File Under: Mike Tannenbaum, Thomas Jones, Curtis Martin, news conference
01/07 — One thing that struck me during the season was how similar several key aspects of Thomas Jones' game were to those of Curtis Martin when he first arrived as the Jets' featured back for the 1998 season.
Not everything is a perfect match, of course. Their running styles differ, as do their personalities. But as I complete entering data for Jones' season in areas such as yards per carry, fumbles, tackles for loss/no gain, and playing through the aches and pains of football, some strong shared characteristics come through.
In Martin's case, those characteristics bore more fruit in succeeding years as he continued to hold tightly onto the ball, reduced the tackles behind the line and the average yardage he lost on those plays, and built to the pinnacle of his 2004 season as the NFL's leading rusher.
Jones is his own man, of course, but if he can emerge in his succeeding seasons in green and white as Martin did, that would be a good thing. Here is a comparison in several areas of TJ's and Curt's first seasons with the Jets:
| Category | Jones 2007 | Martin 1998 |
| GP/GS | 16/14 | 15/15 |
| Rushing Yards | 1119 | 1287 |
| Attempts | 310 | 369 |
| Yards/Attempt | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| Touchdowns | 1 | 8 |
| Receiving Yards | 217 | 365 |
| Receptions | 28 | 43 |
| Yards/Reception | 7.8 | 8.5 |
| Touchdowns | 1 | 1 |
| Avg. Yards After Catch | 8.0 | 9.0 |
| Yards/Offensive Touch | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Yards Tackled for Loss/No Gain | -78 | -112 |
| Attempts | 61 | 82 |
| Avg. Yards Lost/Attempt | -1.3 | -1.4 |
| Fumbles/Lost | 2/0 | 5/1 |
| Penalties/Yards | 1/5 | 0/0 |
Tannenbaum Talks Today
One who hasn't weighed in on the Jets' recently completed season yet but will be heard from today is general manager Mike Tannenbaum, who just concluded his second season heading up the Green & White front office.
Mike T will be available to Jets reporters at a news conference scheduled to be held in the media room at the Jets complex today at 1 p.m.
The news conference will not be streamed live on newyorkjets.com. But Eric Allen will file a news story on the Tannenbaum "presser" later this afternoon, and we expect to have a transcript of the Q&A and video of the news conference available on our site no later than Tuesday.
Ira Said:
Thu, January 10, 2008 - 2:33pm EDT"Very good D's will always win in this league. 5 out of the top 7 teams in pts allowed are playing this weekend. Those are the Colts, SD,GB,Sea,and Pats. The Colts were #1 giving up a league low of 16.4 pts per game. BTW the other 2 teams in that top 7 were Pit and Tampa who both lost last weekend."
charlie Said:
Thu, January 10, 2008 - 4:39pm EDT"i see mangini has spoken with callahan and that Tampa is interested as well. Isn't Bill Muir still running their line down there? We usually had pretty good lines under him. I wonder if they're looking to replace him. Doubt we'd try to bring him back but interesting food for thought anyway."
Captain Jet Said:
Thu, January 10, 2008 - 10:53pm EDT"Coaches! We don't need no stikin coaches! We need some beef on both defensive and offensive line. We need to draft a nose like Vince Wilfork of the pats and make a free agent move for Albert Haynesworth. Maybe move Vilma for a draft pick and get another guard to replace kendall. Our speciality players are great we just need some beef in the trenches. Maybe a tall receiver late in the draft . "
Charlie Said:
Mon, January 7, 2008 - 1:18pm EDT"I really like TJ as a runner (and someone who doesn't put the ball on the ground). That said, the numbers don't look too bad for the year but as we know, numbers can be deceiving. Too many times we were put in 2nd and long and it seems a lot of his yards came from end of half/end of game, take what the prevent defense gives you. Hope next year his yards come at the right time."