Seems the Jets are getting serious about TE’s. They hired a 23 year veteran coach Alfredo Roberts to coach the Tight Ends. Alfredo, played the position , coached all over the league, his last stop was five years with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he was instrumental in the development of Freiermuth & Darnell Washington. Tight Ends of course help the running game, but the recent proliferation of 12 and the radical 13 personnel is used to counter the defensive trends of using Nickel as your base Defense, and Defenses using a significant amount of Cover 2 and Cover 4. As we all know, this is copycat league, the Rams ran 13 personnel in over 40 % of their plays in the second half of their season. Pretty stunning, the Rams always had early leads, but using a short yardage personnel grouping effectively has turned heads, once again countering Defenses trying to stay in Nickel. Expect an increase in the usage of 12 (35%) & 13 (8%) personnel packages. No longer a vanilla 11 personnel team.
Important to note Sadiq was a running back in high school, is exceptionally strong, had 26 reps on the bench. Only 241 pounds, but has the frame to gain more weight.
Mason Taylor was always open last year with poor Quarterbacking, blocking improved throughout the season.
Ruckert got his contract, due to improvements in his blocking, and being a solid contributor on Special Teams. Important for third string TE’s
Higher on Jelani Woods than most, the 6’7 third round pick worked with Reich previously with the Colts. Had surgery on his toe , that kept him out an entire year, and a reoccurring Hamstring injury that kept him out for an another year. ( could have reoccurring Zack Kuntz syndrome)
Believe that Alfredo Roberts and possibly Steve Heiden will improve the blocking of all four of these guys.
Listed as a FB, Andrew Beck is a journeyman TE, that does a lot of things well, looks like the odd man out, especially if Ruckert can handle the FB duties. Beck , good Special Teamer, provides sneaky depth. Andrew is 30.
I understand Curtis Chase is an UDFA, but I don’t see a single characteristic that would indicate that he could make an NFL Squad. Just a curious acquisition that I don’t understand.
Ruckert would have to go a long way to outperform Beck in any kind of blocking role, and I doubt that he can. Beck is probably the most underrated player on the roster. His work on ST's is stellar, and he is the best on the team as respects blocking from the FB position. Woods is still a big question mark and Curtis is ????? I think Chris Banjo would fight tooth and nail to keep him on the roster, especially if he wants to maintain the ST excellence of last year's squad. In any event, this could be the best TE room the Jets have had in a long time.
Wholeheartedly agree. Beck is just a better lead blocker than Ruckert, by a mile. He maybe a better inline blocker and a better pass blocker. Sample size is minuscule, but Beck could be a better pass receiver. However , Ruckert is a third round draft pick, with a two year 10 million contract. Would trade Jeremy for a fifth in 2027 in a heartbeat. Mike, you watch the games, no main stream media reports this
I truly hope the Jets don't let Ruckert's contract influence their decision. A $2.7 million dead money hit is nothing. I think their cap may be totally clear of dead money next year, so only having $2.7 million in dead money would not be a problem.
Hoping Mouchey reads your post. If Ruckert earns it, he is on the roster. Beck is 30 and Woods has an injury but they both maybe better than Ruckert for 2026..
It is a small sample size, but he has skills as a receiver. When I watched his sample videos, he has good hands and surprising moves for big man. But the best was when he fielded a short kickoff and ran it back 50 odd yards for a TD after breaking a tackle and ran away from everyone else, including the kicker. And the mainstream sports media doesn't dig deep enough for stuff like this. When I first heard about the signing, it really didn't register, but when I saw Joe Blewett's video review and then some other highlight videos I was really shocked by how good he played. He's so important on ST blocking schemes and always seem to be in the right spot at the right time. There are some players who have an instinct for those little things that make a play succeed. There has to be some video out there, maybe on the official Jets website that highlight ST's. I'm sure Beck is front and center. I remember he was in the right spot in all of the return TD's from last season.
Banjo will go to the mat for Beck. If your going to have Nwangwu as a fourth string Running Back, isn’t it logical that he has his lead blocker. The solution is trade Ruckert or Woods.
