LenDale White’s honeymoon with the Seattle Seahawks came to an abrupt end this afternoon, as the Seahawks announced the 25-year-old running back had been released.
“It became apparent at this time that LenDale was not ready to be a member of the Seattle Seahawks,” said General Manager John Schneider. “It just did not appear to be the right fit at this point in our program. We wish LenDale all the best with his future.”
It’s a surprising ending to the brief tenure of White with Seattle, who appeared to be the front runner to earn the starting running back job in a competition that included last year’s runners, Julius Jones and Justin Forsett, and newcomer Leon Washington.
White had not seen much time on the field during offseason workouts, heading back to Tennessee to take care of personal matters relating to flooding that had taken place there. And while at practice, White had not received a lot of reps because he was nursing a groin injury.
Weight was not an issue, as White came in at 219 pounds and joked about having to bulk up before training camp started.
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who coached White at USC, hinted that his former player still had a ways to go after practice on Monday.
“He’s physically capable of carrying a little bit different approach to the game – he was as much as probably 250 at times,” Carroll said on Monday. “We’ll see how it all fits together. It has a long ways to go. We are going to certainly wait it out and see how he does.”
White is in the final year of his contract that would have paid him $1.75 million in base salary for the 2010 season. Seattle gave up little to secure White’s services from Tennessee, getting the bruising runner along with defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson by swapping fourth and sixth-round picks with the Titans.
With White gone, Seattle now has Jones, Forsett, Leon Washington, Quinton Ganther and Louis Rankin at the running back position.
Okay then, very interesting, nobody is really safe, competition is really going on. This organization really know what they want, and if the players don’t turn out that way they’ll be cut/released, on paper and as a principle I like that a lot, but I hope they like the right things.
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He didn’t fit and was cut? Amazing. Not too shabby for a “players coach”.
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No one is safe!
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Washington,
The starter,if he`s healthy!
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Forsett’s going to be the starter, he’s the best running back on the team.
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Pretty good message to send though — no one is bigger than the team.
Watch out Olindo, you’re next.
A more highlight-hungry, me-first kicker, I’ve never known.
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I haven’t seen this kind of churn and burn approach with an NFL organization in a very long time – if at all.
Either these guys have discovered some new formula for success in the NFL or it’s just a bunch of college guys thinking they know everything but getting ready to get their heads handed to them.
Which one is it?
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Agreed, Forsett’s your feature back until unseated.
There is something more to this. He came in seemingly in good shape and was saying all the right things; work hard, he was excited, competition. Either there is a pending legal issue that we’re not aware of or his attitude was worse than even I though it was (and my opinion of him is low to start). This team since Ruskell stepped away up to and including today has had me on a roller coaster.
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Wow. I didn’t expect this. Oh well, more carries for JForce.
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Wow, didn’t see that coming. It didn’t look like he’d really even had a chance. I was pumped to have him as he seemed to be the only “Power Back” we had. Now, it doesn’t look like we have that part of the game. Forsett will definitely be there and hopefully Washington will work out, but what was the rush? Something had to have happened. The only other reason could be maybe they didn’t think he was taking it serious enough yet…
Does anyone know what the heck happened that they wouldn’t have at least waited a little longer?
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Kind of weird that he would be let go now…I wonder if something “character” related happened and we don’t know it yet?
Bobby Ayala – do you have information on Olindo being a “highlight hungry” or “me-first” or are you just channeling Jim “genius” Mora?
I’d love to hear the evidence for your smear.
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LenWhale = locker room cancer.
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I think his “smear” was sarcasm.
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Just look at the way he laces his shoes. Or the rotation of his kickoffs. You mean to tell me you’ve never saw Olindo walking off the sidelines, screaming at Jim Mora because the holder didn’t put the correct arch on the ball when he placed it?
He’s a wild man and he needs to be put back in his place.
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Does anyone know, or think, that this may be a good indication reports are positive on Washington’s recovery? I’d love to find out he’s received a clean bill of health. Last I heard, the number was up to 95% recovered.
Washington is one dude who is definitely NOT a locker room cancer.
Looks like we may be stuck with Jones again. Maybe he and Branch will be roommates!
P
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Bobby? did your mama drop you on your head?
