answer these questions subjectively and realistically.

Are two games enough to crown him a 1400 yard elite NFL starting running back?

Can a back that sat himself down during the AFC championship due to a rib injury really be expected to withstand carrying the ball 25+ times a game and have the same production?

Will LT or McKnight be Greene’s lighting and enjoy the success of coming in and potentially running by a beat down defense like Leon Washington did for the past few seasons?

I plead with you Jets fans do not set the bar for a 1400 yard season out of Greene, because similar to Dayne you’re an inevitably going to be let down.

Greene and Dayne are so similar in running styles it will make any Jet fan feel queasy. The good news Greene has shown flashes to be a superstar running back even if it was just for 3 games (Bengals, Chargers, Raiders). But everyone knows it takes more than just a couple of flashes to attain a title of elite NFL running back. Being the bruising running back in a dual-backfield and pounding the defense for the other guy is something that cannot be overlooked in the NFL now a days. Sure ask Dayne, you might not get the glory being the wrecking ball but what’s more important scoring TD’s or winning games? You debate, but the two-headed monster seems to be the formula for success these days in the NFL and you can not be disappointed with Greene going for 900 yards on 280 carries while LT rushes for 1000 on 220 carries.

And now back to your regularly scheduled TOJ writing