The thing which I forgot, as well as the most of us, was that Andrew Beck was the first free-agent Mougey signed as GM of the Jets. He knew Beck from Denver and knew what his real value was as a solid chess piece, of sorts. He's just one of those valuable, Swiss Army Knife type of players who can fill in at different spots and be effective.
Great post, JO! Great point about the Jets hiring of Roberts which should make all the TEs the best they can be. Great point about Sadiq being a RB in high school also.
Reich definitely better make excellent use of 12 and 13 personnel. If not, then not only did the Jets waste the #16 pick in the draft, but Reich's and Glenn's tenure will be very short.
I totally agree with you regarding Woods. I'd love to see him blow Ruckert out of the water. If they are serious about using more 12 and 13 personnel, then they'll probably keep 4 TEs anyway, and Ruckert could still play STs. Capwise, it would be better to not have to eat Ruckert's contract, but if Beck is a better blocker and has more reliable hands, and thus offers more as a receiver, then I'd rather the Jets keep him as the #4 TE/FB and send Ruckert packing. I don't care if he has been a lifelong Jets fan. That has helped to keep him on the team for 4 years and he hasn't really earned his spot. Enough is enough. I wanted the Jets to draft him, but imo he is has been a HUGE disappointment and near bust.
This year 22 Tight Ends were drafted, nine were drafted in the first three rounds, many of which could be classified as Blocking TE’ s . Certainly supports the idea of increased usage of 12 & 13 personnel. But there is another critical factor. There has always been a disparity between the salaries of WR’s and TE’s, but now the disparity has reached epic proportions. Currently, there are two WR’s that make an average salary of over 40 million dollars, there are eight WR’s that make over 30 million, and 13 that make over 20 million . The Wide Receiver Market is out of control. The top two TE’s , Kittle & McBride make an average salary of 19 million. If your building a roster, TE’s could be the way to go
First off I have admitted countless times I have zero evaluation knowledge. If you want to talk evaluating pizza places in New Jersey bring it on, football players can’t help you.
When it comes to evaluating players especially non starters, I look at who originally brought them to the Jets, were they drafted, their age, $$$$, position and do they play special teams. Sometimes if I saw a player’s picture with his wife, that comes into the equation for me. Mrs Beck is a winner.
BUT and this is a BIG BUT, Ruckert’s family probably buys 20-25 season tickets plus who knows how many other Long Islanders go for the local kid.
This is where Woody and the Ticket department become involved. Plus it’s all semantics.
Is Beck a full back or tight end.
Supposedly Sadiq can play fullback.
Some teams carry 7 wideouts but no fullback.
At this point 3rd and 4 tg string is immaterial.
I guess it’s up to Glenn and Mougey cut down Tuesday.
I have no opinion.
When the Jets won the Superbowl, they had a quarterback, full back Snell, half back Boozer, Tight end Lammons, Split End Sauer and flanker Maynard.
All of a sudden you have H backs, slot receivers, x receivers, y receivers, third down receiving backs, 400 pound guards playing fullback.
You have more delay of game and too many men on the field penalties being called because there are more players running back and forth between the huddle and sideline that it looks like a NY city subway rush hour.
Well said, this captures a lot of my thoughts. With the Rams and Bears finding success using heavy packages last year, we knew the copycat NFL would trot out some poor imitations. The draft showed us exactly that, with a ton of Day 2 capital spent on tight ends and record-breaking numbers drafted overall. It feels like teams are chasing the trend too hard, spending premium capital just to field lineups that don't actually feature their 11 best players.
However, I really like how the Jets' TE room fits this trend. The goal of heavy packages is to force defenses into base personnel instead of nickel or dime, which then opens up the passing game. For that to work, the offense has to remain a threat both on the ground and through the air. With Sadiq and Taylor, the Jets have two guys who make that happen:
Sadiq is perfect for this trend. He’s a willing blocker who might struggle inline against larger defenders due to his size, but flexed out against smaller DBs, he’s great. If defenses stay in base, his athleticism can make him a massive receiving mismatch against slower LBs.
