For any voters who feel like there won't be a name on the ballot they can pull the lever for in five months, Brandon Marshall has a write-in candidate for you:
"Matt Forte's the best running back," the Jets wideout said today. "Matt Forté for president."
Marshall agreed that Forté's the best this year after Chris Ivory was the best last year because of the green and white uniforms. But Marshall then went on to give a rousing stump speech for the Jets' new featured back, and never mind the words the two exchanged last summer after when Forté was still a Bear and Marshall had recently arrived from Chicago in trade.
"That's really my brother," Brandon said before today's second practice of the Jets' mandatory minicamp. "Our wives are pretty much sisters. We hang out off the field, take trips together. So that's one of my guys. I'm always going to have his back. And I've said it for years now, I think he's the most complete back that league has seen in the last 10 years."
Scouting report, Brandon? Of course.
"Matt's smart. He's going to pick up the blitzes. His vision is amazing — that's one of his unique gifts is being patient in the backfield, letting it develop, then hitting it," Marshall said. "He's durable, he's consistent, and that's what you need at that position."
Besides their fraternal relationship, the two played off of each other at times magnificently in Chicago's offense from 2012-14. Consider in that three-season span that the two combined to produce 8,737 yards from scrimmage and score 59 touchdowns. The crowning year was '13, when the Bears finished eighth in the NFL in total offense, 16th in running, fifth in passing and second in scoring.
"We're excited," Marshall said about being reunited with Forté on the Jets, "because if you can get that running game going, we can really do some damage on the outside."
