Catching up with the crew

Edition #601

Good morning!

Yesterday we heard from The Three Stooges as Robert Saleh, Joe Douglas and Woody Johnson all met with the media at the NFL owner’s meeting in Orlando Florida. They had plenty to say about all things NYJ, and we also had some rule changes that were passed by the majority of owners.

• The Jets announced that they had extended their marketing rights into the Republic of Ireland. They already had marketing rights to the United Kingdom and it’s all about engaging with the fans over here and bringing a taste of NYJ to new markets. In essence, I’m not sure it really changes a great deal. But it does make the fans in Ireland feel included, so there’s always that.

• The NFL owners unanimously voted to ban the hip-drop tackle this morning despite the NFLPA campaigning to keep it part of the game. Research showed that the hip-drop tackle resulted in 20-25x the injury rate. The NFL continues to make it more difficult for defenders and this is going to be quite a difficult rule to enforce. Most analysts suggested that there would be more fines than flags this year to give teams time to implement new tackling techniques.

• The NFL also approved the following two rules:

  • Amends Rule 15, Section 1, Article 1, changing the challenge rule. Whereas previously, coaches needed to get each of their first two challenges correct to get a third, they simply must get one correct to get another shot at dropping the red flag.

  • Amends Rule 14, Section 5, Article 2, changing the enforcement of a major foul by the offence before a change of possession in a situation where both teams have committed fouls.

• What position groups in the NFL draft are the strongest, and which are the weakest? NFL.com ran an article stating that offensive tackle was the strongest position group in the draft, followed by wide receiver. Good news for offensively challenged teams like the NY Jets. The weakest were linebacker and safety.

• They also ran a four-round mock draft and had the Jets taking Brock Bower in round one, linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr in round three and edge Chris Braswell, safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson in the fourth. I’ll be shocked if 75% of our picks in the money rounds are defensive players.

• PFF had its mock draft out and they had the Jets sticking with an offensive tackle:

  

• The Jets sent their wide receivers coach to watch Western Kentucky WR Malachi Corley. Corley is climbing up draft boards and could go as early as the late first round.

We’re going to take this topic by topic. Starting with Zach Wilson.