David, Excellent analysis of Saturdays game. Not sure what play you were referring to when you mentioned Bam having a drop? The only one I observed was a hospital ball🤕 Zach threw that almost got Knight sawed in half. 😂 That throw was very reminiscent of some of his miscues over the last two seasons. Once again I felt the coaching staff tried to minimize the opportunities for him to screw it up. And that’s fine for now. Build his confidence. But at some point as you mentioned I want to see him become more of a play maker rather than a game manager. Throw the ball down the field. I agree the throw to Hardman was catchable by a bigger receiver. This was a great game to be a Jet fan. Hopefully we can have a another good performance this week vs.TB. good
Ron, I think that Hackett was very strategic in his game plan for Zach on Saturday. He used it to work on two things with Zach: his accuracy on screens and short passes, and being decisive and getting the ball out quickly. I think Zach only threw 2-3 passes to WRs, the rest were to RBs and TEs. Hackett also worked on the rushing attack, and he did a MUCH better job of mixing up the play calling and not being predictable. I definitely think that in the next preseason game we'll see Zach throwing downfield more. I saw a poster on another Jets fan site say that he thinks Hackett will have Zach work pretty much on just intermediate throws in the upcoming preseason games. He's being scientific and deliberate in how he's working to develop Zach and build his confidence. If this is true about Hackett and Zach, I love it even if Zach doesn't develop. I love the creativity and out-of-the-box thinking that Hackett is doing. I don't recall every seeing an OC develop a QB in that way in a game. Of course if it had been a regular season game, he probably wouldn't have or couldn't have done that. That's the beauty of having preseason games to experiment with better ways to develop players.
Aaron Rodgers spent a few days in darkness this year. Ironically the Jets as a team have basically been in 11 years of darkness since they last made the playoffs. We all know the reasons why.
During that decade plus of horrendous football, we constantly heard a few points that were spot on negative about the team.
One point you always heard was that opposing OCs and DCs never lost sleep the week they were facing the Jets.
But things maybe a changing. Yes, it was a preseason game but Carolina used their starting offensive line a good part of the game. After the game, after their HC spoke to the team, the offensive line coach had a special meeting for only his linemen. Would have loved to be a fly on that wall. The carnage that the Jet put on the Carolina offense was spectacular. The longest Carolina play was 8 yards. It was also done with Q, JVM and Cleamons in street clothes.
You can say, that once the season starts, opposing OCs will be burning the midnight oils, drinking caffeinated coffee not only worrying about the Jet front but the Jet cornerbacks. The Jet linebackers and safeties better be prepared to be targeted often.
The Jet offensive line looked better this week but Carolina rested some defensive stars including Brian Burns.
The Jets first regular season game is 4 weeks from tonight . Will their offensive line be ready. Who will be the starters. Only time will tell.
Let’s stop the nonsense and say it, Tony Adams is not fighting for a safety job, he is the starter.
It appears that Jason Brownlee is morphing into David Clowney. An excellent practice player whose contributions disappear once the whistle blows. Unfortunately, he will be a practice squad member. Xavier Gipson’s one saving grace is that he was an excellent punt returner in college, hopefully he can return a few punts close to what he did in college to save his roster spot. The Jets really need a prolific punt returner not a Mr Fair Catch.
Saleh’s first season the tight ends were Dan Feeney, Ryan Griffin, Tyler Kroft and Trevon Wesco.
That has been changed to Conklin, Uzomah, Rucker, Yeboah and Kuntz. Do the Jets only keep 5 wide receivers, do they cut fullback Bawden. Do they trade Uzomah, a great locker room guy but terrible blocker last year. It is very doubtful any of these 5 players will ever be on any teams practice squad come opening day.
Comes cut down day, Saleh should lose more hair trying to figure out who he will waive out of that group.
As I was putting my thoughts down , Zaire Barnes made another tackle. Not much written about him, but he appears to be a player who shines and make plays once the whistle is blown. Could it be Moseley, Williams, Sherwood and Barnes come September 11. Maybe he was a reason that the Jets didn’t sign Alexander.
It's very true that the UDFA receivers are starting to come back to Earth. It's kind of jarring to see how amazing a journeyman like Alex Erickson winds up looking next to UDFA's who don't know the way things go in the league, yet. Brownlee and Gipson are fun guys who could develop, but I think it'll be awhile before we see anything real out of those two.
I hate to be "that guy", but I just don't understand the fan base's obsession with Kuntz. I understand he's a stellar athlete, but he's being outplayed by Yeboah, and it isn't like there aren't plenty of interesting athletic TE options out there waiting to be picked up. He was able to flash some of that athleticism during the game, but he's been underwhelming. He doesn't look like a football players as much as an athletic freak who is being asked to learn how to play football.
Also, Dan Feeney, while I absolutely loved the dude's glorious mullet and mustache, was a guard and center. The thought of him, belly out, doing Travis Kelce stuff is pretty entertaining. One more also, I could not stand watching Ryan Griffin get reps. He was the epitome of replaceable TE.
Daniel, I couldn't agree more regarding Yeboah and Kuntz. I think the deal is that the many Jets fans who are so enamored with Kuntz athleticism and potential are "young" fans who think his development is a sure thing and who envision a football team as having stars at every position, and that's just not reality. I understand that if Kuntz ever does learn to play football, he could be awesome, but in three years at Penn St. he couldn't even get on the playing field. He only appeared in 3 games. Then he transferred to Old Dominion and had a great season, but someone with his athletic ability should have been able to dominate at that lower level of competition. I believe he got injured the next season and either didn't play at all or only played part of the season. Those young fans are certain that Kuntz will never make it to the PS and that some other team will claim him and he will go on to be an All Pro TE for that team.
The truth is that if the light does ever go on for Kuntz, he could develop into an All Pro TE, but will that happen, and in a season where the Jets are looking to go deep into the playoffs, if not the SB, can they afford to use a roster spot for a player that is so raw and will likely never see the field this season and contribute (unless it's on STs)? Yeboah on the other hand has developed into a quality TE. He also is very athletic and can make "wow" catches, but the knocks on him were his route running and blocking. Evidently, he has worked hard and developed and I think he looks very good, and believe that he would be a solid contributor this season. I know that the Jets are trying to keep a balanced approach between going all in on this season and the future, but I think that at least in this decision, the emphasis should go on this season. I know that I'm partially biased because I respect that Yeboah has worked hard and developed, and I think he deserves to stay. If the Jets were to trade Uzomah this season, or next year I can see the Jets having a very solid TE corps of Conklin, Ruckert and Yeboah plus maybe one of Kuntz and EJ Jenkins or a rookie.
You mentioned there being plenty of other athletic TEs out there, well we have another on the roster in EJ Jenkins. His athletic testing scores were very similar to Kuntz's. He was much more productive in college. We had heard nothing about Jenkins so far in TC, but he also scored a TD on Saturday. He can probably make the PS, so it wouldn't be the end of the earth if we lost Kuntz. Still, I'd rather be able to keep Kuntz just in case he does develop, but I doubt that happens if we cut him. Keeping 5 TEs and 5 WRs might be the answer. There's also Malik Taylor and Erickson to consider. Taylor plays STs and has experience with Hackett and Rodgers, and knows the scheme. They might keep Erickson as the return man or PR depth. Hardman has not been impressive so far, so if the Jets plans were initially to make him an integral part of the offense and have someone else handle PR duties, their mind may be changing.
The Jets TE problem is the best kind you can have, a surfeit of really good talent on the team. I'm not a "young" fan, lol, but I just see something in Kuntz developing that could be very special. I'm trying to remember who he reminds me of. Yeboah is a really great talent and has developed exactly into what the Jets saw in him. I wish they could find a trade partner for Uzomah, he hasn't played up to anywhere near his capability and being a good locker room presence only goes so far. I know Saleh said he's not worried about Ruckert's injury tweak but we will see what happens. These next two games will tell the story. Brownlee and Gipson have a lot of upside, but Brownlee is looking like a Clowney. I need to look at Gipson more closely. If they could sneak both onto the PS, I would keep Erickson on the roster, he's a solid returner and is kind of a Julian Edelman threat (which Berrios was supposed to be) who can make the tough plays when necessary. But I think the Jets need to find a way to get Kuntz on the roster. I know this is an all-in year, but someone who flashes like him are few and far in between. But as I said, we will see what we will see.
