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New Jersey – When you look at the Jets trade for Brandon Marshall, there are few thing you have to consider . . .
Brandon Marshall ran a 4.52 forty when he came out of Central Florida in 2006.
Now, soon to be 31, and after a few leg injuries (and hip surgery) over the years, you have to wonder a little about his speed. He was never a burner, and now has a lot of wear-and-tear. It will be interesting to see what kind of wheels he has at this stage of the game.
He has had so many off-the-field situations, I’m not going to document them all in this space. One of many bizarre incidents happened on April 23, 2011. Marshall was stabbed near his stomach by his wife, leaving him in the hospital for two days.
I would say getting stabbed in the stomach by your wife is a pretty big deal.
But it does seem that ever since Marshall was officially diagnosed with “Borderline Personality Disorder” in the summer of 2011, he has been a pretty good behavior. The medication for the malady seems to be helping him a great deal.
Honestly, during his three years in Chicago, from 2012-2014, he behaved fairly well. This is all post-diagnosis.
Brian Urlacher came out recently and said Marshall wasn’t a leader.
Perhaps, but how much leadership do you need from your receivers? Of course some, but the Bears’ biggest problem is their lack of leadership at quarterback. I’m not going to destroy Marshall for not being a top-shelf leader.
Was Eric Decker a leader for the Jets last year? Maybe by example with his work ethic, but he’s not a dynamic leader either.
Lack of leadership at receiver isn’t that big of a deal.
And Marshall certainly produced on the field. Marshall and Alshon Jeffrey were one of the better tandems in football the last two years.
Remember, Urlacher is very close with Jay Glazer and John Fox (who are like brothers). So it’s not shocking that he was leaking on Marshall on his way out of Chicago.
The Jets feel they have two people in the building with close relationships with Marshall who will help keep him focused – head coach Todd Bowles and wide receiver coach Karl Dorrell. They both were on the staff in Miami when Marshall played down there.
I have to admit something. I was blown away by Marshall on “Inside the NFL.” Now I don’t think he should have done the show – flying from Chicago to New York every week during the NFL season isn’t a good idea. But putting that aside, I was awfully impressed with him. Considering his long list of issues, I was thinking, “Why are they putting this knucklehead on that show?”
After watching, I see why. He’s very bright, philosophical – a deep thinker.
So if the medication does have his disorder under control, I think this was a trade worth making.
He is less expensive than Percy Harvin (at his current price), and a much better receiver. Harvin is still a hybrid player who needs work on his route-running. Marshall is a polished professional receiver – one of the best in the game.
And he brings the Jets something they were lacking last year – a guy who consistently wins 50-50 balls. How often did you see Jets receivers, or tight ends, win on 50-50 balls? It’s hard to remember many. The one that comes to mind was in the Jets’ season finale in Miami – Chris Owusu did it, making a catch down field with a defensive back all over him.
Marshall is a master at winning in traffic. This can be so helpful to quarterbacks, in a league where the windows to throw into aren’t very big.
Aside from Marshall having a better wide receiver skillset, while he’s done a lot of crazy things over years, I don’t recall him ever hitting a teammate, something Harvin did twice in Seattle. Harvin also threatened to beat up Brad Childress in Minnesota. I don’t recall Marshall doing that.
If I’m the Jets, I’d much rather gamble on Marshall than Harvin.
March 6, 2015
Premium will return on Monday by 9:30 pm. with a look at the re-signing of David Harris. Like we mentioned recently, he is settled in New Jersey with his family, and wanted to stay put if he could.