Shonn Greene

That was quite an impression Shonn Greene made last year, eh?  The Jets grabbed the University of Iowa running back with the first pick in the 3^rd round in the hopes that he could be an adequate backup to Thomas Jones should something happen to Leon Washington.  Well, it turned out little Leon went down for the year with a leg injury in the 7^th game of the season, so New York was going to find out what they had much sooner than they thought…  By surprise, not only was Shonn up to taking on the primary backup RB job on a winning team, but it seemed like he wanted to take Jones’ starting job as well!  Ultimately, Shonn never did start a game, but his game impressed the coaches so strongly towards the end of the year that he ended up garnering more touches than Thomas Jones did during their playoff run.

~  Ranked 57th in the league with 60.1 RB fantasy points (basic scoring system)

~  Tied for 53rd in the league with 2 rushing touchdowns

~  Tied for 158th in the league with 2 total touchdowns

~  Ranked 42nd in the league with 541 rushing yards

~  Ranked 46th in the league with 38.6 rushing yards per game

~  Ranked 48th in the league with 108 attempts

~  Tied for 20th in the league with 5 rushes of 20+ yards

~  Tied for 44th in the league with 24 rushes for first downs

~  Lost 3 fumbles on the year

~  Ranked last among running backs with 0 receptions

~  Ranked last among running backs with 0 receiving yards

~  Set career highs in every major statistical rushing category

The show Greene put on in the 2009 playoffs was enough for the team to let go of their 1,400-yard, 14-TD running back Thomas Jones, but they haven’t thrown all their chips in on the youngster just yet.  They decided it would be best to trade in one Over-30 guy for another and grabbed surefire Hall-of-Famer LaDainian Tomlinson on the cheap to hedge their bets.  LT21 isn’t the same back he used to be, but with an offensive line like the Jets have, he might just come back to life and turn a few heads.  That doesn’t mean Greene won’t be the main man, because he will, but fantasy owners should get used to seeing LT21 take over on passing downs as Shonn has never been much of a pass-catching threat out of the backfield (1 catch in 2009, 11 catches in 3 years at Iowa).  That said, barring injury (he has had injury problems throughout his career), expect the Jets second-year RB to rush for over 1,000 yards, cash in possibly 10+ TDs, and come close to RB1 fantasy status in 2010.

~ LaDainian Tomlinson is sure to take some opportunities away from Greene, but not enough to affect his overall production

~ The Jets employ BY FAR the most run-happy offense in the NFL

~ Mark Sanchez is still learning what it takes to pass well at this level, so the Jets should still implement a highly run-based offense

~ When Santonio Holmes comes off his suspension, how will that affect the Jets offensive game-plan?

~ The Jets Offensive Line is one of the best in the game, especially at run-blocking

Shonn does not have a Twitter account.  The official Team Twitter account comes through here:  Jets Player Tweets

Follow Pyro® on Twitter @pyroman1ac

We wonder what Greene's new teammate thinks about this little piece of action that happened in the playoffs last year.

Shonn signed a four-year, $2.655 million contract in June of '09.  The deal included a $905,000 signing bonus while an escalator is available in the final year.  Here's the breakdown:

2010 - $395,000

2011 - $480,000

2012 - $565,000

2013 - Free Agent

Greene absolutely must be handcuffed to LaDainian Tomlinson

• Offensive Line


• Offensive Scheme


• Major Off-Season Moves


• 2009 NFL Draft

View Overall Strength of Schedule Chart