Five Jets Training Camp Stories without Tebow

Dec 24, 2011; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets running back Shonn Greene (23) runs with the ball during the first half of their game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

This afternoon to make room for JETserious this morning, we continue our week long series on training camp stories to follow, that do not involve Tim Tebow. He obviously being the storyline that we will all be following, I wanted to focus on some other areas.

To catch up, take a look at our first post on the kickers by clicking here

And our post about the wide receivers by clicking here

Now, we move to our third story that we will be following, in no particular order, when the Jets open training camp at the end of this month.

WHO WILL EMERGE AS THE NUMBER 2 RUNNING BACK?

This is a similar issue to the one we spoke about yesterday regarding the wide receivers. Shonn Greene is the number one back, and will carry the load. There has been some debate as to whether or not Greene can handle the load, but that is for a different post.

The question is who will emerge as the second guy, to change the pace?

Turn the page and we will talk about the candidates.

The leader in the clubhouse is Joe McKnight. He has been waiting in the wings while Tomlinson held the job down, and with LDT’s retirement, McKnight will be given every opportunity to get it done. Fact is, he hasn’t been great. After showing flashes in 2010, averaging 4.8 yards per rush, Joe took a step back in 2011, barely averaging over 3 yards per rush. Look at the numbers, and you see that McKnight hasn’t given a lot of evidence that he can be that change of pace guy, yet.

The next guy that will get a chance to get on the field is newly drafted Terrance Ganaway. He is a brusing, North/South runner that ha a nose for the endzone. Scoring 21 TDs as a senior in college is clear evidence of that, no matter where he went to school. Fact of the matter is, though, is that he is a rookie. Until he does it against pros, we really don’t know what we have.

John Griffin is another player that the Jets see a great deal of potential in. But again, it’s potential. We just don’t know. Then we have Bilal Powell, a guy that hasn’t shown the Jets much since they drafted him from the University of Louisville.

As with the wide receivers, here is praying that I am wrong about this. Joe McKnight can take the job by storm and be the perfect compliment to Shonn Greene. Ganaway may find himself in the endzone several times this fall.

But, we don’t know. We just don’t know. What I do know is we’ll be watching when the Jets open training camp.