Jets Release First "Unofficial" Depth Chart
Edition #902: Do you pay attention to the depth chart? If so, what did we learn?
☀️ Good morning ☕
Aaron Glenn said it really hit him that he was the coach of the NY Jets when he heard the J-E-T-S chant go up at the Green & White scrimmage on Saturday. It was clear that it was an emotional moment for the former Jets first round pick, it’s clear that this is more than just a job for Glenn, here’s hoping he achieves success which keeps him in NY for the next decade plus.
"I told the players this: (This was) the first time since I became a head coach ... that it really hit me," he said. "It hit me once I heard the fans give the 'J-E-T-S!' chant. I don't know why, but it just hit me. It hit me pretty hard, and, man. I am so thankful. I'm thankful for this organization that gave me a shot."
I know a few of you guys were in attendance at the Green & White on Saturday, so put your observations in the comments. It’s a mock game-week with the Jets travelling to Green Bay to take on the Packers on Saturday night. The team will need to clean up a few things including the penalties which is issue #1 right now. Hopefully we’ll find out later this week who is expected to play on Saturday.
Editor note: I’m off on holiday on August 9th to August 23rd, my first ever trip to Canada. I’m not sure how I’m going to work TJW, but just wanted to let you know that I’ll be away.
Training Camp Notes 🟢📝
Jaylin Simpson unfortunately suffered a hamstring injury on Saturday and was waived as a result. In a corresponding move the Jets claimed DB Mario Goodrich on waivers from the Broncos. Denver were forced into this move after 3 of their linebackers went down and I’m sure Mougey’s connections out west were used on this waiver claim.
Penalties, penalties, penalties. 12 were called on the offence in just over an hour of scrimmage, 4 of those penalties were on the first-team offense led by Justin fields. While there were some exciting runs, Fields completed just 2-10 passes (2 drops by receivers), was sacked 3 times and got flagged for a delay game penalty. It’s clear the Jets want to run the ball and chances are they’ll do that effectively considering the personnel. But this isn’t 1954, they’ll need to have at least an average passing attack.
The HC thought Fields was better than the base numbers indicated: "I thought Justin did a really good job," he said. "I think we saw exactly what he's going to create when it comes to him using his feet. There are some balls that we have to catch that he threw to some guys, and there's some throws he's got to make, too, that were out there."
Glenn addressed the penalties after the scrimmage and remember the Jets led the NFL in penalty yards last season: "There's no excuses," Glenn said. "Our players understand that because we know penalties are discipline issues, and we have to make sure we are more disciplined in that aspect on both sides of the ball. So we will get those cleaned up, I promise you that, but there is a lot of work to do."
As always let’s give some credit to the Jets defense. Quincy, Clemons and McDonald all had sacks and the secondary was pretty dominant. Brandon Stephens continued his strong start to his Jets career and my confidence is growing that maybe the Jets know what they’re doing. This Jets defense is going to be very fun to watch this season, they’re fast, physical and if the tackling even improves to league average, they’ll be a force.
Every single person I spoke to from Saturday said that two things on the defensive side stuck with them. Sauce Gardner’s coverage and the consistent pass-rush that the Jets were generating. Some concerns about the pass protection, but if the Jets can consistently pressure without Jermaine Johnson and without Quinnen Williams, imagine what it’ll look like when they’re fully healthy. Man!
On the positive for the offense, the running game is looking good. The right side of the line looks great, the backfield trio of Breece, Davis and Allen will be pretty tough to cope with and when you add the running threat of Justin Fields, it gets near impossible to defend. If the Jets are ranked #1 in rushing yards this season, nobody should be surprised.
On the injury front, Kris Boyd was carted off the field, Xavier Gipson had a shoulder injury which forced him off and obviously Simpson had that hamstring. Gipson can’t afford to miss any time, especially with how impressed the Jets have been with Jamaal Pritchett.
Only one receiver really improved his stock during the scrimmage and that was Stone Smartt. Smartt caught 2 TD passes from Tyrod Taylor and looked every bit as athletic as we hoped he would. Right now he is TE2 behind Mason Taylor and will receive plenty of opportunities this season if the Jets run the kind of offense we think they’re going to run.