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Dude, seriously, this is a legit question.
Why is there so much freaking hate for Julius Jones?
The dude takes the ball and runs downhill. He’s a good NFL running back.
He’s never been a prima donna, hasn’t complained about touches, hasn’t beaten up his girlfriend, hasn’t raped any women in Georgia nightclubs, no bullet wounds in his thighs, no dead pedestrians in crosswalks.
It’s just amazing to me how much dude gets dogged, especially after this fanbase pretty much buried shaun alexander for his weak, zig-zagging, get to the sideline as fast as possible style of running, and was begging for a downhill guy.
You get exactly that from the dude and proceed to treat him like he’s garbage.
Just because he’s not racking up every year behind a piss poor offensive line doesn’t mean he’s not a valuable member of the squad.
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Okay Bobby, I got it.
Stupid kicker ruined Jimmy’s career.
Here’s one for you. Right now on NFL network “on demand” on comcast there is a review of the 2004 season (it’s free, none of that pay stuff for me).
It’s a good show and you get a good look at Imma-pro-like-my-pop Jimmy Mora in action as the Falcons coach. What is the clip? It’s little Jimmy complaining to stadium personnel that Mike Vick can’t hear his chosen music during warmups…it’s not loud enough! Unbelievable.
I’m so glad he’s on NFL network and KJR all the time whining about himself, I wish someone would ask him what it’s like to have coached, and squandered on of the greatest athletes the sport has ever seen.
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“It became apparent at this time that LenDale was not ready to be a member of the Seattle Seahawks,” said General Manager John Schneider.
Well, it’s got to be either an attitude thing or a substance abuse thing (wasn’t he involved in some booze-related off the field stuff?).
He certainly was saying all the right things. I’ve got no problem with criticizing coaches/management, but I don’t think you can fault the coaches here Pab, it’s pretty clear on this one that some things were going on that we’re not privy to. Good thing that we just switched a low-round pick for him, not much lost here. Too bad for the guy – feels like this might have been his last/best chance.
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Among other things, big meat.
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“Why is there so much freaking hate for Julius Jones?
The dude takes the ball and runs downhill. He’s a good NFL running back.”
Bobby A is pretty much right. There’s really no reason to bag on JJ – he plays/runs hard, doesn’t complain, etc. I think most of the hate is really more of a readiness to move on – JJ is a decent, but very ordinary back, and will never be much more. I think most of us are ready to give someone else a shot at being the primary RB b/c we know what we’ve got with JJ, and want to see what someone else can do, and resent him (unfairly) b/c he’s standing in the way of that someone else.
Read more: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/seahawks/2010/05/28/hawks-waive-rb-lendale-white/comment-page-1/#comment-76438#ixzz0pGN8dN3h
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Washington has not been cleared to practice and Eric had said the other day he is still limited to light running. In all likelihood, he’s more apt to start the season on the PUP list (and I would applaud that, he’s too valuable to their long term plans than to risk a set-back) than be on the opening day roster.
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“BobbyAyala says:
Why is there so much freaking hate for Julius Jones?”
Because fans and posters here use up all the “blame-the-O-line” excuses to give Hasselbeck a pass so there are no “o-line” excuses left for JJ?
Do I win?
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Interesting. I can see that. Certainly JJ is not a flashy kind of runner, there’s not a ton of style, but that’s what you have JForce and Leon for.
You have to have those humble dudes who will sacrifice for the team, and in his three years in Seattle, Jones has done exactly that. But, what is normally a very compassionate fanbase, especially in comparison to others around the coutnry, the 12th has seemingly laid its scorn at the foot of this guy, in my opinion, unjustly.
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Blades hit it right on the head.
People just don’t like JJ.
He can’t catch a break.
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As I said last season; Monday through Saturday J. Jones would get torn to shreds. But on Sunday, like clockwork, people would talk about how much effort he was running with and how hard he was to tackle, etc… That said, health issues aside, he’s third behind Forsett and Washington and they need to upgrade that position. Jones is serviceable at best and he is not in this team’s long range plans.
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Totally agree with you Duke…
. . . “There is something more to this.”
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Really, Duke?
You see a pressing concern to upgrade the third-string running back?
Julius freaking Jones isn’t a good enough third-stringer for you?
