Looking at Brady Latham

Edition #632

Good morning!

Another week has flown by and with the schedule in the books, we’re now looking ahead to the last of the off-season workouts before mandatory minicamp kicks off on the 11th of June. This morning is a bittersweet one for me after my English team who I’m a season ticket holder for were dumped out the playoffs last night in a shocking performance (lost 4-0), but those New York Rangers are heading to the Eastern Conference Finals and man am I pumped for that. Hopefully that Bruins/Panthers matchup goes 7 games to give our guys some rest.

Yesterday I received an email asking me why I don’t include updates on Aaron Rodgers and what he says to the media. I always enjoy emails and appreciate anyone who takes the time to send feedback. My response is short and sweet to that. In my mind there are three things that divide people more than anything else. Politics, Religion and Sport. We have to talk about sport here, but we don’t have to talk about the other two. If anything interferes with Aaron the QB then I’ll include it, if it doesn’t then I won’t.

The Athletic believes the Jets are the biggest losers of the schedule release stating: The Jets’ Achilles’ heel in 2024 may be their early-season schedule. (Too soon?) Six of their first 11 games are in prime time, which will work to their benefit if they get off to a hot start and send a message to the rest of the league. But if things go south, the Jets have seen when they’re overcome with negative attention. And remember, prime-time games come with wonky scheduling quirks, including a Monday-Sunday stretch with the Bills and Steelers and a Sunday-Thursday string with the Patriots and Texans from Weeks 6-9. They open with three games in 11 days, including road trips against the 49ers and Titans before opening at home against the Patriots. Although again, since many teams have daunting stretches in a short spurt, it’s an advantage to get it out of the way at the start of the season when they’re theoretically healthier and better rested. But for those obstacles to turn into advantages, the Jets are going to have to answer some early-season tests.

NFL.com dissected the schedule a little bit and pinpointed the Jets most difficult stretch: “The tough stretch. The Jets' very real Super Bowl aspirations get an early test against the 49ers in Week 1, but the real gauntlet comes in October and November. The Jets play in London against the Vikings, then return for a Monday night game against the Bills, then go to Pittsburgh and New England before hosting the Texans and going on the road to the Cardinals. That’s a lot of mileage, and a lot of playoff teams. And the season finishes with games against the two teams the Jets will have to topple to win the division -- at Buffalo, in what will probably be bitter cold in Week 17, and at home against the Dolphins for the season finale.”

They also released their win projections based on the schedule. They had the Dolphins at 10.2, Bills at 10.0 and Jets at 9.6. This division tussle is going to be an interesting one. “I am SO looking forward to Week 1, when the Jets head to Santa Clara to face the 49ers. It'll be really cool to see Aaron Rodgers play near where he grew up in his return from injury and in what will be the de facto restart to his Jets career. I played around with my models by equating win totals and volatility to a 100-point scale. The Jets' schedule is almost 23 scale points more favorable than the Bills', which is the biggest disparity between teams that ranked first versus third in their division last season. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but the Jets' O-line and defensive depth will likely determine the team's ceiling this season.”

Here is the pre-season schedule which I forgot to post yesterday, my apologies. “The schedule itself has a bit of both qualities. The Jets will open their summer slate against the Washington Commanders for the first time in franchise history, at MetLife Stadium, then head south to play the Panthers in Charlotte, NC, for the second straight August but for only the fourth time in the preseason. They wind up their three-game warmup as the home team against their longtime frenemies, the Giants.”

Who is Brady Latham?

2023 Fourth-Team All-SEC (Phil Steele)
2023 Preseason Second-Team All-SEC (Coaches, Media)
2022 Third-Team All-SEC (PFF)
2020 SEC All-Freshman Team
2020, 2021, 2022 Fall SEC Academic Honour Roll
2019 First-Year SEC Academic Honour Roll

I have to admit that I completely missed his name on the UDFA’s the Jets had signed following the 2024 NFL Draft.

It was only when I checked the roster at the start of this week did I notice. Seeing that he had played his football at Arkansas and in the SEC, I was intrigued. Seeing he’d basically been a 4-year starter added to that, despite Arkansas being a very poor football team last year on their way to a 1-7 conference record and a 4-8 overall one.

It surprised many (myself included) when the Jets elected to pick a second RB instead of drafting an interior lineman to add to their depth. So with no draft picks on the interior to look into, I decided to have a look at Brady Latham instead.

What are the most important drills for offensive lineman? Or more specifically offensive guards? Most would say that the Broad jump and the 3-cone, explosiveness, lower body strength and ability to move and change direction. I tend to look at broad jump as the #1 drill for guards, and so Latham coming out with a 9.28 there is the first tick and an athletic score of 8.77 isn’t bad either. That would rank him as the 17th best guard in the draft.