Carolina Domination

Edition #455

Good morning. ☕

I know that pre-season games mean absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things, but winning them sure beats losing them.

The Jet’s offensive line was handed a bitter pill to swallow in the only joint practice session of the week, but it was the Carolina offensive line who got embarrassed at Bank of America.

We’re going to look back at the game today and offer up some takeaways. Then we’ll be back on practice notes this week with plenty of quotes from the players and coaches.

The Jet’s defensive line is the deepest rotation in football.

The Carolina Panthers started their first-team offensive line and they got absolutely dominated by the Jets swarming front. Every single player got in on the action and the Jets were without Carl Lawson, John Franklin-Myers, Quinnen Williams and Micheal Clemons.

19 Pressures
5 Sacks
4 QB Hits
5 players with a pass-rush win rate of over 10%

It was a joy to watch and while everyone fashed their potential on pressure including Bruce Huff (3 pressures on 9 pass rush snaps), Quinton Jefferson (1 pressure on 7), Solomon Thomas (1 pressure on 7), Tanzel Smart (1 pressure on 14), Pita Taumoepenu (2 pressures on 20) and Deslin Alexandre (2 pressures on 19).

But two players above all showed why this Jets defensive front is going to be an absolute nightmare to face throughout the season.

Jermaine Johnson

I don’t know what Jermaine did this summer, but I imagine he’ll be getting some calls from defensive ends wanting to make a jump.

One rep just showcases everything you want to see. He sets him up on the outside, spins to the inside and then the strength sends the offensive tackle flying.

Johnson finished the day with 3 pressures, 1 sack and 1 QB hit on 9 pass-rush snaps with a win percentage of 33.3%.

We all know the Jets like to rotate their defensive ends, imagine you’re an OT in the 4th quarter, blowing hard, and you look across and you’ve got Jermaine Johnson who’s played 10-15 snaps, fresh, ready…good luck.

Then if that wasn’t bad or good enough, depending on your perspective…

Will McDonald

McDonald is too small to play as an every-down edge right now…I hear that a lot. Well, good news, the Jets don’t need him to be an every-down edge right now. They took him as an impact speed rusher out of the wide-9.

Well…how is that playing out so far?

In short, Carolina could not block McDonald all night. He was an absolute menace all night, he used his bend to get around the tackles, he had reps where his spin move created havoc and plays where his bull rush put the tackles on skates.

In total McDonald generated 4 pressures, registered a sack, and a hit, he also had a win rate of 36.4% in 11 pass-rush snaps.

That is absolutely ridiculous.

We were all a little surprised by the pick, but this man is a game-wrecker.

Joe Tippmann

Joe had a really good game against Cleveland, he arguably had a better game against Carolina.

Last week he started working with the second team, I’d love to see him get some reps with the first team this week. He looks as advertised to me, and with more reps, comes more experience.

There is so much to like about Joe’s game for me. His head is constantly on a swivel, he picks up stunts well, his anchor held up all night and he has so much power in his frame.

I liked the rep above as he basically used a Carolina defender to block another Carolina defender. But some of his best reps came when he was pulling or blocking on the move on the second level.

I have nothing against McGovern and I understand the experience angle. But McGovern had a tripping penalty which killed the momentum, and on the Knight fumble, he whiffed a block in the open field.

Joe is going from strength to strength. All that talk of him being disappointing or a bust (I really did see talk of that), is looking more foolish by the day.

Miscellaneous Game Thoughts

Zach Wilson - I thought Zach had a really good game, but let me caveat this. Every throw he made, you’d expect an NFL QB to make. But…we’re trying to find out if Zach is an NFL QB, so this is a great base to build off. He finished with 14 completions on 20 attempts for 70% completion, 123 yards and 1 touchdown. Most of his throws were short, high-percentage throws and I’d like to see him build on that and stretch the field next week. But completing short throws and making the right decisions is goal number one. I also thought his throw to Hardman in the end-zone was a good one, had it been Garrett, he may have caught it.

Mekhi Becton - It was progress for Mekhi last night, he played 27 snaps and he stayed in even after the coaches wanted to take him out, I love that. He looked explosive off the ball and in the run game, he was a problem matchup throughout. There was. miscommunication between Becton and Colon which led to a sack, and Becton allowed 2 pressures in 15 pass-blocking snaps on the night, but there was plenty of progress. With the way the tackles have been playing, I’m ready to see Mekhi take some first-team reps on the right side.

Micheal Carter - Averaged 4.8 yards a carry and had 2 catches for 34 yards. He also forced 3 missed tackles in the open field and showed more wiggle than I’ve seen from him in a long time. I like Carter, he’s a great teammate and I’m confident there is a good player in there as well. Last year was last year, time to leave it behind. I was really impressed with his ability in all areas.