I noticed that they'd using our TEs to fill the roles that a FB would do, as well. I, honestly, love the idea of utilizing the TEs to do some of the move blocking that you'd get out of a FB. Bawden does some stuff well, but it seems like a waste of a roster spot to have a guy whose job can be replicated by other positions with scheme changes. Bawden, also, had one of the uglier reps I saw on Saturday, getting absolutely blown up in the hole. I thought it had to be one of our big uglies missing a block, but running the play back showed that Bawden simply got stood up in the hole.
Bawden will never be poached, so he is an ideal PS guy, that could be pulled up if the running game stalls. Ruckert would be ideal, and scary, the latest shoulder injury may delay that implementation. Like Yeboah. Conklin is intriguing, movement helps his separation, think he is a very good pass blocker and personal protector for Rodgers.
You are right, I doubt anyone is going to look to grab Bawden after cut-down day, so having him on the PS is added insurance. The more you watch Yeboah and his quiet determination and efforts to make himself into a high-quality TE.
I saw that play also, but I think that's an outlier. Even so, the jets will be more flexible with having a TE that can handle both aspects, as Yeboah is showing.
That flexibility is what I'd love to have in our TE group. It allows the coaching staff to separate our group into in-line TEs (your traditional Y tight ends....I think of guys like Jason Witten) and move TEs (a guy like former Jet Dustin Keller). What's more, I think that the offensive staff can get creative with how they deploy these guys in different personnel groupings. You get the impression that they divide the TEs into groups as such:
Conklin, Ruckert and Kuntz (the real athletic movers)
Uzomah, Yeboah, and Jenkins (the big, nasty, versatile blockers)
I think Yeboah's blocking ability, when paired with that athleticism, gives him the upper hand over the other TEs past the accepted starting three (Conklin, Uzomah, Ruckert).
Stash Bawden on the practice squad and move on, eh!
Yup, he is turning into the player they saw in him 2-3 years ago. It's really amazing to watch a raw talent turn into a very good, finished product who excels in all phases of the game. It shows a lot of good personal character traits, which can be more important than simply physical traits.
Not enough is said about Ron Middleton, he has quietly done a superlative job in the TE room. I personally think that Middleton has what it takes to go higher in the coaching ranks, he just has that THING that will have the players' respect and confidence.
LOVE your post today, Bobber, especially the bit about the Jets having spent the last 11 years in darkness! That said, the Jets have been in darkness for most of their history. I just realized recently that this year marks the 60th year I have followed and been an avid fan of NFL football, and the 58th year I have been a Jets fan. Out of all that time, I think that there have probably been less than 10-15 years where I had any real hope that the Jets could win a championship. To quote Bob Dylan (I think) The times, they are a changin'.
I definitely think that no team is going to take the Jets lightly any more. I agree that opposing OCs and OL Coaches are going to fear facing the Jets. If our OL develops and both Brown and Becton are starting at the OT spots, or Becton and AVT are starting at the OT spots, opposing DCs will be worried as well about how to stop the Jets.
I definitely think that Sherwood and Barnes are why the Jets didn't sign Kwon Alexander. They had the money. they were just high on their two young LBs.
Regarding Tony Adams being the starter, granted it's probably put out by some low-level FO intern, but the official NY Jets depth chart lists Tony Adams as one of the starters at S.
I love it that the Carolina OL Coach met with his OL following Reich's meeting with the team.
Bronwlee's play has been disappointing in the two preseason games so far. I mentioned David Clowney as well. I think Brownlee is playing himself off the roster. Hopefully, he isn't another Clowney, but this is just a blip in his development, he will make it to the PS and will develop there with more time and work.
In Gipson's defense, he had zero chance of returning a punt in Saturday's game. Hekkert is probably the best Punter in the NFL and he was kicking the ball sky high and the Carolina coverage team was there. Maybe in a regular season game he might have tried to return one or two, but there was no sense risking getting hurt or possibly fumbling the ball trying to return a punt on Saturday. If anything, Boyer needs to work on the punt reception team's blocking.
Trading Uzomah make sense in order to keep both Yeboah and Kuntz on the roster, but he is supposedly a leader, and very popular among the players. Rodgers may prefer having him there as a trusted vet. If so, hopefully Uzomah's blocking improves markedly this season.
Resurrection Tour..There are the ups and downs of Training Camps ,but two guys that I completely wrote off this year were Offensive Tackle Billy Turner and Defensive Tackle Solomon Thomas. Turner is not a good Offensive Tackle , has looked horrendous in camp, but he played well against Carolina and may have the edge over Max Mitchell at starting RT. It seems that Becton will start out as the Swing Tackle for the Month of September, and if Brown is okay, will take over at Right Tackle and start sometime in late September. Turner is versatile, he showed signs In Carolina that he could be schemed to be adequate at RT, that is great news. Solomon Thomas , is an undersized role playing DT, who I couldn’t see any value in, but he came to play. Thomas & Quinton Jefferson didn’t play much, but we’re impressive. The Defensive Tackle position is a weakness on this Defense, but there are signs of hope.
You're spot on with what we're probably going to see at tackle. Duane Brown, almost certainly, starts once he gets back before the season, Billy Turner probably beats out Mitchell to be the man on the right side (for the moment), and Mekhi will get slowly ushered into a more prominent role later in the season. I get the impression that they REALLY want to see Mitchell beat out Turner. You can tell how much of his issue is confidence by the kinds of mistakes he makes. The whiffs, oversets, etc are the kinds of things that happen when you're pressing and trying to do too much. The dude needs to relax and trust his technique and athleticism more. Turner, actually, is a good model for that. They're similar guys in many respects. They're small school dudes who excelled as athletically dominant guys at left tackle in college. They weren't powerhouses and definitely needed to add power to their game once they got to the league.
I'm always so intrigued by Solomon Thomas. He's, what, all of 260 pounds but he's been playing defensive tackle the whole time he's been here. I think he was miscast as a defensive end early in his career. He's just an absolute brick shit house. I would NOT want to run into that fella in a dark alley.
Finally, I was REALLY excited to see Mekhi Becton flash that power and athleticism we saw from him in his rookie season. He literally collapsed the entire left side of the defensive line on one of the run plays. If only his confidence could catch up quicker.
From a political standpoint, by making Mekhi a Swing Tackle early, forces him to embrace RT if he wants to see the field, in a contract year..Consider his marketability as dominant LT for 14 games , or his Marketability as a dominant RT, finally as a First Round Swing Tackle with upside. My guess at the 2024 financials , with no long term contract due to injury, is 18 at LT, 14 at RT, and 8 million as a Swing. This is a contract year for Mekhi, what would you do ?
I sure wouldn't be looking at it and playing games with him because of potential contracts. I wouldn't want to alieanate him, and I wouldn't want to hurt the team by not having him play in the position where he can help the team the most. Next year and contracts will take care of themselves. If they're looking to make it to the SB this year, Becton needs to be in the starting lineup. If he isn't, and the Jets don't do well, then I will want Saleh fired.
I think Becton's confidence in his knee is gaining momentum and is getting there more and more every day. As I replied to JO, I don't the Jets will be very smart if Becton is not starting at either LT or RT. Saleh is too biased in his decisions by his personal feelings about players. He needs to get over that now.
JO, I think the thing that saves Turner is not only his relationship with Hackett and Rodgers, but that he can play 4 positions on the OL. There aren't many NFL OL who can do that. In case of injuries on the OL again this year, he could be very useful.
