Notes from the Coach

Robert Saleh met with the media on Monday and there were a few interesting snippets that came out.

☀️ Good morning,

Coach Saleh met with the media yesterday and I don’t know about you, but it’s actually nice to have some concrete things to talk about, rather than pure speculation.

There were a few interesting notes that came out of the presser, which we’ll get to, but let’s first touch on the Jets signing from yesterday.

Solomon Thomas 💪

The Jets signed former San Francisco 49’er first-round pick Solomon Thomas. The defensive end played for Robert Saleh between 2017-2020 before signing a one-year contract with Las Vegas last year.

Thomas never justified his high draft position while in San Francisco, recording just 6 sacks over his four years, although his 2020 was cut short after suffering a torn ACL against the Jets, another victim of that MetLife turf.

Thomas did however have his most productive sack season in 2021 with 3.5, he also racked up 34 tackles as well as the first forced fumbles of his career (2). He played around 300 snaps inside at varying defensive tackle alignments and around 200 snaps at varying alignments at the defensive end spot.

Although Thomas went from a starting defensive lineman to a rotational piece under Robert Saleh in 2019, his old coach obviously believes there’s something there to work with. Solomon does have issues against the run, so he’ll likely be used as purely a situational pass-rusher, we all know how Saleh loves to rotate his lineman.

This signing shouldn’t impact the Jet’s draft strategy, they still need an edge opposite Carl Lawson as I imagine Thomas has signed more as defensive tackle depth, and they still need a run-stuffing defensive tackle. Thomas can play all across the defensive line, inside and out, and spent considerable time at both while being coached by Saleh in San Francisco.

*Grades courtest of PFF

Coach Presser

Connor Hughes caused some mild panic when he tweeted:

Connor Hughes @Connor_J_Hughes

The #Jets aren’t sure if Mekhi Becton will be able to do much during OTAs

But if you actually dig a little deeper and look at the full context of the comment, it really doesn’t sound half as negative…considering Saleh ends with the phrase “We’re excited to get him back for OTA’s”. 🤷‍♂️

Jets Videos @snyjets

Robert Saleh says Mekhi Becton has had a long road back, but has been "working his tail off": "When we do get him back, he's going to be a ball of butcher knives"

This Becton narrative isn’t going anywhere until he shows up in shape and performs on the field. I have very little concern about it, Saleh said he’s working his butt off, the videos of him working out with Duke Mayweather show he’s working his butt off…I mean that’s all he can do considering it’s the off-season.

I hope he’s ready to go during OTA’s but even if he’s limited I’m not too concerned. As long as he’s 100% by the time camp comes around, that’s the key. Even if he’s limited at OTA’s he can still take part in all the film sessions, another off-season to learn the system inside and out.

Remember, whether he starts at LT or at RT, he’ll be starting next to a new lineman. It’ll either be AVT on the right or Tomlinson on the left, and while Becton worked with AVT through last off-season, they have only a handful of game snaps on their record together.

Let’s stick with the offensive line as there was a key bit of information released by Saleh around the guards.

Jets Videos @snyjets

The plan for the Jets: Laken Tomlinson at LG and Alijah Vera-Tucker at RG.

Jets 2nd year player Alijah Vera-Tucker will move from LG where he spent his 2021 rookie season to RG and free-agent addition Laken Tomlinson will stay at LG.

Tomlinson has spent the last five years at LG with San Francisco, and I expected the Jets to move AVT over to the right side considering he’s fresher in the league and he’s already shown his versatility playing multiple positions at USC.

If as expected everyone remains with the team and there are no further additions through the draft, your 2022 starting offensive line for the Jets is set…and it looks pretty damn good if you ask me:

LT- George Fant
LG - Laken Tomlinson
C - Connor McGovern
RG - Alijah Vera-Tucker
RT - Mekhi Becton

I still believe the Jets need to find a swing tackle through the middle rounds of the draft, but this looks like a good foundation.

Zach Wilson 🏈

Jets Videos @snyjets

Zach Wilson has been "on tour" this offseason, visiting with his teammates: "He's shown that he's putting in the work"

Zach Wilson has been on a tour of the US this off-season, flying to the hometowns of his receivers to get some work in. He spent time with Corey Davis down in Tennessee before flying to Miami to work with newly re-signed Braxton Berrios.

You love seeing your QB put in the work, it’s common for QB’s to work with their receivers in the off-season but they usually get everyone together in a central location, which is usually based around where the QB will be working out. So to see Zach make the effort to travel to where the receivers are, may not sound like a lot but that’s how you build that trust, appreciation, and chemistry with the guys you’re throwing to.

Rich Cimini @RichCimini

Saleh wants Wilson to "own the playbook at a faster clip." Wants him to absorb the scheme, so he can play a lot faster. Don't think that was a knock on Wilson; he just expects more now that Wilson has a year of experience in the system. #jets

Everyone is expecting a jump from Wilson this year and how the Jets fare going forward will largely depend on how quickly and how far Wilson can jump between his rookie season and this year.

Rich Cimini @RichCimini

Carl Lawson (Achilles') is expected back for training camp, Saleh confirms. #Jets

There was good news with the Jet’s prized 2021 free-agent acquisition, defensive end Carl Lawson is on track for training camp. Achilles injuries are very tricky and you really do need to take your time with them. I can’t wait to see what we have with Carl Lawson, but there is a nervousness there around how he’ll look. Will he have lost some explosion? Some change of direction ability? We’ll find out in training camp.

Flipping the Narrative 🙏

There was an interesting snippet with Jeane Coakley following the official presser where Saleh talks about battling the narrative when you’re so early in a rebuild.

This is a key point because being realistic the Jets aren’t close to being a championship contender as things stand, and some players just want that opportunity to win straight away.

At numerous times during the presser and again in this video here, Saleh talks about character, the type of players they’re bringing in and the leadership, and wanting guys who want to be here.

The Jets haven’t been in the playoffs for over a decade, that hurts when it comes to recruitment.

Jets Videos @snyjets

"We're going to be the team eventually where all else is equal, [players] are going to want to be in New York." Robert Saleh with @JeaneCoakley:

The All-Athletic Team 💨⚡💪

If you read this newsletter often enough, you’ll often hear me reference a player’s RAS score, which is their relative athletic score.

As a fun exercise, I thought I’d put down the all athletic draft team, so relative to their positions, who are the most athletic players in the 2022 NFL Draft? Here’s what we got with the player’s RAS scores in brackets next to their names.

Offense:

QB - Desmond Ridder (9.6)
RB - Breece Hall (9.96) & Rachaad White (9.87)
FB - Garrett Owens (9.56)
WR - Isaiah Weston (10), Christian Watson (9.96), Kevin Austin (9.93)
TE - Jelani Woods (10), Daniel Bellinger (9.64)
OT - Trevor Penning (9.96), Matt Waletzko (9.92)
OG - Cole Strange (9.95), Nick Zakelj (9.83)
C - Cameron Jurgens (9.94)

Defense:

DE - Travon Walker (10), Boye Mafe (9.91)
DT - Jordan Davis (10), Thomas Booker (9.86)
LB - Troy Anderson (10), Leo Chenal (9.99), Brandon Smith (9.99)
CB - Zyon McCollum (10), Alontae Taylor (9.85)
FS - Nick Cross (9.91)
SS - Marcel Dabo (9.9)

PK - Daniel Whelan (9.59)
LS - Billy Taylor (9.81)