Leon Washington Needs More Than Two Touches

By JOSH ALPER

Updated 6:52 PM EST, Thu, Dec 18, 2008

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The most frustrating thing about Eric Mangini's tenure as Jets coach has been the team's refusal to keep things simple. There's a constant need to zig when the expectation is to zag, even if zagging is the move most likely to result in success. There aren't many sports where you'll lose by putting the outcome in the hands of your best players and just staying out of the way.

That brings us to Leon Washington. He's the only truly explosive player on the offense, the only player who can take a screen pass and turn it into an 80-yard touchdown, yet he has his hands on the ball about as often as a kicker. He's scored seven times on just 104 touches and scored a key touchdown against Buffalo on his only carry of the contest. Washington is someone the defense has to worry about every second he's on the field, but Mangini and Brian Schottenheimer treat him like a novelty act.

This isn't to say that Washington should play more and Thomas Jones should play less. Quite the opposite. No matter which running back gets the ball, the team should be running more. There should be fewer empty-backfield plays, fewer screens to Jerricho Cotchery and fewer chances for Brett Favre to throw a killer interception. Don't spread the field out or play out of the shotgun on third-and-short because it's unexpected, bring in a second tight end and bowl the defense over.

Jones and Washington have been the most reliable players on the offense all season, yet they are absent far too often because Schottenheimer plays contrarian and calls Favre's number instead of theirs. That has to stop and it has to stop this weekend. The Jets are a better team than the Seahawks, more talented and deeper across the field. That means just lining up and beating them with a modicum of fanciness. Let Jones pound the ball between the tackles and then give Washington a chance to run around them at the edges.

It sounds so easy, mostly because it is pretty easy. The coaches may think turning it into brain surgery makes them look like geniuses, but it doesn't. After all, only a fool would prescribe brain surgery for a problem of guts.