With regards to Becton, we'll see. So far, he hasn't taken a snap at RT, so I don't see how they can be thinking about his starting at RT without getting to practice there and get comfortable. Wirfs's issues with moving to LT and having to see a Sports Psychologist point out the difficulties in switching sides of the OL for some players. Fans think it's easy to move from one side of the OL to the other. It isn't. I think Becton could very well force their hand to start him at LT. Unless Brown starts practicing this week or early next week, I will have a hard time seeing the wisdom in starting a player who is 39 years old, hasn't practiced since the end of last season, who will be rusty, and won't have timing and cohesion with his OL mates. Becton should start practicing as the 1st string LT this week. If Saleh is determined that Brown is going to start no matter what, then Becton needs to start practicing as the 1st string RT this week. Anything else is just not wise imo.
I almost forgot. With regards to Solomon Thomas, while he is a Saleh favorite, I don't see how he stays with the tight number crunches they're going to have.
I think you're on the right track regarding Becton, Turner, and Mitchell. They, really, need to allow Mekhi to start taking first team snaps at LT and permanently move Turner and Mitchell to RT. The shuffling back and forth is, honestly, one of the biggest impediments to Turner and Mitchell showing the kind of progress that some of us are expecting. I think the team may have been less than up front about Duane Brown's recovery time table and their having Turner and Mitchell compete for BOTH spots (LT and RT) simultaneously has really put a damper on the kind of progress that those two can make.
Turner had a quote last week that covered some of the difficulties with the set up (switching back and forth between left and right tackle every day). Not only are they working with a completely different guard each day, they're also doing everything the opposite way. That kick slide and the steps they're doing, on a daily basis, don't become second nature when you're flipping your whole approach every other day. I get the impression that Billy and Max are doing WAY too much thinking and less playing because of the fact that they've had to move back and forth from right to left on a daily basis. Hopefully, that changes this week.
And I agree with about Solomon Thomas. At this point in his career he is strictly an afterthought and just hasn't flashed any of the talent he was drafted on.
I agree with you about Brown, it's a mystery to me. But we will just have to see how he looks when the pads are on and he's doing some real field work.
yeah, i'm back! and exhausted! from Thursday to this AM, I spent over 30 hours just waiting in Airports due to cancellations, delays, etc. Atlanta can be a bad dream, bud. it was so bad, i only caught the last quarter of the Jets-Panthers... and on the airplane!
David, my email is Jets9658@gmail.com. I've some vids of the Inter Miami win over FC Charlotte, 4-0 ( and Messi Scored! Again!!) that I'd like to share with you. Email me please so we can work out how to send you the vids.
And for all other Jets-Bruddas here, please feel free to email me as well!
tx, hombre - i shudda said that watching Messi and the squad win 4-0 vs Charlotte still has me smiling, and will for a long time. The airport wait won't put a dent in that :-).
It was a great game, a small stadium, about 22k capacity, much closer to the field than the euro superhouses (and much easier on my eyesight). Crowd would ROAR everytime Messi touched the ball - and I gotta tell ya, yes he is a fantastic scorer, but that dude can park some seriously lethal passes as well. I'd say almost as good as Bosquets.
And something else - the chatter about Messi's impact on the rest of the team --- if you change the name to Rodgers, it's like our current situation with our Jets.
In short, an exciting season awaits our guys!
CGVet58
PS: final note on the inter Miami game. our row had something like 12 seats open, and about 5 min into the game, 12 guys all roll in, clearly one group. It's a bachelor party group, the guy next to me is super friendly (... and pretty much every fan I chatted with was likewise a friendly one...), we're talkin Messi, MLS. I mention in passing that I'm just getting started with Soccer, that my real love is American Football. He asks me what my favorite team is; I say the Jets - and about 5 of the guys pump their fists up and give the J E T S JETS JETS JETS Chant!
In Early May of this year, the Jets signed 15 UNDFA’s most with some guaranteed money. Only 3 May have an opportunity to make the 53 (Brownlee, Gipson & Dean ) but several could make the Practice Squad. In 2023 if you are on the PS for 17 games , you make a minimum of
$ 216,000. which puts these guarantees in perspective. In mid August all of these players have shown some degree of promise. Let’s look at the return on investment the Jets have, or potentially will get on their initial investment.
My guy, Travis Dye! Get on the bandwagon, fellas! The bare-handed stash was dipping, dodging, and weaving on Saturday. I love a running back that looks so natural with the ball in his hands, like that.
JO, Excellent post, and thanks for the info on their guaranteed money. Interesting. You must have missed it, but Maalik Hall was cut a few days ago, so I wouldn't count on seeing him on the PS.
I think Dean may make the team as the 4th S. You were right about him. He seems to play faster than his 40 time, and he's been making plays.
I recall that you were pretty high on Langford. How has he looked in the two preseason games?
I thought that Chris Glaser looked pretty good in Saturday's game. I hadn't heard his name mentioned before and don't know when he joined the team. He wasn't a UDFA. I googled him and it said that he was a year 1 player. Does that mean he's a rookie and was added via a workout/tryout, or was he on someone's PS last season. The only other info I could find on him was that he had played at UVA.
Dye looked pretty good on Saturday.
The two newest Jets, Bruce Hector and Pita Taumoepenu both made some plays on Saturday. I doubt that they make the team, but could probably clear waivers to make it to the PS.
It will be interesting to see which UDFAs make it to the PS. I'm going to take a stab at it. I think Brownlee, Gipson, Jenkins, Waters, Johnson, Alexandre, Cherelus, and maybe Dye make it onto the PS. I remember that the Jets supposedly were high on Laing and Langford, so if they have shown anything, they probably will as well. Kapp is a hard worker. He's the last one to leave the practice field every day. He's working on the JUGS machine. He has made a play or two in TC, but don't think he's done anything in the games yet. Luther's a nice story and I'm rooting for the kid, but I haven't heard his name mentioned either except in relation to the story about his mother telling him that he was going to be her NFL player, so I have my doubts about him.
Based on my limited knowledge of how players have looked in TC and preseason, others on the Jets roster who could possibly go to the PS might be as follows.
Hall is now on IR, along with Chuck Clark,Bradley Anae, Nasrildeen, Streveler & Cajuste. Hector’s strip sack was epic, Pita was active, and a force on Special Teams. Langford has length and size, but sometimes, too many times its Deer in the Headlights.
This guaranteed money thing, is an indicator of how these players were valued in May, compared to how they are performing now.
I am in a "wow" state after that game- we are going to have a wicked pass rush. These guys are awesome. Wilson looked pretty god and i for one rooting for him to find his football self ! The Running game was awesome too. Presason or not they looked good and came away 'clean" with injuries (just 1)
I hate that Ruckert got injured, but am very thankful that no one else was injured, especially since a number of starters played in the game. I just hope that his inury isn't very serious and won't set him back.
If so, would he be eligible for that short-term IR situation where he would come back later in the season? Could be a way to keep Kuntz on the active roster /
Great analysis as usual David. I watched the game late that night on DVR and it helped me to go back and look at plays several times in slo-mo. I'm a Bawden fan, but I think they should PS him, as the TE's are doing a decent job in that area. Yeboah deserves to be on the roster, period. But I think they need to find a way to keep Kuntz while he develops. I'm still trying to remember who he reminds me of from the past. I would have no problem with the Jets making Uzomah available if there is interest. All of the running backs looked great, start to finish, both on the ground and in the air games. Time to stop with those banal "reports" that they Jets are all-in on Cook or Elliott, that door has been slammed shut, unless there is some catastrophic injury issue. Carter looked like he was in his rookie year, Knight is still exciting to watch and Izzy and Dye look exceptionally good. I see Hall as #1, Carter # 2 initially, Knight #3 and Izzy #4. Some people push Izzy as #2, but it's not deserved as of yet. He will be a terror in certain situations but he HAS to show that he can handle pass-blocking. I said in another comment that Brownlee seems to be Clowney for the 21st Century and it's deserved. Gipson I want to see more of before I make my judgement, but the Jets should PS Erickson as he is a very solid returner and receiver and has some Julian Edelman qualities. I'm not going to talk about the o-line until I see Brown on the field, because he's the key to the stability of the line. Becton is showing more as the games progress and should be serviceable at the least. The interior is looking good, as long as Tomlinson doesn't crap the bed.