Ridiculous comment, if I do say so myself.
By definition, running backs don’t have “long terms.”
They’re already talking about Adrian Peterson losing a step in Minny.
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If you go back to the game day blogs the past few seasons, you’ll see a lot of “JJ is running hard” or “he’s looking good today” stuff. And then go back to hating him that week. Jones doesn’t suck. He’s just not very good. But he’s more good than he is bad. It might not be saying much, but at least he doesn’t suck like some people like to claim. If you want to see a football player suck, watch Rob Sims and Chris Spencer attempt to block people especially from ’06-’08. That was the definition of “suck.”
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Damn you, Duke. You beat me to the point (of comments of JJ from game days). I hate it when you’re typing something and someone else already had said that, except you didn’t know it at the time.
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BobbyAyala – Not upgrade the 3rd string RB, that’s not what I said. But the unit as a whole, the position of runningback. And yes, RBs have relatively short careers but that doesn’t mean one settles for inferior talent. So yes, J Jones does not factor into this team’s long range (say 5 years) plans.
You’re better than that BobbyA.
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RB coach Sherman Smith was LenDale’s position coach at Tennessee before he followed Jimmy Z to Washington. Maybe he saw things he didn’t like? How much influence, positive or negative, did “Tank” have? He would have coached this kid more recently than Pete Carroll.
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Better than what?
Certainly the unflappable Dukeshire can handle a few opposing opinions…
The long terms plans is a terciary argument, that’s not what I want to know.
I want to know why this fanbase never embraced him, especially when, as Blades pointed out, everyone and their goat offers Matt Hasselbeck pass after pass for overthrow after overthrow.
Now, I know what you’re going to say, you said it the other day when talking about Matt laying out against tennesee, you love him, the guy has heart, he’s been through the battles in Seattle, and I understand, obviously, why fans would offer the pass to Matt and not JJ.
But, even still, that doesn’t mean the amount of JJ scorn in Seattle is in anyway based on logic.
It’s a purely sentimental hatred, where it stems from, I don’t know, perhaps the fact that JJ hasn’t been here for a winning season yet.
Once again though, that type of fan judgement is based purely on emotion, and, as you know, I can’t stand that type of crap.
Dude’s a good running back, and maybe all the evidence we need to put a little faith in him is the fact that we’re conversing on LenDale’s termination thread.
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I think you hit the nail on the head pdway
“I think most of us are ready to give someone else a shot at being the primary RB b/c we know what we’ve got with JJ, and want to see what someone else can do, and resent him (unfairly) b/c he’s standing in the way of that someone else.”
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I like Julius Jones, but I don’t think he is fit to be “the guy”. If we can get a mix of him, Forsett and Leon W going, then I have no problem having him here, but if it’s supposed to be him getting most of the carries (like Mora seemed to think was a good idea) then I’m more skeptical, he is solid but he’s not going to create much by himself, which Forsett and Leon probably will, so I think we have a good mix now.
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Report: LenDale White facing four-game ban
LenDale White is reportedly face a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
May. 28 – 6:05 pm et
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I assumed everyone didn’t like JJ because he sucks. The performance differential between him and Forsett last year was immense.
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Do you *really* know what you have in JJ though?
Once again, whose to say that behind D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold and company that Julius couldn’t do what Thomas did?
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You’re right, but all I can go by is the performance differential between Forsett and Jones the last few years.
Kind of like when everyone thought SA was only good because of the line. I saw Maurice Morris behind that same line and he didn’t have the vision, agility, cutback ability and power (near the goal line or short yardage) that Alexander did.
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BobbyAyala – Better to than intentionally misinterpret a post to simply reenforce your own point. Look, I don’t dislike J Jones, and have never disparaged him. There ais more than people who really like him and people who really dislike him. I simply feel the Seahawks can and should complement Forsett with a more talented back. I felt Jones was a stop gap RB when they got him and I feel that way today.
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I just would like to see more fans start to appreciate Julius Jones.
As a role player, he’s about as good as it gets.
It’s really easy to dump on a guy when the entire program is crap, but I think this is a good football player that gets an unfair rap, especially in light of how low maintenance he is.
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“Do you *really* know what you have in JJ though?” After 6 season in the NFL we can answer that yes, yes we know what we have in Jones.
