Can Shonn Greene finally reach his full fantasy potential this season?
Well, here we go again. If it's spring, Shonn Greene must be atop the Jets' depth chart at running back. The Jets say this is the year Greene is ready to take over the role. Really.
LaDainian Tomlinson has been relegated to status as a third-down back. He's ready to enjoy watching the young guy get the carries while he runs the pass routes on third down. Really.
It's déjà vu all over again.
Okay, that's too cynical, but it sure does feel like we're heading into training camp in 2010 all over again. And we all know how that turned out: Greene was penciled in atop the depth chart, but at the first sign of trouble, the Jets turned the ball over to Tomlinson.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. The formula worked, and the Jets made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game. So what's to stop the same thing from happening again this year? (The shared-carries part, not the AFC Championship Game part.)
Well, you can argue that Greene, of course, is a year more experienced. And Tomlinson isn't exactly getting any younger. But the Jets managed Tomlinson's carries pretty well last year. LT carried the ball 219 times in all, and always between 10 and 20 times in the 15 games that he played. Greene had 185 rushes. The ratio might reverse this year, but we're skeptical that the touches will skew too heavily to Greene.
As the starting back in a run-first offense, there's a lot to like about Greene. But as long as Tomlinson is still on the scene, it's going to be awfully tempting for the Jets to lean on him more than they might want to believe at this time of the year.
Bottom Line: As long as LaDainian Tomlinson is still in the mix in New York, Shonn Greene's fantasy ceiling is limited.
