LT

[lancemehl]

If you look at our offense, it's pretty young and the core is solid. We will keep at least 2 of the 3 WR's, Line is set, QB, Greene is up and coming, I guess Terminator steps in and Keller.....ohhh man IDK, I guess he's better than the avg, but what about LaDanian Tomlinson??

-You gotta love the dude.

-He got the tattoo.

-He IS still L T HOF

-He loves the team and the coach.

-He was awesome at the beginning of the year.

- He does have a knack for finding the endzone.

but

- He's 32

- He tapered off at the end as predicted....(although, they DID say he was being paced AND he still had a decent YPC)

- He disappeared again in the playoffs..(neither could anyone first half)

--He couldn't find the endzone in PItt on 4th down. (but my grandmother knew that was coming...and she's dead.)

I would LOVE to keep him around as a third back, but that probably isn't realistic. Bottomline is if we want to improve than RB is where we can do it. Someone who doesn't have to be paced.

Shame. i would've loved to see him ride off into the sunset this year, and I hate to see him down the road with tattoos covering both legs to the kee. he's a class act.

[SenorGato]

I'm very torn on LT, and this situation could get tough. He's a great player and probably deserves one more shot at a SB...That said, I feel like he fell off a cliff after the first 5 games...

[slowmoe57]

He was a feel good story for a bit and I loved having him. That being said I would rather we go in a different direction.

[GangisGreen]

I am also torn, he is a class act and a great veteran leader which we may need assuming we lose T rich and ellis. And in all reality he would only make like 2 mil next year which is not alot. As far as his production I agree it dropped and my answer to that would be to split carries 60-40 in Greene's favor or maybe even use LT as a 3rd down back. As far as moving in a different direction I am not sold on McKnight and I would not be happy if we drafted a RB figuring we have more pressing needs.

[T0mShane]

Schottenheimer burned him out early in the season and wasted Greene when everyone in the world knew that LT should have been kept in bubble wrap until the playoffs. In sum, Schottensucks.

[pointman]

I think we feel pretty similar on this. But say we do move away from LT... who fills that void?

[JustInFudge]

LT is a Jet next season guaranteed.

[SenorGato]

Schottenheimer burned him out early in the season and wasted Greene when everyone in the world knew that LT should have been kept in bubble wrap until the playoffs. In sum, Schottensucks.

Makes no sense...most questioned Greene's ability to handle a full season, and keeping LT bubble wrapped for 3 months does no one any good...I thought they were used correctly...one's just really old for a RB and the other is apparently at least somewhat injury prone...always with something nagging that Greene.

[yanks9596]

i'd love to bring him back in a reduced roll. maximum 10 touches per game. he'd be very effective still at age 32.

[#27TheDominator]

Bottomline is if we want to improve than RB is where we can do it.

Quarterback is where we can do it.

The RBs were fine. The OLine was dinged up and that hurt the running game. Sure LT faded, but there was a lot more to it that just that. I don't agree with Gatto that Greene is hurt so often. AFAIK he's been ready to roll all year. The problem is that he fumbles and blows assignments and that seems to get him the doghouse.

[DMaynard]

Schottenheimer burned him out early in the season and wasted Greene when everyone in the world knew that LT should have been kept in bubble wrap until the playoffs. In sum, Schottensucks.

The truth. And ... if LT is back next year, Schotty will do the same damn thing again. Something of a retard, this Schottenheimer the Younger.

[Boozer76]

We need to start looking for guys to fill the RB void late in the draft and on the waiver wire. McNight needs to step up next season and will get every opportunity to do so. You gotta cut ties with LT if next year is going to be capped.

[flgreen]

I think we feel pretty similar on this. But say we do move away from LT... who fills that void?

Ricky Williams is having his left cheek measured for a Jets tattoo as we speak

[Blackout]

LT is the best RB ever

let him play another year

[pointman]

LT is the best RB ever

let him play another year

I like LT. But shouldn't what he produced recently matter more than his legacy? I mean, OJ Simpson was pretty good too, and he will be out and about after a while. Just sayin...

[kelticwizard]

OJ Simpson was pretty good too, and he will be out and about after a while.

Do you think OJ will be ready to take another stab at it?

[slowmoe57]

Do you think OJ will be ready to take another stab at it?

It would be a killer lineup with him -- anyone with a phone number for the parole board.

[Blackout]

Do you think OJ will be ready to take another stab at it?

"you reject my single, I ain't mad at it

Like OJ getting married against I'll take another stab at it"--Chino XL

[Warfish]

I like LT just fine.

But he's clearly not the future.

And he clearly wore down and was of reduced reliabillity/productivity down the stretch in 2010.