Whether McGovern or Tippmann starts, that will be up to AR and who he feels more comfortable with, but Tippmann has the goods to be the next great Jet home-grown center. The d-line is in the best shape it's been in. I was a McDonald doubter but no longer. He will be a terror for OT's from the wide 9 spot, but he's strictly situational at this early stage. If you alternate both he and Huff on a regular basis depending on how the game is going, the OT's will not get a moment of peace in the whole game. JJ has increased his game exponentially and looks to be just as capable against the run or the pass. And that's not even bringing Lawson and JMF into the picture. At the tackles it's a lot better than it could have been, Q is, well Q, not much more to say. Woods and Jefferson should do okay as they complement each other nicely. BUT the REAL wild card is The Monster and his barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat. Brings fond memories of the ECW. You can put him inside or outside and he will be a wrecking ball, which the NFL got a little taste of last year. I feel that there are enough other DT's on the roster to let Solomon Thomas depart. The LB room is shaping quite nicely with Moseley, Williams, Sherwood. Zaire Barnes and Caleb Johnson look damn good. Surratt is looking good, but we'll have to see about the injury. There's a lot of promise. The CB room is the best in the NFL, hands down, with Sauce, DJ Reed and MC III starting. Echols is a quality 2nd line starter, as is Hall, and Guidry has always shown he has the knack for the slot. There are several workable players to fill out the room. At safety, it's Tony Adams starting at free safety and Whitehead at strong. Amos will get work and Trey Dean has shown a lot of promise. Barnard-Converse I haven't noticed anything either good or bad about, so we'll see. The WR's are a strong group, as long as Lazard can hold on to a ball, with a lot of talent that could be a real asset give AR's at QB, But they haven't played together much so we'll see about that to. I think Tampa Bay will be a tougher test than Carolina and we will see if the play against the Panther was an outlier. There's still a lot of work to be done, but I'm relatively confident.
I haven't heard that Jarrick Bernard-Converse has started practicing yet. He has been injured. I think he's likely to wind up on IR and his rookie year will be a bust unless they put him on short-term IR.
Awesome recap of Saturday's game in the newsletter today, David!
How can any Jets fan not be excited today? JJ and McDonald were dominant, and as you said, thre rest of the Edges who played got in on the action. So many of our young players had excellent games.
Tippman looked very good, as did Izzy. Our TEs looked good with Kuntz and Jenkins scoring TDs. The RBs looked good and it was great to see MC looking good.The team dominated. Zach had a good game, and his progress and development are clear. He just needs to show consistency in the things he has learned and keep building upon that. Becton had a strong game, and I love that he stayed in the game after the coaches wanted to take him out. Thanks for that tidbit of info!!!
As you said, the only young players who didn't look particularly good or impressive were Brownlee, Gipson and Charles. In Gipson's defense, Hekkert is perhaps the NFL's best punter and not only were his punts deep, but very high and Carolina's coverage units were getting downfield. On most of the PRs, Gipson had no chance to make a return. All he could do was fair catch. If anything I think Boyer needs to work on blocking on PRs. Regarding Brownlee, I don't know what the deal is. Hopefully, he's not another David Clowney. I think he has cooled off some in practice as well. I think our DBs have him figured out, are covering him better/tighter, he's perhaps getting open less, and that makes things tougher. I think that Charles has zero chance of making the final 53, and never did. He's tall, pretty fast, but I was unimpressed with him last year, and imo he doesn't look anywhere near as good as he did last year. With all the good young players the Jets have on the team that aren't going to be able to make the final 53, I think Charles may have a hard time making the PS.
I saw a stat yesterday that it was only the 6th shutout the Jets have ever had in a preseason game in their entire history, but it was the 3rd since 2018. Things are definitely on the upswing, and you gotta love how our D is looking. The only question mark is stopping passes to TEs and RBs over the middle. That has been a problem for years. The coverage vs Carolina was much better overall, and I didn't scream at the TV once! LOL
I think that Moreland is taking Hall's roster spot. He has been making lots of plays.
The decision between Yeboah and Kuntz is going to be really tough. Yeboah knows the scheme, has worked hard on his blocking and evidently his route running, because he's getting open and making plays. He may have the most TD receptions of any Jets receiver in TC. It was nice to see that he was used as a FB on a play or two and that Bawden wasn't used much in the game, and he held on a running play. I'm still hoping that Bawden doesn't make the team. That will enable the Jets to either keep both Yeboah and Kuntz or one of Gipson and Brownlee. Now that Kuntz is starting to make some plays in preseason games, it will be difficult to keep him under wraps. If the Jets want to keep him and his potential, they'll have to keep him on the roster, but he's raw and not likely to contribute nearly as much as Yeboah this year. I think that Yeboah is a core STer. Kuntz is likely to make rookie mistakes if he sees the field. The Jets will have to decide whether ceiling and potential are more important for the future or reliable, solid production this year is more important.
Finally, I love the quotes from Saleh, Zach, and JJ at the end. GO JETS!!!!!!!
You're spot on regarding Irvin Charles. I think his fate may have been set in stone when he shied away from contact (the announcer actually pointed out Charles "hearin' footsteps", so I rewound the play, and yep....Charles didn't want to get hit) on a pass from Wilson (it was a good play by Wilson too...he got that sucker out with a free runner right in his face). I think he tumbles down the depth chart quite a bit after that game.
I, actually, am rooting for Moreland. He looks so feisty out there! I love that! He seems like the kind of dude who will excel on specials.
Regarding Kuntz: maybe I'm overly pessimistic, here, but he just doesn't look like a football player out there. He's not particularly good at blocking, he doesn't look comfortable with the rock in his hands, and the testing athleticism doesn't always show on the field. I think it was a fine pick so late in the draft to take a flier on an elite athlete, but I don't see his potential being that much higher than a guy with slightly less athletic projectability. Additionally, he's blocked on the depth chart. There's no point in straining to keep the guy unless you think he would somehow take a roster spot from a guy like Uzomah.
Mooreland has a couple of picks in practice, and I think has had a pick in one of the preseason games so far. I can't see him not making the team over Hall.
Terrific article today. The D line should be fantastic and if we can get pressure with 4 guys. We could have a top 3 DEFENSIVE!! I haven’t heard anything about Michael Clemons he didn’t play the other night. Is he OK
David, Excellent analysis of Saturdays game. Not sure what play you were referring to when you mentioned Bam having a drop? The only one I observed was a hospital ball🤕 Zach threw that almost got Knight sawed in half. 😂 That throw was very reminiscent of some of his miscues over the last two seasons. Once again I felt the coaching staff tried to minimize the opportunities for him to screw it up. And that’s fine for now. Build his confidence. But at some point as you mentioned I want to see him become more of a play maker rather than a game manager. Throw the ball down the field. I agree the throw to Hardman was catchable by a bigger receiver. This was a great game to be a Jet fan. Hopefully we can have a another good performance this week vs.TB. good
Ron, I think that Hackett was very strategic in his game plan for Zach on Saturday. He used it to work on two things with Zach: his accuracy on screens and short passes, and being decisive and getting the ball out quickly. I think Zach only threw 2-3 passes to WRs, the rest were to RBs and TEs. Hackett also worked on the rushing attack, and he did a MUCH better job of mixing up the play calling and not being predictable. I definitely think that in the next preseason game we'll see Zach throwing downfield more. I saw a poster on another Jets fan site say that he thinks Hackett will have Zach work pretty much on just intermediate throws in the upcoming preseason games. He's being scientific and deliberate in how he's working to develop Zach and build his confidence. If this is true about Hackett and Zach, I love it even if Zach doesn't develop. I love the creativity and out-of-the-box thinking that Hackett is doing. I don't recall every seeing an OC develop a QB in that way in a game. Of course if it had been a regular season game, he probably wouldn't have or couldn't have done that. That's the beauty of having preseason games to experiment with better ways to develop players.