Taylor is the perfect complement. He’s big enough to block inline no matter how the defense aligns, but still a good enough receiver to remain a legitimate threat.
Like Diogenes of Sinope walking the earth looking for an honest man.
Tight end is one position that over the years the Jets have tried to fill but have been rebuffed because of either injuries or just bad picks.
Mickey Shuler is the Jets gold standard for tight end. Once Ken O’Brien arrived, he became an integral part of the Jet offense. He is the lifetime team leader in every offensive tight end stat.
Dustin Keller showed promise, being Mark Sanchez’s safety valve but injuries cut his career short.
Kyle Brady had to be the most booed first rounder in Jet history.
The know nothing fans wanted the team to draft future hall of Famer Warren Sapp.
Being drafted with the ninth pick of the first round, Brady has to be the highest drafted tight end by pick position.
Historically, tight end Gene Heeter scored the first touchdown in Jet history after three seasons of the team being the Titans. That team being called the Titans is a true football oxymoron.
Heeter’s historical reception was also the first touchdown and first touchdown reception ever in Shea Stadium. That historic stat is for you JO, lol.
As football is entering the dog days of the off season, probably a Jets Way dedicated strictly about Brendan Sorsby would definitely get the Brigade’s comments juices flowing. Talking about opinions from this group, batten down the hatches.
Maybe if Diogenes was still alive, he called walk the earth looking for Jet fans who would admit buying a Jace Amaro #88 jersey.
The Sorsby question is pretty cut and dried for me. His penchant for gambling outweighs any perceived positives. It's way too much of a risk to waste any kind of tender on him.
The only reason I know about Heeter, I listened to that game on the radio. It was a Saturday night game.
The Jets had made a massive 9 player trade that off season. It was like a 4 for 5 deal.
One of the players they received was middle linebacker Wahoo McDaniel.
Unfortunately the AFL didn’t keep records on tackles back then.
Wahoo had an unbelievable game, he made so many tackles that by the third quarter the public address announcer started saying “ Tackle by You Know Who” and the fans would respond “ Wahoo”
I actually met Wahoo McDaniel when he was wrestling for Vince McMahon Sr. It was at the Garden. I also met at the same time Bruno Sammartino, Spyros Arion and Gorilla Monsoon. It was a lot of fun. And I remember Gene Heeter too.
I currently live in and was brought up in Brooklyn. NY, so I'm very aware of what you are talking about. I remember Skull Murphy, Classy Freddie Blassie and the actor Tor Johnson (Of Plan 9 From Outer Space fame) when he was wrestling. My cousin Tony had been the head usher at Shea Stadium for a long time and after that he was a VP at Gulf & Western, and I used to get into many events gratis. I even went to a concert at the Garden for A&M records called Soul Together, with Aretha Franklin, The Rascals, Phil Collins, Sam and Dave and several other stars. I was able to sit almost next to the stage on a folding chair an usher set up for me. LOL
When I worked in Lower Manhattan in the late 1960's and early 1970's, I belonged to a Jack LaLanne gym in the area, and I got to know Bruno Sammartino fairly well and he told a lot of stories about when they went to shows in rural areas and small towns and it was wild. After the shows they would usually go to a local watering hole and someone would invariably start making comments about how fake it all was, and the wrestlers weren't so tough and a ruckus would ensue. He told of one incident in upstate New York where he, Robert Marella (Gorilla Monsoon), Randy Poffo (Macho Man Randy Savage) and Larry Poffo (Leaping Larry) spent the night in jail after throwing a couple of locals through the front window of a local tavern. Those were the days.
Killer Kowalski, Antonino Rocca, Ricky Starr the ballerina wrestler wore ballerina shoes when he wrestled, the Kangaroos, Red Bastien lost every week, he was the official loser, he owned a bar in Passaic, NJ right around the corner from the Capitol Theater who had rock concerts. Let’s not forget the most hated woman of all time, “ The Fabulous Moolah”,
Tomorrow’s Jet Way feature will be a trip back to Roller Derby reminiscing about all time great Charlie O’Connell and one of the greatest sports teams ever “ The San Francisco Bay Area Bombers”
I can't remember you guys's ages, but I think we're all close to the same age. When I was a kid I watched wrestling on Saturday nights. I remember Johnny Weaver and his partner George Becker. I remember Haystack Calhoun. I think the bad guys were the Bolos. Do you guys remember them?
