Joe McKnight and Bilal Powell are both unlikely to play for the Jets against the Patriots this weekend, leaving New York extremely thin at the running back position. However, Rex Ryan has opted to not sign any additional players for depth purposes. Why would he? He has Tim Tebow.
According to Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News, Ryan has not ruled out having Tebow take some snaps at running back against New England.
“That’s a possibility,” Ryan said of Tebow lining up in the backfield.. “The thing about Tim, with him being a football player…. By playing quarterback, he knows all the positions. So can you plug him in at running back? Can you plug him in at tight end? I think the answer is yes. His skillset would be more based on power. He’s not going to be a blazer compared to other running backs, but he’s got power.”
Rex warned teams that they had better be prepared for both Tebow and Mark Sanchez before the season began, so I guess his comments are consistent with that. Aside from breaking a couple of tackles and possibly running a halfback pass, I’m not sure what Tebow could provide. At least we don’t have to listen to Antonio Cromartie saying he’s the best running back on the team.
“It’s not like we’re going to put Cromartie back there,” Ryan said. “We’re good. We have some good backs. So I’m comfortable with our running back situation.”
We know how highly Cromartie thinks of himself as a receiver and a cornerback, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to convince Rex to put him back there. I would be surprised, however, if we see Tebow line up at running back for more than a couple of snaps.
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