Kevan Barlow has only been a Jet a few weeks, but he’s doing his best to learn the offense as fast as possible. A couple articles around the web today touch on the fact that the Jets rushing offense might depend entirely on Barlow being a quick study. Some writers don’t seem to have much confidence:
How do you replace a future Hall of Fame running back?
Certainly not the way the Jets are doing it.
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In Martin’s place, none of his replacements has proved worthy as a bona fide No. 1 back, so the team plans to go with a running back-by-committee approach. If you believe new coach Eric Mangini, the Jets could run out Derrick Blaylock, Kevan Barlow, Cedric Houston and Leon Washington on any down and in any situation.
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So we’re talking about a career backup, a deposed starter, a fill-in starter and a rookie. Jets fans are already turning green at the prospect.
That doesn’t sound too good. However, he seems to give the most respect of the four (which isn’t saying much) to Barlow:
Barlow is a proven commodity, even if his stock has dropped. He was a 1,000-yard gainer with the San Francisco 49ers in 2003. His per-carry yardage dropped from 5.1 to 3.4 in 2004 and dipped even further last season to 3.3 as he found his way into coach Mike Nolan’s doghouse. Upon his exit, Barlow compared Nolan to Adolf Hitler; the Niners said it was addition by subtraction.
The New York Times has a feature praising Barlow’s study and work habits. He plans on putting in 11 and 12 hour days this week, being grilled by coaches on the offense:
While the N.F.L. is sleeping Tuesday, Barlow will head to the Jets’ facility before 7 a.m. He planned to stay there until at least 6 p.m. and do whatever it takes to get in sync with his new teammates. “I’ll be here all day, so hopefully, I’ll be able to answer the questions that Coach Mangini throws at me,” Barlow said.
Eric Mangini’s penchant for quizzing his players during meetings made Barlow feel like a high school senior thrown into an upper-division college class. “You know, basically I came in here two weeks before the season started and these guys have been here since March learning this whole offense,” Barlow said. “So I’ve got to try to absorb as much as I can to get out there and compete so I can help the team.”
Mangini has liked other things Barlow has done since joining the Jets. “The most encouraging thing to me about Kevan is how he’s making progress each week, how aggressively he’s approaching the learning and getting to know his teammates and coaches,” Mangini said. “I felt like going into the game we did have quite a bit of exposure to the things that he could do, strengths and things like that. Now with another week under his belt, I think he’ll continue to improve.”
This all stems from Barlow having to be told before plays where to go and what to do…sounds like Chad Pennington was one step from drawing up the plays for him in the dirt:
The no-huddle offense the Jets used was almost as challenging to Barlow as it was to the Titans’ defense. He ended up relying on quarterback Chad Pennington to point him in the right direction on a few plays.
“When I get kind of puzzled a little bit, Chad does a really good job of getting me lined up,” Barlow said. “I just want to get to a point where I know the calls and don’t have to think about it.”
Coach Eric Mangini seems to think Barlow is the top back, and if he can learn fast he should be the starter. NJ.com thinks that could be as soon as this Sunday:
RB Kevan Barlow (11 carries, 35 yards, TD vs. Titans) has impressed Mangini and could get the starting nod (or at least more carries) against the Patriots. Barlow, criticized for not running hard in San Francisco, hit the hole with authority against Tennessee.