Aaron Rodgers spent a few days in darkness this year. Ironically the Jets as a team have basically been in 11 years of darkness since they last made the playoffs. We all know the reasons why.
During that decade plus of horrendous football, we constantly heard a few points that were spot on negative about the team.
One point you always heard was that opposing OCs and DCs never lost sleep the week they were facing the Jets.
But things maybe a changing. Yes, it was a preseason game but Carolina used their starting offensive line a good part of the game. After the game, after their HC spoke to the team, the offensive line coach had a special meeting for only his linemen. Would have loved to be a fly on that wall. The carnage that the Jet put on the Carolina offense was spectacular. The longest Carolina play was 8 yards. It was also done with Q, JVM and Cleamons in street clothes.
You can say, that once the season starts, opposing OCs will be burning the midnight oils, drinking caffeinated coffee not only worrying about the Jet front but the Jet cornerbacks. The Jet linebackers and safeties better be prepared to be targeted often.
The Jet offensive line looked better this week but Carolina rested some defensive stars including Brian Burns.
The Jets first regular season game is 4 weeks from tonight . Will their offensive line be ready. Who will be the starters. Only time will tell.
Let’s stop the nonsense and say it, Tony Adams is not fighting for a safety job, he is the starter.
It appears that Jason Brownlee is morphing into David Clowney. An excellent practice player whose contributions disappear once the whistle blows. Unfortunately, he will be a practice squad member. Xavier Gipson’s one saving grace is that he was an excellent punt returner in college, hopefully he can return a few punts close to what he did in college to save his roster spot. The Jets really need a prolific punt returner not a Mr Fair Catch.
Saleh’s first season the tight ends were Dan Feeney, Ryan Griffin, Tyler Kroft and Trevon Wesco.
That has been changed to Conklin, Uzomah, Rucker, Yeboah and Kuntz. Do the Jets only keep 5 wide receivers, do they cut fullback Bawden. Do they trade Uzomah, a great locker room guy but terrible blocker last year. It is very doubtful any of these 5 players will ever be on any teams practice squad come opening day.
Comes cut down day, Saleh should lose more hair trying to figure out who he will waive out of that group.
As I was putting my thoughts down , Zaire Barnes made another tackle. Not much written about him, but he appears to be a player who shines and make plays once the whistle is blown. Could it be Moseley, Williams, Sherwood and Barnes come September 11. Maybe he was a reason that the Jets didn’t sign Alexander.
That’s it, time to go get a godd.. snack.
Mornin!
It's very true that the UDFA receivers are starting to come back to Earth. It's kind of jarring to see how amazing a journeyman like Alex Erickson winds up looking next to UDFA's who don't know the way things go in the league, yet. Brownlee and Gipson are fun guys who could develop, but I think it'll be awhile before we see anything real out of those two.
I hate to be "that guy", but I just don't understand the fan base's obsession with Kuntz. I understand he's a stellar athlete, but he's being outplayed by Yeboah, and it isn't like there aren't plenty of interesting athletic TE options out there waiting to be picked up. He was able to flash some of that athleticism during the game, but he's been underwhelming. He doesn't look like a football players as much as an athletic freak who is being asked to learn how to play football.
Also, Dan Feeney, while I absolutely loved the dude's glorious mullet and mustache, was a guard and center. The thought of him, belly out, doing Travis Kelce stuff is pretty entertaining. One more also, I could not stand watching Ryan Griffin get reps. He was the epitome of replaceable TE.
Daniel
Daniel, I couldn't agree more regarding Yeboah and Kuntz. I think the deal is that the many Jets fans who are so enamored with Kuntz athleticism and potential are "young" fans who think his development is a sure thing and who envision a football team as having stars at every position, and that's just not reality. I understand that if Kuntz ever does learn to play football, he could be awesome, but in three years at Penn St. he couldn't even get on the playing field. He only appeared in 3 games. Then he transferred to Old Dominion and had a great season, but someone with his athletic ability should have been able to dominate at that lower level of competition. I believe he got injured the next season and either didn't play at all or only played part of the season. Those young fans are certain that Kuntz will never make it to the PS and that some other team will claim him and he will go on to be an All Pro TE for that team.
The truth is that if the light does ever go on for Kuntz, he could develop into an All Pro TE, but will that happen, and in a season where the Jets are looking to go deep into the playoffs, if not the SB, can they afford to use a roster spot for a player that is so raw and will likely never see the field this season and contribute (unless it's on STs)? Yeboah on the other hand has developed into a quality TE. He also is very athletic and can make "wow" catches, but the knocks on him were his route running and blocking. Evidently, he has worked hard and developed and I think he looks very good, and believe that he would be a solid contributor this season. I know that the Jets are trying to keep a balanced approach between going all in on this season and the future, but I think that at least in this decision, the emphasis should go on this season. I know that I'm partially biased because I respect that Yeboah has worked hard and developed, and I think he deserves to stay. If the Jets were to trade Uzomah this season, or next year I can see the Jets having a very solid TE corps of Conklin, Ruckert and Yeboah plus maybe one of Kuntz and EJ Jenkins or a rookie.
You mentioned there being plenty of other athletic TEs out there, well we have another on the roster in EJ Jenkins. His athletic testing scores were very similar to Kuntz's. He was much more productive in college. We had heard nothing about Jenkins so far in TC, but he also scored a TD on Saturday. He can probably make the PS, so it wouldn't be the end of the earth if we lost Kuntz. Still, I'd rather be able to keep Kuntz just in case he does develop, but I doubt that happens if we cut him. Keeping 5 TEs and 5 WRs might be the answer. There's also Malik Taylor and Erickson to consider. Taylor plays STs and has experience with Hackett and Rodgers, and knows the scheme. They might keep Erickson as the return man or PR depth. Hardman has not been impressive so far, so if the Jets plans were initially to make him an integral part of the offense and have someone else handle PR duties, their mind may be changing.
Just an excellent post
Excellent breakdown!
Excellent post
The Jets TE problem is the best kind you can have, a surfeit of really good talent on the team. I'm not a "young" fan, lol, but I just see something in Kuntz developing that could be very special. I'm trying to remember who he reminds me of. Yeboah is a really great talent and has developed exactly into what the Jets saw in him. I wish they could find a trade partner for Uzomah, he hasn't played up to anywhere near his capability and being a good locker room presence only goes so far. I know Saleh said he's not worried about Ruckert's injury tweak but we will see what happens. These next two games will tell the story. Brownlee and Gipson have a lot of upside, but Brownlee is looking like a Clowney. I need to look at Gipson more closely. If they could sneak both onto the PS, I would keep Erickson on the roster, he's a solid returner and is kind of a Julian Edelman threat (which Berrios was supposed to be) who can make the tough plays when necessary. But I think the Jets need to find a way to get Kuntz on the roster. I know this is an all-in year, but someone who flashes like him are few and far in between. But as I said, we will see what we will see.
Yeboah has looked smooth, great reputation on ST, and is getting reps at FB
I noticed that they'd using our TEs to fill the roles that a FB would do, as well. I, honestly, love the idea of utilizing the TEs to do some of the move blocking that you'd get out of a FB. Bawden does some stuff well, but it seems like a waste of a roster spot to have a guy whose job can be replicated by other positions with scheme changes. Bawden, also, had one of the uglier reps I saw on Saturday, getting absolutely blown up in the hole. I thought it had to be one of our big uglies missing a block, but running the play back showed that Bawden simply got stood up in the hole.