I may be in a small minority here, but I would be VERY excited to see a 2011 RB Corps of:

#1 Greene (50%)

#2 McKnight (40%)

#3 Connor (FB, 5%)

#4 Chauncy Washington (Backup/5%)

I know McKnight turned off ALOT of fans early, but I (and I think Tanny and Rex) have some faith the kid is the real deal as a #1B/#2 RB. And I loved what I saw from Washington in the pre-season, that passion and energy cannot be faked. He'd make a decent bruiser-back and backup should Greene go down for a game or three.

I certainly won;t cry if LT is retained, but I am a huge fan of roster-management based on the future and always getting younger, and hungrier and faster and stronger.

[The Crusher]

I like LT just fine.

But he's clearly not the future.

And he clearly wore down and was of reduced reliabillity/productivity down the stretch in 2010.

I may be in a small minority here, but I would be VERY excited to see a 2011 RB Corps of:

#1 Greene (50%)

#2 McKnight (40%)

#3 Connor (FB, 5%)

#4 Chauncy Washington (Backup/5%)

I know McKnight turned off ALOT of fans early, but I (and I think Tanny and Rex) have some faith the kid is the real deal as a #1B/#2 RB. And I loved what I saw from Washington in the pre-season, that passion and energy cannot be faked. He'd make a decent bruiser-back and backup should Greene go down for a game or three.

I certainly won;t cry if LT is retained, but I am a huge fan of roster-management based on the future and always getting younger, and hungrier and faster and stronger.

Truth is McKnight may have sealed LT's fate in the game against Buffalo. I know it was a beat down Buffalo team with nothing to play for but the kid looked like we sorta expected him to look. I have no problem with LT coming back but at a very limited role. More Greene and more McKnight is a very reasonable direction for the RB corp. Though LT one more year catching the ball out of the back field would be cool He still has that move to make the first guy miss and if we can get him cheap why not?

[flgreen]

I like LT just fine.

But he's clearly not the future.

And he clearly wore down and was of reduced reliabillity/productivity down the stretch in 2010.

I may be in a small minority here, but I would be VERY excited to see a 2011 RB Corps of:

#1 Greene (50%)

#2 McKnight (40%)

#3 Connor (FB, 5%)

#4 Chauncy Washington (Backup/5%)

I know McKnight turned off ALOT of fans early, but I (and I think Tanny and Rex) have some faith the kid is the real deal as a #1B/#2 RB. And I loved what I saw from Washington in the pre-season, that passion and energy cannot be faked. He'd make a decent bruiser-back and backup should Greene go down for a game or three.

I certainly won;t cry if LT is retained, but I am a huge fan of roster-management based on the future and always getting younger, and hungrier and faster and stronger.

This is exactly what I would like to see happen. I wouldn’t even mind seeing #4 get a few of #1’s carries to keep the big guy fresh.

LT was fun, but he burnt out at the end of the season.

I think Mc Knight will be fine as long as he takes this off season seriously

[Sperm Edwards]

Truth is McKnight may have sealed LT's fate in the game against Buffalo. I know it was a beat down Buffalo team with nothing to play for but the kid looked like we sorta expected him to look. I have no problem with LT coming back but at a very limited role. More Greene and more McKnight is a very reasonable direction for the RB corp. Though LT one more year catching the ball out of the back field would be cool He still has that move to make the first guy miss and if we can get him cheap why not?

Sounds fine in theory, but sadly I think he'd still get the starting nod because he'll look good all summer long in practice before the games begin combined with his experience and knowledge.

He still gets a good run in now & again. But we have to get through too many no-gainers to get to them. Jones was the same in that regard (plus he couldn't catch on top of that).

Greene's 3rd year coming up and McKnight's 2nd. Go with the 2 of them and take a flyer on an UDFA for #3 (who could also push McKnight for #2). With good run-blocking there's more upside with that than another year of Tomlinson potentially getting 15+ touches a game, week after week, again. Guy was great once. He just isn't anymore and I'd rather put the extra $2M towards another position.

[Matt39]

Tomlinson now is still a lot better than McKnight.

[SMC]

I think LT stays. He'll take a paycut if necessary.

Plus, he has a Jet tattoo on his calf and a Chargers tattoo on the other, so he has no where else to put a tattoo from a new team.

[Jets1Fan]

Here's the Bottom Line:

If we cut LT before '11, we would save about $2.45 Million. Meaning, I hope his agent and he are smart enough to restructure if given the chance by Tannenbaum.

Otherwise, I think he's gone.

[Sperm Edwards]

Tomlinson now is still a lot better than McKnight.