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I didn’t intentionally misinperpret, Duke. I unintentionally did.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree then. Fortunately I have Chris Spencer and Rob Sims on my side of the argument.
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What a scrub.
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=NFL&id=3637
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Report from where or whom regarding LenDale White and a four game ban? If a four (or six) game ban gets you cut we’d be bringing in Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes right now. And Deion “This is what I do, come find me!” Branch is?? This is pretty abrupt, I’d have like to known just what exactly has convinced the Carroll junta that White “isn’t ready to be a Seattle Seahawk”. That’s a pretty quick hook. And if this means Julius “Mohawk” Jones stays on this team and gets carries that should go to Forsett or Washington I’m going to be pissed.
“Why is there so much freaking hate for Julius Jones?”
Because he sucks. Yes BobbyK, it’s true, Julius Jones sucks. And, to quote Bevis’s partner, he “sucks more than anything has ever sucked before”. And that’s a lot considering Shawn Alexander’s last two seasons here. Not to mention that stupid looking ugly mohawk. Mr T he ain’t. I will never forget that pathetic performance in Dallas, the game “he circled on the calender” two years ago, and stunk it up.
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BobbyK, I think, would tend to agree with you, far more than I would anyway, night.
But you’re right, the hairstyle of most NFL running backs has a direct effect on how the five gusy in front of them handle defensive linemen and linebackers.
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2009 stats
J Jones 177 carries, 633 yds, 3.7 ave 2 TDs
Forsett 114 carries, 619 yds, 5.4 ave 4 TDs
That’s running behind the same O line.
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“I’ll never forget that pathetic performance in Dalls…”
Have you forgotten Forsett’s game in Minneapolis?
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The argument is not Jones versus Forsett, Forsett has been given the nod, obvisouly, the argument is, “JULIUS JONES DOES NOT SUCK.”
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When the boss says an employee “wasn’t ready” to be a member of the team…
That’s a character issue, 100%.
Wouldn’t be too far off to guess that he fell of the wagon and he and Mr. Patron went on a few late night binges, making him useless in the OTA sessions.
Good message to send to all the players. You screw around, you’re gone.
I’m liking Carroll/Schneider more day-by-day.
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According to rotoworld, perhaps we’re interested in Lynch again (now that LenWhale is gone)? Purely speculation at this point. We don’t have a 3rd round pick next year, so it’s not like we’re in a position to be throwing around picks for players.
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Agreed with those defending JJ. If we can defend MH for getting crushed mostly due to substandard O-line play, it’s only fair to give JJ the same treatment.
I think the vitriol against JJ has more to do with the huge contract he signed and lack of production that came with it, his fault or not, especially in an era when RB’s are fairly interchangeable. It would have been nice to have used that money to bolster the O-line, but that’s on Ruskell, not JJ.
Also, while it’s true Forsett put up much better ypc numbers, wasn’t he running more on passing downs, like screens, draws and traps? If he repeats that performance on first down leads to the SS against 8 in the box, then we can start talking about making him the starter, assuming a healthy Leon doesn’t earn the job first.
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“LenDale White is reportedly face a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy”
Well, so, there’s your explanation – and I bet some other behavior in that same realm since he signed.
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“Have you forgotten Forsett’s game in Minneapolis?”
Nope. Haven’t forgotten the whole team’s performance there either. Also didn’t forget that Forsett didn’t talk for months about it, “circle it” on the calender and say how great he was going to do either. Did Justin fumble the ball twice in that game? Like Orange Julius did at Dallas? Didn’t think so.
Still waiting for that proof about White getting a four game suspension.
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LenDale was set to make $1.75M base salary this year. Probably didn’t help his cause if he was going to miss games due to suspension. If they want to risk using roster spots for guys facing suspensions, they may as well acquire Marshawn Lynch.
There had to be some reason that TN traded LW for a ham sandwich, despite the new commitment to fitness- SEA took a calculated no-cost risk on him and it didn’t work out, BFD. Better to cut him now and save the money.
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Bobby
Minneapolis is a much better team than Dallas and you know it.