Bawden will never be poached, so he is an ideal PS guy, that could be pulled up if the running game stalls. Ruckert would be ideal, and scary, the latest shoulder injury may delay that implementation. Like Yeboah. Conklin is intriguing, movement helps his separation, think he is a very good pass blocker and personal protector for Rodgers.
You are right, I doubt anyone is going to look to grab Bawden after cut-down day, so having him on the PS is added insurance. The more you watch Yeboah and his quiet determination and efforts to make himself into a high-quality TE.
I saw that play also, but I think that's an outlier. Even so, the jets will be more flexible with having a TE that can handle both aspects, as Yeboah is showing.
That flexibility is what I'd love to have in our TE group. It allows the coaching staff to separate our group into in-line TEs (your traditional Y tight ends....I think of guys like Jason Witten) and move TEs (a guy like former Jet Dustin Keller). What's more, I think that the offensive staff can get creative with how they deploy these guys in different personnel groupings. You get the impression that they divide the TEs into groups as such:
Conklin, Ruckert and Kuntz (the real athletic movers)
Uzomah, Yeboah, and Jenkins (the big, nasty, versatile blockers)
I think Yeboah's blocking ability, when paired with that athleticism, gives him the upper hand over the other TEs past the accepted starting three (Conklin, Uzomah, Ruckert).
Stash Bawden on the practice squad and move on, eh!
Daniel, EJ Jenkins is very athletic as well. His testing numbers were very close to Kuntz.
Yup, he is turning into the player they saw in him 2-3 years ago. It's really amazing to watch a raw talent turn into a very good, finished product who excels in all phases of the game. It shows a lot of good personal character traits, which can be more important than simply physical traits.
TE Coach Ron Middleton has done a good Job of developing Yeboah, into a complete TE
Not enough is said about Ron Middleton, he has quietly done a superlative job in the TE room. I personally think that Middleton has what it takes to go higher in the coaching ranks, he just has that THING that will have the players' respect and confidence.
My bad, I went to Pro Football Reference. They had Feeney listed as a tight end. 67 Dan Feeney 27 TE I should have known better
LOVE your post today, Bobber, especially the bit about the Jets having spent the last 11 years in darkness! That said, the Jets have been in darkness for most of their history. I just realized recently that this year marks the 60th year I have followed and been an avid fan of NFL football, and the 58th year I have been a Jets fan. Out of all that time, I think that there have probably been less than 10-15 years where I had any real hope that the Jets could win a championship. To quote Bob Dylan (I think) The times, they are a changin'.
I definitely think that no team is going to take the Jets lightly any more. I agree that opposing OCs and OL Coaches are going to fear facing the Jets. If our OL develops and both Brown and Becton are starting at the OT spots, or Becton and AVT are starting at the OT spots, opposing DCs will be worried as well about how to stop the Jets.
I definitely think that Sherwood and Barnes are why the Jets didn't sign Kwon Alexander. They had the money. they were just high on their two young LBs.
Regarding Tony Adams being the starter, granted it's probably put out by some low-level FO intern, but the official NY Jets depth chart lists Tony Adams as one of the starters at S.
I love it that the Carolina OL Coach met with his OL following Reich's meeting with the team.
Bronwlee's play has been disappointing in the two preseason games so far. I mentioned David Clowney as well. I think Brownlee is playing himself off the roster. Hopefully, he isn't another Clowney, but this is just a blip in his development, he will make it to the PS and will develop there with more time and work.
In Gipson's defense, he had zero chance of returning a punt in Saturday's game. Hekkert is probably the best Punter in the NFL and he was kicking the ball sky high and the Carolina coverage team was there. Maybe in a regular season game he might have tried to return one or two, but there was no sense risking getting hurt or possibly fumbling the ball trying to return a punt on Saturday. If anything, Boyer needs to work on the punt reception team's blocking.
Trading Uzomah make sense in order to keep both Yeboah and Kuntz on the roster, but he is supposedly a leader, and very popular among the players. Rodgers may prefer having him there as a trusted vet. If so, hopefully Uzomah's blocking improves markedly this season.
Resurrection Tour..There are the ups and downs of Training Camps ,but two guys that I completely wrote off this year were Offensive Tackle Billy Turner and Defensive Tackle Solomon Thomas. Turner is not a good Offensive Tackle , has looked horrendous in camp, but he played well against Carolina and may have the edge over Max Mitchell at starting RT. It seems that Becton will start out as the Swing Tackle for the Month of September, and if Brown is okay, will take over at Right Tackle and start sometime in late September. Turner is versatile, he showed signs In Carolina that he could be schemed to be adequate at RT, that is great news. Solomon Thomas , is an undersized role playing DT, who I couldn’t see any value in, but he came to play. Thomas & Quinton Jefferson didn’t play much, but we’re impressive. The Defensive Tackle position is a weakness on this Defense, but there are signs of hope.
Mornin again!
You're spot on with what we're probably going to see at tackle. Duane Brown, almost certainly, starts once he gets back before the season, Billy Turner probably beats out Mitchell to be the man on the right side (for the moment), and Mekhi will get slowly ushered into a more prominent role later in the season. I get the impression that they REALLY want to see Mitchell beat out Turner. You can tell how much of his issue is confidence by the kinds of mistakes he makes. The whiffs, oversets, etc are the kinds of things that happen when you're pressing and trying to do too much. The dude needs to relax and trust his technique and athleticism more. Turner, actually, is a good model for that. They're similar guys in many respects. They're small school dudes who excelled as athletically dominant guys at left tackle in college. They weren't powerhouses and definitely needed to add power to their game once they got to the league.
I'm always so intrigued by Solomon Thomas. He's, what, all of 260 pounds but he's been playing defensive tackle the whole time he's been here. I think he was miscast as a defensive end early in his career. He's just an absolute brick shit house. I would NOT want to run into that fella in a dark alley.
Finally, I was REALLY excited to see Mekhi Becton flash that power and athleticism we saw from him in his rookie season. He literally collapsed the entire left side of the defensive line on one of the run plays. If only his confidence could catch up quicker.
Daniel
From a political standpoint, by making Mekhi a Swing Tackle early, forces him to embrace RT if he wants to see the field, in a contract year..Consider his marketability as dominant LT for 14 games , or his Marketability as a dominant RT, finally as a First Round Swing Tackle with upside. My guess at the 2024 financials , with no long term contract due to injury, is 18 at LT, 14 at RT, and 8 million as a Swing. This is a contract year for Mekhi, what would you do ?
I sure wouldn't be looking at it and playing games with him because of potential contracts. I wouldn't want to alieanate him, and I wouldn't want to hurt the team by not having him play in the position where he can help the team the most. Next year and contracts will take care of themselves. If they're looking to make it to the SB this year, Becton needs to be in the starting lineup. If he isn't, and the Jets don't do well, then I will want Saleh fired.
I think Becton's confidence in his knee is gaining momentum and is getting there more and more every day. As I replied to JO, I don't the Jets will be very smart if Becton is not starting at either LT or RT. Saleh is too biased in his decisions by his personal feelings about players. He needs to get over that now.
JO, I think the thing that saves Turner is not only his relationship with Hackett and Rodgers, but that he can play 4 positions on the OL. There aren't many NFL OL who can do that. In case of injuries on the OL again this year, he could be very useful.
With regards to Becton, we'll see. So far, he hasn't taken a snap at RT, so I don't see how they can be thinking about his starting at RT without getting to practice there and get comfortable. Wirfs's issues with moving to LT and having to see a Sports Psychologist point out the difficulties in switching sides of the OL for some players. Fans think it's easy to move from one side of the OL to the other. It isn't. I think Becton could very well force their hand to start him at LT. Unless Brown starts practicing this week or early next week, I will have a hard time seeing the wisdom in starting a player who is 39 years old, hasn't practiced since the end of last season, who will be rusty, and won't have timing and cohesion with his OL mates. Becton should start practicing as the 1st string LT this week. If Saleh is determined that Brown is going to start no matter what, then Becton needs to start practicing as the 1st string RT this week. Anything else is just not wise imo.