My mother's mother would stay with us sometimes, and she would get so upset and cry out, "He's gonna kill that man, he's gonna kill that man." I had to tell each time that it was all fake and staged, and that no one was really getting hurt,
Jace Amaro. Gag a maggott. I still can't believe that anyone ever thought that he would make it in the NFL. His one great season was in a gimmicky offense and 90% of his receptions were within 2 yards of the LOS. He was awkward, stiff and clumsy.
Any discussion of Jets TEs also has to include Johnny Mitchell, Pete Lammons, Rich Caster, Jerome Barkum, Fred Baxter, Anthony Becht, and Chris Baker.
I couldn't remember Anthony Becht's name, so I decided to look back through Jets draft history. Looking at profootball reference.com, I was amazed to find that historically, the Jets have drafted a LOT of TEs. In all since 1963 (prior to '63 no TEs are listed as TEs, so I can't tell which of the Titans may have been TEs), the Jets have drafted TEs. Guess who their very first one was as a Jet in '63? Here's a hint, he was a HOF for the Baltimore Colts!!!! Dumb Jets were smart enough to draft him, but not smart enough to keep him. Incidentally, I saw that the Jets had also drafted Packers great Herb Adderley, but were dumb enough to let him walk as well. In the 1963 and 1964 drafts, the Jets drafted quite a few players who had 8-10 year careers in the NFL, but sadly, with a number of them their careers were elsewhere.
Between 1960 and 69, both the NFL and AFL had separate drafts.
The year the Jets drafted Matt Snell in the first round of the AFL draft, the Giants drafted him in the third round .
Namath, a first round AFL pick, Namath a first round NFL pick of the Cardinals. The Cards refused to match the Jets $425,000 contract.
Same year, Butkus drafted by Bears but also was a first round pick of the Broncos.
Broncs knew they had no shot in signing Butkus an Illini player. They made a conditional deal with Jets if the Jets signed Butkus,
Supposedly the Jets offered Butkus a ton but it was too late to sway Butkus from the hometown Bears.
Early sixties AFL had a hard time signing draft picks.
Then around 65, they started drafting a ton of black players from small schools the NFL didn’t even scout.
Then AL Davis as the AFL commissioner told the AFL owners, sign their f**king quarterbacks.
The AFL throw a ton of money at Roman Gabriel and John Brodie, the NFL put up the white flag, the start of the merger.
Excellent series about the start of the AFL
The Showtime TV series about the AFL is "Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League". It is a five-part, five-hour sports documentary miniseries that first aired on the Showtime network in 2009. The series chronicles the daring 1960s birth of the American Football League (AFL) and its eventual merger with the established NFL
Thanks, Bobber! Of course you're right! I had totally forgotten that when I saw that the Jets had drafted Mackey and Adderley. Both signed with the NFL team that drafted them rather than the Jets.
I sure hope that Fitzpatrick is right about Glenn. Glenn indeed was awful last year, but he was in a no-win situation by being hired late so had limited options for his CS, with a roster in disarray, very little cap space, and terrible FA and draft classes, and imo such glaring needs at RT and TE, that he had little or no choice to draft those positions in the first two rounds. It didn't help that the one really experienced coach/coordinator that he hired (Wilks) had the exact opposite approach to D from what the Jets had played under Saleh and to what Glenn ran as a DC. That was a horrible decision that undermined his and the Jets' season.
Many Jets fans wanted him fired following the season and are just counting the days until he's gone. IMO that's not what is best for the Jets. If Glenn fails, then the Jets will be starting from scratch again. For starters, why should we trust Woody to make the right hire again? It could be another long, drawn-out process that results in another bad hire, where schemes change, and some of the players the Jets drafted or signed as FAs no longer fit. Many of the players like, if not love him and believe in him. The quickest way to getting back to the playoffs would be for Glenn to have learned from all of his mistakes last year, and develop into at least a good, if not very good HC. He isn't the most cerebral HC out there, and that may eventually prove to be his undoing, but I think he truly cares, cares about the players, the fans, the franchise and is trying and will try his best to make the Jets a winner. IMO he has at least some of the attributes and approaches that the best HCs have and is sincere. He was the first HC in a long time that paid attention to details and focused on fundamentals like tackling, blocking, and stopping dumb penalties last year.