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Im hopin’ for forsett and washington as a 1-2 punch
Forsett is gonna be great. Well he is. But, soon everyone will know it
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Yeah, because Dallas isn’t stout against the run at all…
“Nope. Haven’t forgotten the whole team’s performance there either.”
– I suppose it was 1 on 11 in Dallas then?
Come on, people, admit it. You don’t like Julius Jones because his arrival coincided with the downfall of the Holmgren era.
It’s an emotional judgement, rooted in half-truths, and certainly not a clear indication of the player’s actual skill.
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i’m wonderi9ng how much the hawks knew about the drug issue when they got him. apparently tennessee was under no obligation to tell them he was being investigated?? for sure you would think they at least asked if there were any issues they needed to be aware of. weird. i also get the impression that they were not pleased with his effort (like knowing playbook).
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http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d81860d10&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
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Based on the QB moves last week, maybe the Seahawks cut White in anticipation of picking up a player from the Bills?
That was a joke – kind of.
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I remember the team putting in a good effort that day in Dallas, and getting put behind the 8 ball because we all found out what Ruskell was to stupid to research and Dallas already knew: That Julius Jones sucks.
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“League sources indicated to La Canfora that the Seahawks were aware of the probable suspension when they acquired White from the Tennessee Titans last month in a draft-weekend trade. White’s failure to curb his tendency for being difficult to coach — not showing up on time, not fully buying in, not endearing himself to the team, having a sense of entitlement — was more at the core of why he was released, according to sources.”
OK, that I can understand. So why didn’t they say that instead of Newspeak?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d81860d10&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true
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“We’ll just have to agree to disagree then. Fortunately I have Chris Spencer and Rob Sims on my side of the argument.” So are those players you have blindly defended as well?
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God is good. All the time, says lendale. now i understand.
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BobbyAyala – Everyone has misjudged his talent with the exception of you, Ruskell and Mora apparently.
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Duke, i missed the context for your comment
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They are geared to BobbyA and his attempt to put me into the “Jones hater” category (which I am not) and his unwillingness to believe that he is overvaluing J Jones contributions.
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ok now i see. jj has excited folks in the past (when in dallas. he killed the hawks for example.) it is really hard to judge him except on results here. but surely those results were at least partially due to an ineffective blocking scheme and personnel limitations? if Bobby is right, we probably won’t know it unless blocking improves and the quality of the players doing it improves. so far, i don’t see that much improvement, on paper.
i’m wondering if the jj haters think he isn’t powerful enough, doesn’t try hard enough, isn’t fast enough, is wasted (like too old and too beat up) or all of the above.
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A day or two ago I said I didn’t care who started at running back, as they are all just numbers on a blue jersey. I’ll stick with that, but I really feel sorry for any young man that has personal demons that mess up his life. Here’s sincerely wishing LenDale the best. He has a lot of years left on the planet and I hope they are sober and happy.
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i am not sure. something tells me he needs to go, and i sure hated watching him get stuffed play after play. but i don’t know,
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Let’s see what happens this season.
You could be right.
I think he’s a decent back.
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cbs sports (pisco) rated each team’s most overrated and underrated players. for your seattle seahawks:
Seattle Seahawks
Overrated: CB Marcus Trufant. He battled through injuries last season, but his play isn’t close to the level expected. He isn’t a top-tier corner right now.
Underrated: DT Brandon Mebane. He was the choice last year and he stays here. He is a disruptive player.
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I think he’s a decent back too, but that’s all.
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That was fun while it lasted.
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it was too good to be true. Sad!
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I think Julius Jones is a pedestrian/below average back. He was given money and the opportunity to be a RB savior of sorts, to re-establish a gritty hard running style. He may have been given too high of expectations, and coupled with our shitty line, has had a tough go. But people don’t care, they just want results. We see Forsett often make something out of nothing. Jones has no vision, and little cutback ability. Time and time again I’ve seen him miss the hole that was there, only to run in the back of his OL, waiting to be tackled for a loss or minimal gain. He’s also had a tendency to vanish in big games(if we’ve had any) and against good teams.
It’s a shame the Lendale didn’t have his head in the game. I would have liked the big-back to complement the smaller shifty back, and break-away back. Now it seems that there is little diversity in what we have to offer, hopefully Rankin steps up and seizes what is his.
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very disappointing. Sad for White.
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