I almost forgot. With regards to Solomon Thomas, while he is a Saleh favorite, I don't see how he stays with the tight number crunches they're going to have.
I think you're on the right track regarding Becton, Turner, and Mitchell. They, really, need to allow Mekhi to start taking first team snaps at LT and permanently move Turner and Mitchell to RT. The shuffling back and forth is, honestly, one of the biggest impediments to Turner and Mitchell showing the kind of progress that some of us are expecting. I think the team may have been less than up front about Duane Brown's recovery time table and their having Turner and Mitchell compete for BOTH spots (LT and RT) simultaneously has really put a damper on the kind of progress that those two can make.
Turner had a quote last week that covered some of the difficulties with the set up (switching back and forth between left and right tackle every day). Not only are they working with a completely different guard each day, they're also doing everything the opposite way. That kick slide and the steps they're doing, on a daily basis, don't become second nature when you're flipping your whole approach every other day. I get the impression that Billy and Max are doing WAY too much thinking and less playing because of the fact that they've had to move back and forth from right to left on a daily basis. Hopefully, that changes this week.
Daniel
Spot on regarding Turner and Mitchell having to bounce back and forth between the left and right sides!
And I agree with about Solomon Thomas. At this point in his career he is strictly an afterthought and just hasn't flashed any of the talent he was drafted on.
I agree with you about Brown, it's a mystery to me. But we will just have to see how he looks when the pads are on and he's doing some real field work.
hey David!
yeah, i'm back! and exhausted! from Thursday to this AM, I spent over 30 hours just waiting in Airports due to cancellations, delays, etc. Atlanta can be a bad dream, bud. it was so bad, i only caught the last quarter of the Jets-Panthers... and on the airplane!
David, my email is Jets9658@gmail.com. I've some vids of the Inter Miami win over FC Charlotte, 4-0 ( and Messi Scored! Again!!) that I'd like to share with you. Email me please so we can work out how to send you the vids.
And for all other Jets-Bruddas here, please feel free to email me as well!
Jets9658@gmail.com
CGVet58
that's it for now, i'm going back to sleep.
CG, I'm sorry to hear about your hellish waits in airports, but I'm glad that you're home safely and in good spirits!
tx, hombre - i shudda said that watching Messi and the squad win 4-0 vs Charlotte still has me smiling, and will for a long time. The airport wait won't put a dent in that :-).
It was a great game, a small stadium, about 22k capacity, much closer to the field than the euro superhouses (and much easier on my eyesight). Crowd would ROAR everytime Messi touched the ball - and I gotta tell ya, yes he is a fantastic scorer, but that dude can park some seriously lethal passes as well. I'd say almost as good as Bosquets.
And something else - the chatter about Messi's impact on the rest of the team --- if you change the name to Rodgers, it's like our current situation with our Jets.
In short, an exciting season awaits our guys!
CGVet58
PS: final note on the inter Miami game. our row had something like 12 seats open, and about 5 min into the game, 12 guys all roll in, clearly one group. It's a bachelor party group, the guy next to me is super friendly (... and pretty much every fan I chatted with was likewise a friendly one...), we're talkin Messi, MLS. I mention in passing that I'm just getting started with Soccer, that my real love is American Football. He asks me what my favorite team is; I say the Jets - and about 5 of the guys pump their fists up and give the J E T S JETS JETS JETS Chant!
Pretty effin' Excellent, eh?
In Early May of this year, the Jets signed 15 UNDFA’s most with some guaranteed money. Only 3 May have an opportunity to make the 53 (Brownlee, Gipson & Dean ) but several could make the Practice Squad. In 2023 if you are on the PS for 17 games , you make a minimum of
$ 216,000. which puts these guarantees in perspective. In mid August all of these players have shown some degree of promise. Let’s look at the return on investment the Jets have, or potentially will get on their initial investment.
1. Jason Brownlee 246,000 Guaranteed.
2.Xavier Gibson. 165,000....
3. EJ Jenkins 110;000....
4. Trey Dean 100,000
5. Marquis Waters 100,000
6. Caleb Johnson 57, 500....
7. Maalik Hall. 57,500. ...
8. Travis Dye ...57;500 ...
9. TJ Luther 45,000
10. Brent Laing 45,000 ...
11. Deslin Alexandre 35,000 ...
12. Claudin Cherelis 20,000 ...
13. Derrick Langford 2,000 ...
14. Jerome Kapp. -0-
15. Isaiah Gathling -0- CUT
My guy, Travis Dye! Get on the bandwagon, fellas! The bare-handed stash was dipping, dodging, and weaving on Saturday. I love a running back that looks so natural with the ball in his hands, like that.
Daniel
Best Pass catcher of all the RB’s, gets the extra yard
JO, Excellent post, and thanks for the info on their guaranteed money. Interesting. You must have missed it, but Maalik Hall was cut a few days ago, so I wouldn't count on seeing him on the PS.
I think Dean may make the team as the 4th S. You were right about him. He seems to play faster than his 40 time, and he's been making plays.
I recall that you were pretty high on Langford. How has he looked in the two preseason games?
I thought that Chris Glaser looked pretty good in Saturday's game. I hadn't heard his name mentioned before and don't know when he joined the team. He wasn't a UDFA. I googled him and it said that he was a year 1 player. Does that mean he's a rookie and was added via a workout/tryout, or was he on someone's PS last season. The only other info I could find on him was that he had played at UVA.
Dye looked pretty good on Saturday.
The two newest Jets, Bruce Hector and Pita Taumoepenu both made some plays on Saturday. I doubt that they make the team, but could probably clear waivers to make it to the PS.
It will be interesting to see which UDFAs make it to the PS. I'm going to take a stab at it. I think Brownlee, Gipson, Jenkins, Waters, Johnson, Alexandre, Cherelus, and maybe Dye make it onto the PS. I remember that the Jets supposedly were high on Laing and Langford, so if they have shown anything, they probably will as well. Kapp is a hard worker. He's the last one to leave the practice field every day. He's working on the JUGS machine. He has made a play or two in TC, but don't think he's done anything in the games yet. Luther's a nice story and I'm rooting for the kid, but I haven't heard his name mentioned either except in relation to the story about his mother telling him that he was going to be her NFL player, so I have my doubts about him.
Based on my limited knowledge of how players have looked in TC and preseason, others on the Jets roster who could possibly go to the PS might be as follows.
Tim Boyle
Trystan Colon
Alex Erickson
Irving Charles
Adam Pankey
Greg Senat
Grant Hermanns
Chris Glaser
Bruce Hector
Pita Taumoepenu
Thoughts?
Hall is now on IR, along with Chuck Clark,Bradley Anae, Nasrildeen, Streveler & Cajuste. Hector’s strip sack was epic, Pita was active, and a force on Special Teams. Langford has length and size, but sometimes, too many times its Deer in the Headlights.
This guaranteed money thing, is an indicator of how these players were valued in May, compared to how they are performing now.
I am in a "wow" state after that game- we are going to have a wicked pass rush. These guys are awesome. Wilson looked pretty god and i for one rooting for him to find his football self ! The Running game was awesome too. Presason or not they looked good and came away 'clean" with injuries (just 1)
I hate that Ruckert got injured, but am very thankful that no one else was injured, especially since a number of starters played in the game. I just hope that his inury isn't very serious and won't set him back.