I, for one, hope that he succeeds. The Jets are underdogs, Glenn is an underdog.
Great news on Sanders accuracy in cold weather! Thanks, David!
Reich better change his approach and use a lot more 12 personnel! If not, then the Jets wasted the #16 pick in the draft.
Great analysis on the TE position, David. I, for one, hope that Jelani Woods can beat out Ruckert for the #3 spot. Ruckert offers more as both a receiver and blocker and his size makes him invaluable in the Red Zone. The problem with him is staying healthy. I don't know if he bad luck previously, or just didn't work hard enough or smart enough to get his body in the right shape. If it's the latter, hopefully he learned his lesson, because his ceiling is MUCH higher than Ruckert's.
Reich seems to adjusts with his personnel. thoughout most of his time in Indy he was a little above average in his use of 11 personnel. It didn't spike to the top of the leauge until his last year there (and then again his only year in Carolina) when he lost Jack Doyle and didn't have much of a TE room to work with.
Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction order in his lawsuit against the NCAA on Monday in Texas state court, according to a written order obtained by The Athletic. The decision essentially overturns the NCAA ruling that made Sorsby permanently ineligible for gambling violations and clears a path for the fifth-year-senior to play for the Red Raiders in 2026.
The conversation piqued my curiosity. So I decided to do some research. Following is more trivia than you ever needed to know about Jets TEs.
Between 1963 (in the Titans years they must have listed TEs differently because I see no players designated as "TE" at pro-footballrefernce.com) and this year, the Jets have drafted 40 TEs. They've gone spells where they drafted a TE every year for several years, gone stretches of years where they didn't draft a TE, and had a number of years where they drafted 2 TEs.
They didn't draft a TE in 1964 or 1965, then didn't draft one in 77, 79-81, in '86-'87, '89-'92, '94, '96-'97, '99, 2001, 2003-2004, 2007, 2009-2013, 2015-2016, 2020-2021, and 2024.
Does anyone know who the first TE the Jets drafted in 1963? Here's a hint. He wound up being a HOF for the Baltimore Colts. Yep, it was JOHN MACKEY. The Jets were smart enough to draft him, but not smart enough to keep him.
Seems the Jets are getting serious about TE’s. They hired a 23 year veteran coach Alfredo Roberts to coach the Tight Ends. Alfredo, played the position , coached all over the league, his last stop was five years with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he was instrumental in the development of Freiermuth & Darnell Washington. Tight Ends of course help the running game, but the recent proliferation of 12 and the radical 13 personnel is used to counter the defensive trends of using Nickel as your base Defense, and Defenses using a significant amount of Cover 2 and Cover 4. As we all know, this is copycat league, the Rams ran 13 personnel in over 40 % of their plays in the second half of their season. Pretty stunning, the Rams always had early leads, but using a short yardage personnel grouping effectively has turned heads, once again countering Defenses trying to stay in Nickel. Expect an increase in the usage of 12 (35%) & 13 (8%) personnel packages. No longer a vanilla 11 personnel team.
Important to note Sadiq was a running back in high school, is exceptionally strong, had 26 reps on the bench. Only 241 pounds, but has the frame to gain more weight.
Mason Taylor was always open last year with poor Quarterbacking, blocking improved throughout the season.
Ruckert got his contract, due to improvements in his blocking, and being a solid contributor on Special Teams. Important for third string TE’s
Higher on Jelani Woods than most, the 6’7 third round pick worked with Reich previously with the Colts. Had surgery on his toe , that kept him out an entire year, and a reoccurring Hamstring injury that kept him out for an another year. ( could have reoccurring Zack Kuntz syndrome)
Believe that Alfredo Roberts and possibly Steve Heiden will improve the blocking of all four of these guys.
