Through the first three games of the season, Chris Johnson and Chris Ivory have basically split the running load for the Jets -- and I can’t figure out why. It’s not just that Ivory’s numbers are so much more impressive that Johnson’s -- despite two fewer carries (33 to Johnson’s 35), Ivory has about 50 percent more yards. It’s also his hard-charging style that wins out.
Both Jets RBs run desperately, but very differently. Ivory acts like the ball is a newborn, and he needs to carry it out of a burning building, while knocking down a bunch of 300-pound barriers in the process. Johnson, meanwhile, shuffles around on tiptoe, like he’s doing everything in his power not to wake the newborn because he’s scared to death that's going to wake up the kid’s mom, who’s going to react by throwing the baby’s Calming Vibrations Soother™ at Johnson’s head.
Not too long ago, Johnson would’ve eluded the Soother with ease using his supernatural speed. Remember, this is the guy who ran a best-ever 4.24 40-yard dash at the 2008 NFL Draft Combine, and just a year ago raced a cheetah on a National Geographic documentary (the cheetah won, and so did those who bet the “under”).
But, while he’s still surely one of the fastest backs in the league, Johnson appears a step slow this season, and more than a step hesitant. He will get few chances to dash an unfettered 40 yards this year (plus cheetahs aren’t allowed on the field because their spots violate NFL uniform rules -- man, is Goodell on top of things!), because he won’t see much open field unless he can first run through and dart around the opposing tacklers. Seeing as his longest run so far this year is 11 yards, he hasn’t exactly been a wild success at that to date.
At this point, Ivory is everything Johnson isn’t. He came into the league as an undrafted free agent, while Johnson was a first-round pick. To say Johnson’s stats and honors in his first six seasons (nearly 8,000 yards and three Pro Bowl nods) dwarf Ivory’s -- who had 438 career carries at the start of the 2014 campaign -- would be an understatement.
But Ivory is younger (26 vs. Johnson’s 29), bigger (225 lbs. vs CJ’s 195), and that 438 figure, on top of the mere 130 rushes he had in a ho-hum collegiate career, means a heck of a lot less wear-and-tear than Johnson’s 2,400 carries across his pro and college years.
While Johnson runs as if he’s been there and done that, Ivory rightfully runs as if he has something to prove. And, according to local press reports, Jets coach Rex Ryan says he’s going to give Ivory more of a chance to do so in the coming games.
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Such a move should only make a running game that’s clearly a Jets strength -- they’re second in the NFL in rushing yards and averaging a robust 4.9 yards per carry -- even stronger.
Pete Zwiebach writes about the Jets for NBCNewYork.com. Zwiebach lives in New York City with his wife and two kids, who without fail manage to block his view of the TV whenever a game-changing play occurs.
