It's not often that a team trades its most explosive player for an unproven, inconsistent rookie running back.
But that's essentially what happened today when the Jets traded Leon Washington to Seattle and drafted USC RB Joe McKnight. It's not a straight up trade, but it's close to the same thing.
And it's a head-scratcher.
Washington was electrifying in green. He seemed to be capable of scoring every time he touched the football, and he had become a fan favorite. Sure, he suffered a terrible injury last season, relegating him to the injured list as Shonn Greene became a star overnight in the playoffs. Yes, the Jets went out and signed LaDanian Tomlinson in the offseason.
But how sure can the Jets be that Greene wasn't a flash in the pan? Does LT have anything left in the tank? If the answer is "no" to either question, Washington will be sorely missed. He's had plenty of time to recover from that leg injury, and he'll be close to 100% when camp begins, if not at it.
Now, all eyes turn to McKnight.
Few players have more raw talent than him. If you've seen the YouTube videos of him in high school, you know what he's capable of. Some people - myself included - anointed him the next Reggie Bush upon his arrival at USC. He was that good.
But McKnight never put it all together in cardinal and gold.
There was the fourth quarter against Arizona in 2007, when he dazzled the Coliseum crowd with a 45-yard punt return and a 59-yard run to set up USC's final 10 points and give the Trojans a come-from-behind, 20-13 win. There was the final drive at Ohio State in 2009, when McKnight gained 54 of USC's 96 yards, setting up the game-winning score over the Buckeyes.
These are just two of the flashes of brilliance in McKnight's otherwise disappointing career. He scored just 15 touchdowns on offense in three seasons, and rushed for over 1,000 yards just once - amassing 1,014 in his junior season, his final year at USC. McKnight struggled to hold on to the football at times, especially in the return game. It became such an issue that he lost his spot as a punt returner.
It's a bit much to expect him to step up and fill Leon's shoes. He never came close to filling Reggie's.
Can he eventually be that type of player? He has the skill to do it. But it's going to take a lot of work to make it happen.
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As another person that had expected McKnight to fill a little bit more of Reggie's big shoes, I agree completely. Leon Washington was one of those fantasy sleepers I had my eye on last year and was in the midst of becoming a viable "fantasy option" before his injury. I had expected him to take the next step this coming year, both for the Jets and for the fantasy owners looking for that mid-late round "boom" pick.
ReplyDeleteI certainly have my doubts about McKnight. It's worth noting that the 1,014 yards he got this past season coincided with the injury of Stafon Johnson, and, thus, yielded Joe a lot more touches. I'm sure the Floridian linebacking crew that my Patriots drafted will just be waiting for Little Joe Fumble to cough up the ball. Sure, the move pairs McKnight with his old QB, Mark Sanchez, but the two didn't have any notably above-average chemistry and I think that'd be an overblown point (so I'm glad you didn't make it).