NY Jets: It’s now Stevan Ridley’s time to shine

Not only did the NY Jets lose their fourth game of the season on Sunday, but they also lost their backup running back in Zac Stacy.

On top of losing to the Buffalo Bills in Rex Ryan’s return, the Jets are now dealing with another injury. This time it’s Stacy who went down and he’s done for the season after undergoing surgery on his fractured ankle.

Bowles: RB Zac Stacy underwent surgery on his fractured ankle this AM. He’s out for the season.

— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 13, 2015

With just a few seconds to go in the first half, Stacy decided to return a kick that appeared to be going out of bounds. Unfortunately during that attempt he suffered his season-ending injury leaving the Jets with some uncertainty behind Chris Ivory.

Or perhaps not? We finally saw a Stevan Ridley appearance on Thursday Night Football, though Jets fans should wait before cracking open the champagne bottles as it was an underwhelming debut to say the least. He had a handful of carries for minimal yards. But looking at the depth, Bilal Powell has been dealing with injuries all season and Ridley just got activated 2 weeks ago. The question is who is going to step up?

Oct 5, 2014; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley (22) reacts after scoring against the Cincinnati Bengals during the first quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

I really think Ridley can step up and be that #2 guy for Ivory and this Jets’ running game. Ivory finally got back on track this week getting over the 100+ yard barrier on the ground (though conflicting reports say that he ended up with 99 yards) regardless he got back on track. I think it would do Ivory good to have another healthy tailback in the backfield.

It’s been the league trend for the last several seasons with teams going with a running back by committee approach and it’s not a knock at all against Ivory. For the Jets it’s simply playing the numbers, injuries happen all the time in the NFL and the Jets would be better served having a two back system.

Next: Jets handed Buffalo their latest victory

With the Jets next game on the road against a struggling Houston Texans ball-club, the Jets need to re-establish the running game. Especially since the over the last several weeks the Jets have gone from being the #1 rushing team in the league to the 13th in terms of rushing yards per game. And perhaps finally we’ll see Ridley have a coming out party and develop a significant role in this Chan Gailey offense.

With injury comes opportunity and it’s put up or shut up for Ridley to make an impact. The Jets can’t hide him anymore as it’s time to see what this kid has in the tank.