Jets Release “Unofficial” Depth Chart
The Jets tend to release their first depth chart around a week before their first pre-season game and sure enough this weekend it was live for everyone to see.
Let’s run through the first team offense that they had listed
QB - Justin Fields
RB - Breece Hall
WR - Garrett Wilson, Allen Lazard, Josh Reynolds
TE - Jeremy Ruckert
LT - Olu Fashanu
LG - John Simpson
C - Joe Tippmann
RG - Alijah Vera-Tucker
RT - Armand Membou
FB - Andrew Beck
So straight away there are two names there that stand out. The first is Joe Tippmann. He’s exactly where I thought he would be but all off-season we’ve heard about how the signing of Josh Myers equalled a true competition for that starting centre position. Based on everyone I’ve spoken to, Tippmann has looked the better player especially when it comes to the run side of the game, and considering that’s what the Jets are going to prioritise, that’s key. Josh Myers is listed as 2nd string with Liam Fornadel 3rd string.
Next you have Jeremy Ruckert listed as the starting TE. I think that’s just a nod for him having been here the longest. There is no way that Ruckert is starting over rookie Mason Taylor and I’d argue that Stone Smartt who is listed as the 3rd string TE is also ahead of him in the pecking order. Ruckert has made a play here and there but based on everything I’ve heard he’s not stood out, and considering he’s entering year four with 35 receptions, 264 yards and 0 touchdowns…time is running out for him to stake his claim to a roster spot.
Everyone else is as you’d expect. Malachi Corley (2nd string) is ahead of Arian Smith (3rd string) right now, Xavier Gipson (2nd string) is ahead of Jamaal Pritchett (3rd string) and they have Lazard as the starting slot receiver. Most of the time this first depth chart is based more on seniority than ability. They want these rookies to earn their stripes, on the offensive side of the ball only Armand Membou is listed as a starter as a rookie. The only other thing to note is that both Max Mitchell (2nd string) and Carter Warren (3rd string) are listed as tackles, and backup left tackles at that. Chukwuma Okorafor is listed as the backup at right tackle as things stand.
Now switching to the defensive side of the ball, here are your starters
DE - Will McDonald IV
DT - Quinnen Williams
DT - Byron Cowart
DE - Micheal Clemons
LB - Jamien Sherwood
LB - Quincy Williams
LB - Marcelino McCrary-Ball
NB - Michael Carter II
CB - Sauce Gardner
CB - Brandon Stephens
S - Andre Cisco
S - Tony Adams
No real surprised when it comes to the defensive depth chart. I was looking at three positions in particular here, DE2, LB3 and S2. Those are the three positions where there is genuine competition for the starting spot. We knew that Clemons would be in there, but he’s just keeping that spot warm until Jermaine Johnson is ready to come off PUP and I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long for that.
Based on camp Cowart has earned that spot next to Quinnen on the defensive line, he has been the most consistent of all the defensive tackles this summer. He has 4 years and 51 games of experience and he’ll be hoping to solidify that position over the last 2-3 weeks.
One consistent theme for the linebackers is speed and explosiveness. It’s clear that’s what Aaron Glenn and Steve Wilks prioritise. So I’m not overly surprised to see Marcelino McCrary-Ball listed as LB3 on the initial chart, he’s undersized but he has the speed and explosiveness in abundance. He was a former safety and has shown some great instincts finding and closing. Jamin Davis is listed as 2nd string behind MMB and he’s been pushing for that spot all the way. Rookie Francisco Mauigoa is listed as the primary backup for Jamien Sherwood. Whereas Zair Barnes is the primary backup for Quincy. There is a ton of competition in that room right now and I wouldn’t count out Sirmon or Weston.
Then finally it’s all about that second safety spot. Andre Cisco is a guaranteed starter at the FS spot with his experience, production and the fact he’s had the best camp of all safeties (actually one of the standout guys full stop). Adams likely has the leg-up because of seniority but Malachi Moore is listed as the 2nd string right behind him and when all is said and done I expect him to be starting next to Cisco in Pittsburgh. Glenn absolutely loves him and he’s having a strong camp to back it up too.