He was in 2010. It is far from certain that he will be in 2011. It's also not a sure thing that McKnight will be better than Tomlinson in 2015. But the reality is LT will be 32 with almost 4000 career touches on offense; McKnight a relatively untouched 23 yrs old. He may not be worthy of the #3 spot next year. But I'm unthrilled with the possibility of LT getting 200-250 offensive touches next year.

[Matt39]

He was in 2010. It is far from certain that he will be in 2011. It's also not a sure thing that McKnight will be better than Tomlinson in 2015. But the reality is LT will be 32 with almost 4000 career touches on offense; McKnight a relatively untouched 23 yrs old. He may not be worthy of the #3 spot next year. But I'm unthrilled with the possibility of LT getting 200-250 offensive touches next year.

True. But in the time I saw both of these guys on the field....LT still looked like he was the fresher quicker back.

LT played well for the Jets. Running him north south against the Steelers wasn't going to work. A 25 year old Tomlinson wouldn't have been able to run on the Steelers.

Greene needs to keep himself in better shape and start producing from game 1 on next year. I'd try and get another bigger back either through the draft or by taking a flier.

Between McKnight and LT...I'd rather have LT as the pass catching/3rd down guy. But I guess I'm also biased...I never liked McKnight because of his lack of speed. I'll be very surprised if he can become productive player at this level.

[Sperm Edwards]

True. But in the time I saw both of these guys on the field....LT still looked like he was the fresher quicker back.

LT played well for the Jets. Running him north south against the Steelers wasn't going to work. A 25 year old Tomlinson wouldn't have been able to run on the Steelers.

Greene needs to keep himself in better shape and start producing from game 1 on next year. I'd try and get another bigger back either through the draft or by taking a flier.

Between McKnight and LT...I'd rather have LT as the pass catching/3rd down guy. But I guess I'm also biased...I never liked McKnight because of his lack of speed. I'll be very surprised if he can become productive player at this level.

LT looked fresher at times. At times he also made Thomas Jones look like a shifty speed demon.

If he was limited to 8 touches per game he'd be fine. Even an over-the-hill guy can have a big burst with only a handful of touches spread over a 3 hour ballgame. But he will not be limited to 8 touches per game with the coaches who are still in awe of his past. He'll do or say something in practice that will get them to draw up plays designed for him to touch the ball 15-20 times with the assumption that he's got the same spring in his step on the 15th time will be the same as on his 2nd carry.

McKnight I don't care one way or the other about, other than I was pissed off with the rest that we used up a roster spot on a guy we didn't use all year even in the return game, even when Smith was injured, even when Holmes was showing off his 60-ish IQ on returns. If the coaches have so little faith in him that they won't let him touch the ball, then there is no point in keeping him. In order for him to show a little something he has to get touches but they won't let him touch it while he's unproven and around & around we go with that circular logic.

The only thing with Greene is something you're alluding to, which is that Greene might not have been in the best shape at the start of the season. If that's the case, then getting rid of LT and handing him the job will not improve things. I didn't hear anything like that all season long, though. If anything I heard how Greene dropped like an extra 10-12 lbs so he'd be less injury prone or last longer or whatever. All I saw was that he seemed to have lost power and I'm purely guessing he put some of that weight back on during the season as he just looked more powerful as the season went on.

Given the # of high-priced FA's we have - YOUNG free agents at that - I'd be really upset if one of them barely didn't fit because we held onto LT for one more year at $2.5M. And if that's the way the numbers go, I'd rather go with Greene, McKnight, and 2 UDFA's. We built up a solid OL so we wouldn't have to worry about the cost of RB's. There are a handful of special RB's who are worth a bunch of extra dollars and LT just isn't one of them anymore.

[#27TheDominator]

I don't want any new running backs. Unless they really need the money I'd keep LT. I'd prefer Greene got more carries, but LT is solid enough and that's what you want. I'd prefer they don't carry another RB on the roster unless Richardson is retired and McKnight is taking Smith's spot on specials and returns. I'd carry one on the practice squad. I think LT was fine. I think his swoon is overrated and I think he'll be fine coming back, but like everybody else I want Greene to take over the way he was supposed to in 2010.

[FloridaJetsFan]

Truth is McKnight may have sealed LT's fate in the game against Buffalo. I know it was a beat down Buffalo team with nothing to play for but the kid looked like we sorta expected him to look. I have no problem with LT coming back but at a very limited role. More Greene and more McKnight is a very reasonable direction for the RB corp. Though LT one more year catching the ball out of the back field would be cool He still has that move to make the first guy miss and if we can get him cheap why not?

I'm good with this. I'd love to see him get a ring with us!