New York Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall finds himself reunited with running back Matt Forte after the Chicago Bears let Forte walk in free agency.
Happy to be teammates again playing for Gang Green, Marshall proudly boasted about Forte.
“This is a guy that, to me, over the past eight years has been the best all-around back our league has had,” Marshall told Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media. “I think it’s going to be a treat for all of New York to just sit back and watch him really work.”
The Jets struck gold when they acquired Marshall from the Bears for a lower-round draft pick last year. We’ll see if the same is true when it comes to Forte, who makes 30 look like the new 20, when it comes to his age versus performance.
Marshall proceeded to promote Forte’s multi-faceted skill set, per Slater.
“He does it all. He picks up blitzes, he puts his nose in there, he catches the ball out of the backfield. He has amazing vision. He’s a leader. He’s the type of guy you want in your locker room.”
There’s not much off base with Marshall’s critique.
During Forte’s eight seasons playing in Chicago, he accumulated 8,602 rushing yards and 45 rushing touchdowns at an average pace of 4.2 yards per carry. Talented as a receiver also, Forte tallied 487 receptions for a total of 4,116 yards and 19 receiving touchdowns.
Sadly for Forte, the Bears moved along from him after the emergence of rookie running back Jeremy Langford in 2015.
Arguably one of the better free agent running backs, the Jets swooped Forte up after letting Chris Ivory go. With their ducks in a row at wide receiver and running back, we are now left to wonder who exactly will be quarterbacking for the Jets this fall.
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