A sign of good things? Leon Washington Sighting at OTAs

So we have all been following the turn of events this offseason. Last week Thomas Jones showed up after holding out. This week, after a rather unique approach with his agent "tweeting" about the events daily, Leon Washington showed up for OTA's yesterday. While they are voluntary, it is a good sign of buying in and committing to the team philosophy to show up for these. Aside from extra practice, it also is a great way to mentor younger players by showing them that even grizzled veterans will go the extra mile to put in the work to be the best. Having a *clutch now for a touchdown player* is crucial to a team's success. It can be the difference maker when tow teams defenses and offenses offset each other. Remember Desmond Howard with Green Bay? With either Kellen Clemens or Mark Sanchez we have an unproven at QB. Aside from that, this is a playoff caliber team. This guy is THE difference maker that creates instant mis-matches on offense and special teams because of his speed, vision, acceleration ability and footbal smarts. Make no mistake, when it comes to pure *explosive touch it and punch it into the end zone scoring ability, this guy is the best offensive weapon on the team. The aggressive defense and ground game style that Rex Ryan will use this year is conducive to having both guys complementing each other in the backfield. Even with the rookie Shonn Greene, we will need both veterans back there. To see both report a week apart is a great thing. It sends a message that both are committed to winning and recognize the talent level of the team is high enough to win with contributions on their parts. With the new stadium opening next year, I strongly doubt that the owners will not back the truck up for Mr. Washington this year to secure his explosive abilities. Any true football fans know that he is just as, if not more dangerous as Darren Sproles or Maurice Jones-Drew. Seriously, who was the last player in the league to demonstrate such an ability to score every single time? Deon Sanders? Devin Hester? IMHO, Mr. Washington is a more well rounded player than either. With TJ as the main workhorse in the backfield, for opposing defenses it will be like having to try to tackle a tow truck, then having to scrape yourself up off the field to chase a Ferrari! While I am excited about having a head coach who sees the skills of his players and staff, I only hope that Ryan's in game management is as polar opposite to Mangini's as his personality. Bryan Schottenheimer may run the offense, but ultimately it's the head coach designing the overall strategy and giving the ok to run plays. I felt too often in the past that Mangini's conservative philosophy took the ball out of our playmaker's hands and put the team in a tough position to succeed. Perhaps that is a part of why both players reported early this year instead of holding out through mandatory meetings. There is already a difference in the team philosophy from the top at head coach and it trickles down to each player in practice. For all we know, he got a text from TJ saying, "dude, coach is the bomb and we are so going to kick tail this year, hurry up and get to practice".