Agree Craig but I bet Ruckert is gone 4-6 weeks ugh
If so, would he be eligible for that short-term IR situation where he would come back later in the season? Could be a way to keep Kuntz on the active roster /
same thought I had
Great analysis as usual David. I watched the game late that night on DVR and it helped me to go back and look at plays several times in slo-mo. I'm a Bawden fan, but I think they should PS him, as the TE's are doing a decent job in that area. Yeboah deserves to be on the roster, period. But I think they need to find a way to keep Kuntz while he develops. I'm still trying to remember who he reminds me of from the past. I would have no problem with the Jets making Uzomah available if there is interest. All of the running backs looked great, start to finish, both on the ground and in the air games. Time to stop with those banal "reports" that they Jets are all-in on Cook or Elliott, that door has been slammed shut, unless there is some catastrophic injury issue. Carter looked like he was in his rookie year, Knight is still exciting to watch and Izzy and Dye look exceptionally good. I see Hall as #1, Carter # 2 initially, Knight #3 and Izzy #4. Some people push Izzy as #2, but it's not deserved as of yet. He will be a terror in certain situations but he HAS to show that he can handle pass-blocking. I said in another comment that Brownlee seems to be Clowney for the 21st Century and it's deserved. Gipson I want to see more of before I make my judgement, but the Jets should PS Erickson as he is a very solid returner and receiver and has some Julian Edelman qualities. I'm not going to talk about the o-line until I see Brown on the field, because he's the key to the stability of the line. Becton is showing more as the games progress and should be serviceable at the least. The interior is looking good, as long as Tomlinson doesn't crap the bed.
Whether McGovern or Tippmann starts, that will be up to AR and who he feels more comfortable with, but Tippmann has the goods to be the next great Jet home-grown center. The d-line is in the best shape it's been in. I was a McDonald doubter but no longer. He will be a terror for OT's from the wide 9 spot, but he's strictly situational at this early stage. If you alternate both he and Huff on a regular basis depending on how the game is going, the OT's will not get a moment of peace in the whole game. JJ has increased his game exponentially and looks to be just as capable against the run or the pass. And that's not even bringing Lawson and JMF into the picture. At the tackles it's a lot better than it could have been, Q is, well Q, not much more to say. Woods and Jefferson should do okay as they complement each other nicely. BUT the REAL wild card is The Monster and his barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat. Brings fond memories of the ECW. You can put him inside or outside and he will be a wrecking ball, which the NFL got a little taste of last year. I feel that there are enough other DT's on the roster to let Solomon Thomas depart. The LB room is shaping quite nicely with Moseley, Williams, Sherwood. Zaire Barnes and Caleb Johnson look damn good. Surratt is looking good, but we'll have to see about the injury. There's a lot of promise. The CB room is the best in the NFL, hands down, with Sauce, DJ Reed and MC III starting. Echols is a quality 2nd line starter, as is Hall, and Guidry has always shown he has the knack for the slot. There are several workable players to fill out the room. At safety, it's Tony Adams starting at free safety and Whitehead at strong. Amos will get work and Trey Dean has shown a lot of promise. Barnard-Converse I haven't noticed anything either good or bad about, so we'll see. The WR's are a strong group, as long as Lazard can hold on to a ball, with a lot of talent that could be a real asset give AR's at QB, But they haven't played together much so we'll see about that to. I think Tampa Bay will be a tougher test than Carolina and we will see if the play against the Panther was an outlier. There's still a lot of work to be done, but I'm relatively confident.
I haven't heard that Jarrick Bernard-Converse has started practicing yet. He has been injured. I think he's likely to wind up on IR and his rookie year will be a bust unless they put him on short-term IR.
I wondered why his name hasn't been called much.
But, as being a longtime Jets fan, I know ANYTHING can happen at any given time, lol.
Awesome recap of Saturday's game in the newsletter today, David!
How can any Jets fan not be excited today? JJ and McDonald were dominant, and as you said, thre rest of the Edges who played got in on the action. So many of our young players had excellent games.
Tippman looked very good, as did Izzy. Our TEs looked good with Kuntz and Jenkins scoring TDs. The RBs looked good and it was great to see MC looking good.The team dominated. Zach had a good game, and his progress and development are clear. He just needs to show consistency in the things he has learned and keep building upon that. Becton had a strong game, and I love that he stayed in the game after the coaches wanted to take him out. Thanks for that tidbit of info!!!
As you said, the only young players who didn't look particularly good or impressive were Brownlee, Gipson and Charles. In Gipson's defense, Hekkert is perhaps the NFL's best punter and not only were his punts deep, but very high and Carolina's coverage units were getting downfield. On most of the PRs, Gipson had no chance to make a return. All he could do was fair catch. If anything I think Boyer needs to work on blocking on PRs. Regarding Brownlee, I don't know what the deal is. Hopefully, he's not another David Clowney. I think he has cooled off some in practice as well. I think our DBs have him figured out, are covering him better/tighter, he's perhaps getting open less, and that makes things tougher. I think that Charles has zero chance of making the final 53, and never did. He's tall, pretty fast, but I was unimpressed with him last year, and imo he doesn't look anywhere near as good as he did last year. With all the good young players the Jets have on the team that aren't going to be able to make the final 53, I think Charles may have a hard time making the PS.
I saw a stat yesterday that it was only the 6th shutout the Jets have ever had in a preseason game in their entire history, but it was the 3rd since 2018. Things are definitely on the upswing, and you gotta love how our D is looking. The only question mark is stopping passes to TEs and RBs over the middle. That has been a problem for years. The coverage vs Carolina was much better overall, and I didn't scream at the TV once! LOL
I think that Moreland is taking Hall's roster spot. He has been making lots of plays.
The decision between Yeboah and Kuntz is going to be really tough. Yeboah knows the scheme, has worked hard on his blocking and evidently his route running, because he's getting open and making plays. He may have the most TD receptions of any Jets receiver in TC. It was nice to see that he was used as a FB on a play or two and that Bawden wasn't used much in the game, and he held on a running play. I'm still hoping that Bawden doesn't make the team. That will enable the Jets to either keep both Yeboah and Kuntz or one of Gipson and Brownlee. Now that Kuntz is starting to make some plays in preseason games, it will be difficult to keep him under wraps. If the Jets want to keep him and his potential, they'll have to keep him on the roster, but he's raw and not likely to contribute nearly as much as Yeboah this year. I think that Yeboah is a core STer. Kuntz is likely to make rookie mistakes if he sees the field. The Jets will have to decide whether ceiling and potential are more important for the future or reliable, solid production this year is more important.
Finally, I love the quotes from Saleh, Zach, and JJ at the end. GO JETS!!!!!!!
Mornin again,
You're spot on regarding Irvin Charles. I think his fate may have been set in stone when he shied away from contact (the announcer actually pointed out Charles "hearin' footsteps", so I rewound the play, and yep....Charles didn't want to get hit) on a pass from Wilson (it was a good play by Wilson too...he got that sucker out with a free runner right in his face). I think he tumbles down the depth chart quite a bit after that game.
I, actually, am rooting for Moreland. He looks so feisty out there! I love that! He seems like the kind of dude who will excel on specials.
Regarding Kuntz: maybe I'm overly pessimistic, here, but he just doesn't look like a football player out there. He's not particularly good at blocking, he doesn't look comfortable with the rock in his hands, and the testing athleticism doesn't always show on the field. I think it was a fine pick so late in the draft to take a flier on an elite athlete, but I don't see his potential being that much higher than a guy with slightly less athletic projectability. Additionally, he's blocked on the depth chart. There's no point in straining to keep the guy unless you think he would somehow take a roster spot from a guy like Uzomah.
Daniel
Mooreland has a couple of picks in practice, and I think has had a pick in one of the preseason games so far. I can't see him not making the team over Hall.
Yooo, David!
Dalvin Cook is a Jet!
sure we'll be reading more tomorrow, ur prob still asleep at this hour... sorry if your phone buzzed with this msg :-)
CGVet58
Terrific article today. The D line should be fantastic and if we can get pressure with 4 guys. We could have a top 3 DEFENSIVE!! I haven’t heard anything about Michael Clemons he didn’t play the other night. Is he OK