Listed as a FB, Andrew Beck is a journeyman TE, that does a lot of things well, looks like the odd man out, especially if Ruckert can handle the FB duties. Beck , good Special Teamer, provides sneaky depth. Andrew is 30.
I understand Curtis Chase is an UDFA, but I don’t see a single characteristic that would indicate that he could make an NFL Squad. Just a curious acquisition that I don’t understand.
Ruckert would have to go a long way to outperform Beck in any kind of blocking role, and I doubt that he can. Beck is probably the most underrated player on the roster. His work on ST's is stellar, and he is the best on the team as respects blocking from the FB position. Woods is still a big question mark and Curtis is ????? I think Chris Banjo would fight tooth and nail to keep him on the roster, especially if he wants to maintain the ST excellence of last year's squad. In any event, this could be the best TE room the Jets have had in a long time.
Wholeheartedly agree. Beck is just a better lead blocker than Ruckert, by a mile. He maybe a better inline blocker and a better pass blocker. Sample size is minuscule, but Beck could be a better pass receiver. However , Ruckert is a third round draft pick, with a two year 10 million contract. Would trade Jeremy for a fifth in 2027 in a heartbeat. Mike, you watch the games, no main stream media reports this
I truly hope the Jets don't let Ruckert's contract influence their decision. A $2.7 million dead money hit is nothing. I think their cap may be totally clear of dead money next year, so only having $2.7 million in dead money would not be a problem.
Hoping Mouchey reads your post. If Ruckert earns it, he is on the roster. Beck is 30 and Woods has an injury but they both maybe better than Ruckert for 2026..
It is a small sample size, but he has skills as a receiver. When I watched his sample videos, he has good hands and surprising moves for big man. But the best was when he fielded a short kickoff and ran it back 50 odd yards for a TD after breaking a tackle and ran away from everyone else, including the kicker. And the mainstream sports media doesn't dig deep enough for stuff like this. When I first heard about the signing, it really didn't register, but when I saw Joe Blewett's video review and then some other highlight videos I was really shocked by how good he played. He's so important on ST blocking schemes and always seem to be in the right spot at the right time. There are some players who have an instinct for those little things that make a play succeed. There has to be some video out there, maybe on the official Jets website that highlight ST's. I'm sure Beck is front and center. I remember he was in the right spot in all of the return TD's from last season.
Banjo will go to the mat for Beck. If your going to have Nwangwu as a fourth string Running Back, isn’t it logical that he has his lead blocker. The solution is trade Ruckert or Woods.
The thing which I forgot, as well as the most of us, was that Andrew Beck was the first free-agent Mougey signed as GM of the Jets. He knew Beck from Denver and knew what his real value was as a solid chess piece, of sorts. He's just one of those valuable, Swiss Army Knife type of players who can fill in at different spots and be effective.
Great post, JO! Great point about the Jets hiring of Roberts which should make all the TEs the best they can be. Great point about Sadiq being a RB in high school also.
Reich definitely better make excellent use of 12 and 13 personnel. If not, then not only did the Jets waste the #16 pick in the draft, but Reich's and Glenn's tenure will be very short.
I totally agree with you regarding Woods. I'd love to see him blow Ruckert out of the water. If they are serious about using more 12 and 13 personnel, then they'll probably keep 4 TEs anyway, and Ruckert could still play STs. Capwise, it would be better to not have to eat Ruckert's contract, but if Beck is a better blocker and has more reliable hands, and thus offers more as a receiver, then I'd rather the Jets keep him as the #4 TE/FB and send Ruckert packing. I don't care if he has been a lifelong Jets fan. That has helped to keep him on the team for 4 years and he hasn't really earned his spot. Enough is enough. I wanted the Jets to draft him, but imo he is has been a HUGE disappointment and near bust.
