Aaron Glenn and the Jets need to mercifully end the Isaiah Davis era

If Aaron Glenn and the New York Jets still believe in third-year running back Isaiah Davis, then they’re doing an awful job of showing it.

Despite Breece Hall missing Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bears with a groin injury, Davis never touched the ball. His only statistic, a tackle, came on special teams coverage, and he hasn’t played a single offensive snap in four games.

Braelon Allen had all 14 of the Jets’ carries on Sunday afternoon, which is an extremely rare sight. At no point did Geno Smith keep the ball on a quarterback run, nor did they experiment with Kenyon Sadiq or Isaiah Williams — who scored the Jets’ lone touchdown on a 58-yard pass — attempting a jet sweep.

Neither Davis nor Glenn had discussed the lack of touches as of publication. 

Aaron Glenn and the New York Jets must figure out their Isaiah Davis problem

Some of you may be old enough to remember the older Madden games where running backs would frequently finish with at least 350 carries. Upon checking the box score, you’d realize that Curtis Martin or LaDainian Tomlinson had at least 30 carries, and maybe your quarterback got a few touches, depending on whether it was Peyton Manning or Michael Vick.

What we saw in Chicago was a form of coaching malpractice that would have been unacceptable when Glenn was still playing. Sunday’s loss was essentially Glenn and Frank Reich booting up Madden NFL 05 and running a simulation. There is no reason in the modern NFL for only one player to record all 14 carries, and the Jets, trailing for nearly the entire game, isn’t an excuse. 

If the Jets don’t trust Davis, then there is no reason to keep him on the 53-man roster — and if they truly believe that he’s the second-best running back behind Allen, then what does that say about the current organizational structure? We’re talking about running backs, not kickers or punters, where there are only so many trustworthy options.

And to be clear, we understand that Kene Nwangwu’s primary value comes as a returner and practice squad player; Al-Jay Henderson is an undrafted rookie. But isn’t the point of having a 53-man roster and a 16-man practice squad to have depth at key positions like running back or the trenches, where there is so much wear and tear over a given season?

We don’t get it. Glenn and Mougey earned so much goodwill with the fanbase throughout the offseason, yet glaring depth issues have kept haunting them amid the three-game losing streak.

Ahead of the Lions’ game, we openly quipped that the Jets should trade Davis for the Giants’ Tyrone Tracy Jr., who has also been a non-factor offensively. Maybe they should have taken our suggestion seriously, since Tracy had a 55-yard kickoff return in the Giants’ comeback win over Arizona.

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