In terms of special teams we only have one punter so seeing Austin McNamara listed there was no shock. Nick Folk is ahead of Harrison Mevis as you’d expect and Xavier Gipson is listed as the primary return man in both the punt and kick games. Pritchett again is breathing down his neck, being listed as 2nd string on punt returns with Kene Nwangwu.
Let’s just quickly summarise where the rookies are listed:
Armand Membou - Listed as starting RT
Mason Taylor - Listed as 2nd string TE
Azareye'h Thomas - Listed as 3rd string CB
Arian Smith - Listed as 3rd string WR
Malachi Moore - Listed as 2nd string S
Francisco Mauigoa - Listed as 2nd string LB
Tyler Baron - Listed as 3rd string DE
This is a big accomplishment! Second comment status!
The defense looks like it'll be fun to follow. The offensive line looks sound as a pound. The running backs are enormous and tough. The wide receivers are Garrett Wilson's absurd talent and a bunch of complimentary pieces; I wholly endorse that set up while the young fellas develop. I'm not all that concerned with Justin Fields and the offense. That first scrimmage is usually pretty sloppy, so that isn't very surprising. The fact that the ground game was opening up holes is very encouraging. The passing game should continue to come together as they get further into the install. Usually, they'll install the bare bones of the offense the first few days and proceed to "reinstall" that base offense after those first few days with a new package added on as an addendum. They'll do that a few times throughout camp. It's kind of like a "scaffolding" method for teaching where they go over that basic part of the offense each time (and in gradually less detail) in order to provide support while they're learning it. I wouldn't be too concerned with that considering that everybody is learning a brand new playbook.
Finally; that tight end room looks like it'll be a lot of fun. It sounds like Ruckert is far and away the best blocker. Stone Smartt could be an interesting piece considering his athleticism and how he finished last season for the Chargers. Mason Taylor is the consummate do-everything tight end. He won't, necessarily, be the best at each phase in the tight end group (at least not right away). He is, however, the best all around player in the room. It'll be fun to see him develop.
It’s approximately 34 days until the Jets go up against the grand scheme that didn’t work.
That Achilles was a killer.
In those 34 days will be 3 preseason games and countless practices.
Hopefully injuries will be kept to a minimum.
Taking that all into consideration, hopefully that depth chart will be different.
If Ruckert and Lazard are still starters, that’s a big problem.
The biggest head scratcher has been this organization’s perceived battle between Tippmann and Myers.
PFF the analytic bible had Tippmann as the 11th best center last year, Myers 30th.
Hopefully this isn’t a case of surrounding Fields with his college teammates.
We have just gone through two years of Florham Park NJ turning into Green Bay East, We really don’t need to become Columbus, Ohio East.
Ironically, the Jets Achilles Heel this decade defensively has been the safety position.
Based on reports out of practice the two safeties that have made the most plays so far in camp have been newcomers Cisco and Moore.
While Adams roster spot isn’t in a tenuous position, his starting job might be.
Then again, the way NFL teams play defense , it really doesn’t matter who is a starter these days..
I’m planting my flag right now if Cisco and Moore become a highly successful safety duo, the they can be referred to as The Cisco Kid and Poncho.
You have to be old like Ron Alexander to remember that tv show..
Again this is training camp everything is new at Woody’s castle in Florham Park.
But, I think Glenn has to be careful when his quarterback goes 2 for 10 and he says I thought Justin did a really good job," he said. "I think we saw exactly what he's going to create when it comes to him using his feet.
Hey Aaron, the Jets are Fields third NFL team in this his fifth season. He was available because of his issues were with the nuances of the passing game.
For all of Lamar Jackson’s ridiculous fantasy numbers, the Ravens have spent Super Sunday the same way as most fans have, from their couches.
If Glenn’s vision which I’m sure it’s not is doing nothing but running the ball then maybe the Jets should implement the Wishbone.
Fields as quarterback, Allen as fullback, Hall and Davis as halfbacks. There you go, 250-300 rushing yards a game but that would probably last 2 to 3 weeks tops. NFL defensive coaches will figure how to stop it quickly.
For teams to become winning teams, depth charts have to change, better players have to replace mediocre players, otherwise it’s insanity.