This year 22 Tight Ends were drafted, nine were drafted in the first three rounds, many of which could be classified as Blocking TE’ s . Certainly supports the idea of increased usage of 12 & 13 personnel. But there is another critical factor. There has always been a disparity between the salaries of WR’s and TE’s, but now the disparity has reached epic proportions. Currently, there are two WR’s that make an average salary of over 40 million dollars, there are eight WR’s that make over 30 million, and 13 that make over 20 million . The Wide Receiver Market is out of control. The top two TE’s , Kittle & McBride make an average salary of 19 million. If your building a roster, TE’s could be the way to go
All the markets are out of control. For all these athletes and the corresponding ticket prices we are talking about monopoly money.
Ironically Woods was a high school quarterback, was recruited as a quarterback but had his position changed to tight end his redshirted freshman year.
Barring any camp injuries, it’s him against Beck in a battle for roster survival.
I disagree Bobber. I think the Jets will carry 4 TEs, and I think the battle will be between Woods and Ruckert, with the loser being cut or traded.
First off I have admitted countless times I have zero evaluation knowledge. If you want to talk evaluating pizza places in New Jersey bring it on, football players can’t help you.
When it comes to evaluating players especially non starters, I look at who originally brought them to the Jets, were they drafted, their age, $$$$, position and do they play special teams. Sometimes if I saw a player’s picture with his wife, that comes into the equation for me. Mrs Beck is a winner.
BUT and this is a BIG BUT, Ruckert’s family probably buys 20-25 season tickets plus who knows how many other Long Islanders go for the local kid.
This is where Woody and the Ticket department become involved. Plus it’s all semantics.
Is Beck a full back or tight end.
Supposedly Sadiq can play fullback.
Some teams carry 7 wideouts but no fullback.
At this point 3rd and 4 tg string is immaterial.
I guess it’s up to Glenn and Mougey cut down Tuesday.
I have no opinion.
When the Jets won the Superbowl, they had a quarterback, full back Snell, half back Boozer, Tight end Lammons, Split End Sauer and flanker Maynard.
All of a sudden you have H backs, slot receivers, x receivers, y receivers, third down receiving backs, 400 pound guards playing fullback.
You have more delay of game and too many men on the field penalties being called because there are more players running back and forth between the huddle and sideline that it looks like a NY city subway rush hour.
And you expect me to evaluate players.
So what are the best pizza places in NJ?
Do you live in NJ
For me and a lot of people
Patsy’s in Paterson is comparable to going to St Peter’s Basilica to see the pope.
I live in Garfield
Sicilian, Roses in Garfield, ask for it light on the sauce
Old school pizza, Barcelonas in Garfield, right now large pie, $14.25
Just slices, Pizza Town Elmwood Park
Saddle Brook, Grumps, very different, sourdough pizza, two hour wait either pickup or delivered after 4 during Lent.
These are the ones near me
Some people might disagree, it’s all subjective
When I was a salesman on the road, pizza 2-3 times a week for lunch, covered all of NJ and Westchester, Rockland, and orange county
Cedar Grove, NJ Lombardi’s
Orange NJ. Star Tavern
Looks like the Jets will carry 4 TE’s
Well said, this captures a lot of my thoughts. With the Rams and Bears finding success using heavy packages last year, we knew the copycat NFL would trot out some poor imitations. The draft showed us exactly that, with a ton of Day 2 capital spent on tight ends and record-breaking numbers drafted overall. It feels like teams are chasing the trend too hard, spending premium capital just to field lineups that don't actually feature their 11 best players.
However, I really like how the Jets' TE room fits this trend. The goal of heavy packages is to force defenses into base personnel instead of nickel or dime, which then opens up the passing game. For that to work, the offense has to remain a threat both on the ground and through the air. With Sadiq and Taylor, the Jets have two guys who make that happen:
Sadiq is perfect for this trend. He’s a willing blocker who might struggle inline against larger defenders due to his size, but flexed out against smaller DBs, he’s great. If defenses stay in base, his athleticism can make him a massive receiving mismatch against slower LBs.
Taylor is the perfect complement. He’s big enough to block inline no matter how the defense aligns, but still a good enough receiver to remain a legitimate threat.
I should add on the Taylor comment, that his skillset as reciever means they could have 3 quality pass catchers on the field even in 13 personnel
Bingo !