Israel Abanikanda - Talking about wiggle. 3 targets, 3 catches for 31 yards. 56 yards on 12 attempts for 4.7 yards a carry with 5 missed tackles and a kick-ass spin move that almost led to a touchdown for the rookie, in the end, Zach executed a rollout touchdown to Yeboah. I like this RB room, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Izzy.

Special Teams - Greg Zuerlein stayed perfect, Thomas Morestead placed a punt inside the 5, and the coverage teams were pretty much flawless. It’s so nice to head into a season with no question marks over the special teams. Justin Hardee is going to lead a fine unit this year.

Jimmy Moreland - Moreland had a nice game last week and he continued that form last night, he’s flown under the radar so far. He allowed an NFL passer rating of 28.6 when QBs threw into his coverage, he had a PBU, interception and surrendered just 31 yards on 7 targets. I haven’t really thought about Moreland a lot, but he’s making it impossible to ignore at the moment.

Gipson/Brownlee - On the other end of the scale, it’s hard not to be underwhelmed by the two UDFA. I know that may seem unfair, but both have been making play after play in practice, but largely disappear in the games. Gipson didn’t have a catch, Brownlee had 2 but for just 10 yards. Gipson was also quiet in the return game. Hopefully more to come over the final two.

Zack Kunzt - 2 targets, 2 catches, 17 yards and a touchdown. Not a bad outing for the ultra-athletic tight end who also showed out on special teams against the Cleveland Browns. I still think his run blocking is a little suspect and he’s still extremely raw. But I am wondering if the Jets will keep him on the active roster over someone like Yeboah.

There were two drops on the night, one by Irvin Charles and one by Zonovan Knight. I was expecting a little more from Charles this pre-season as well. I’m sure he’ll make the practice squad but his long shot to make the roster is getting longer.

I really liked Zach’s game but my concern has always been and remains, his ability to perform under pressure. As good as the decision making was, and he didn’t register a single turnover worthy play, he was still 1-4 for 8 yards when pressured.

Tackle Greg Senat is quietly having a good pre-season. The right tackle has allowed one pressure over 42 snaps, and his run-blocking has been relatively good as well.

The Jets running backs had 106 yards after contact, led my Izzy who had 53. They also forced 10 missed tackles as a unit and had 2 explosive plays of 10+ yards. They also caught 9-10 targets for 93 yards. It was a statement game by the Jets RBs.

The most important stat, only one minor minury and that’s Jeremy Ruckert with an AC joint. Saleh said he was confident it wouldn’t be a big deal.

POST GAME CHATTER 🔊

“I’m really pumped for those guys. With our D-line, we always say that we go as they go. I thought our D-line got after them early and really for all four quarters. It made it hard for them to operate play to play, but just pumped that we represented who we are and our style of play and that was a challenge this week from last week was to represent us.” - Robert Saleh on the game

“I thought he was poised and ran the offense. We played a lot of the starters today on offense and thought he did a really nice job. We ran the ball really, really well. I think he had three scoring drives if I’m not mistaken, so he was efficient. During the last drive at the end of the half, he had total control of the offense in a bleed situation to make sure that we finished the half with the ball. I thought they did a really, really good job in that situation. So, I’m really pumped for him and he’s taking the right steps.” - Robert Saleh on Zach Wilson

“I would say probably trying to learn from my mistakes, trying to just keep improving as a player, trust in what my coaches are telling me. Coach (Todd) Downing and Coach (Nathaniel) Hackett have done an awesome job with the individual drills and making things so game-like. Then, of course, Aaron (Rodgers) has obviously helped in his ways as well, and the whole quarterback room that we have. So, just trusting in the training they’ve been given us and just trying to go out there and have fun and be efficient.” Zach Wilson on building confidence

“Yeah, it’s always having that balance of trying to take what they give you. I can still think of another one on third down where I missed (Tyler Conklin) Conk on the side. Easy ones where you’re probably going to be punting anyways. When you have a penalty, you’re backed up in that situation, but how can you maybe get six or seven more yards to play the field position for the next time the defense steps on the field they are in a better situation? There’s always things to keep improving on in that aspect.” - Zach Wilson on his short game

“Those guys are psychos. The way they train them and teach them, they’re psychos up there. They do a really good job. That’s a position that they are training to be violent and you can definitely see it on the field. I agree with Coach (Robert) Saleh, the hardest thing for a quarterback to do is play efficiently when you’re getting pressure,
especially pressure when they’re not even bringing extra guys. When you have four guys up front that can get pressure on the quarterback, it’s going to be a long day. I think those guys are doing an awesome job. Big for our team to have that.” - Zach Wilson on the defensive line group

“Today, I left some stuff out there that I’d like to have back. My mindset is to dominate every man across from me. I want to be the greatest at my position and I know that comes with a lot of hard work and a lot of consistency. I want to make my family proud and my daughter proud and the Jets proud. I like the expectations. I like the standards. My mindset is to just go dominate any guy in front of me and set the tone on the field.” - Jermaine Johnson on his performance