In 13 personnel you have Wilson & Hall as receivers. Ruckert is your fifth guy.
Like Diogenes of Sinope walking the earth looking for an honest man.
Tight end is one position that over the years the Jets have tried to fill but have been rebuffed because of either injuries or just bad picks.
Mickey Shuler is the Jets gold standard for tight end. Once Ken O’Brien arrived, he became an integral part of the Jet offense. He is the lifetime team leader in every offensive tight end stat.
Dustin Keller showed promise, being Mark Sanchez’s safety valve but injuries cut his career short.
Kyle Brady had to be the most booed first rounder in Jet history.
The know nothing fans wanted the team to draft future hall of Famer Warren Sapp.
Being drafted with the ninth pick of the first round, Brady has to be the highest drafted tight end by pick position.
Historically, tight end Gene Heeter scored the first touchdown in Jet history after three seasons of the team being the Titans. That team being called the Titans is a true football oxymoron.
Heeter’s historical reception was also the first touchdown and first touchdown reception ever in Shea Stadium. That historic stat is for you JO, lol.
As football is entering the dog days of the off season, probably a Jets Way dedicated strictly about Brendan Sorsby would definitely get the Brigade’s comments juices flowing. Talking about opinions from this group, batten down the hatches.
Maybe if Diogenes was still alive, he called walk the earth looking for Jet fans who would admit buying a Jace Amaro #88 jersey.
Now that would be an honest man.
The Sorsby question is pretty cut and dried for me. His penchant for gambling outweighs any perceived positives. It's way too much of a risk to waste any kind of tender on him.
Bobber you’re unbelievable, never have I ever heard of Gene Heeter, simply amazing.
The only reason I know about Heeter, I listened to that game on the radio. It was a Saturday night game.
The Jets had made a massive 9 player trade that off season. It was like a 4 for 5 deal.
One of the players they received was middle linebacker Wahoo McDaniel.
Unfortunately the AFL didn’t keep records on tackles back then.
Wahoo had an unbelievable game, he made so many tackles that by the third quarter the public address announcer started saying “ Tackle by You Know Who” and the fans would respond “ Wahoo”
Just Google, Wahoo, you know who.
I actually met Wahoo McDaniel when he was wrestling for Vince McMahon Sr. It was at the Garden. I also met at the same time Bruno Sammartino, Spyros Arion and Gorilla Monsoon. It was a lot of fun. And I remember Gene Heeter too.
How about Argentina Apollo and Bobo Brazil?
I don’t know where you live but in the late fifties early sixties, channel 5 in NYC, had live wrestling from 8:30 to 11:00 pm
Announcer Ray Morgan
Every other week, feature match, World Tag Team Championship usually had the same two twosomes
Dr Jerry Graham and brother Eddie against Mark Lewin and Don Curtis. It might have been fake but it was sure entertaining
I currently live in and was brought up in Brooklyn. NY, so I'm very aware of what you are talking about. I remember Skull Murphy, Classy Freddie Blassie and the actor Tor Johnson (Of Plan 9 From Outer Space fame) when he was wrestling. My cousin Tony had been the head usher at Shea Stadium for a long time and after that he was a VP at Gulf & Western, and I used to get into many events gratis. I even went to a concert at the Garden for A&M records called Soul Together, with Aretha Franklin, The Rascals, Phil Collins, Sam and Dave and several other stars. I was able to sit almost next to the stage on a folding chair an usher set up for me. LOL
When I worked in Lower Manhattan in the late 1960's and early 1970's, I belonged to a Jack LaLanne gym in the area, and I got to know Bruno Sammartino fairly well and he told a lot of stories about when they went to shows in rural areas and small towns and it was wild. After the shows they would usually go to a local watering hole and someone would invariably start making comments about how fake it all was, and the wrestlers weren't so tough and a ruckus would ensue. He told of one incident in upstate New York where he, Robert Marella (Gorilla Monsoon), Randy Poffo (Macho Man Randy Savage) and Larry Poffo (Leaping Larry) spent the night in jail after throwing a couple of locals through the front window of a local tavern. Those were the days.
Killer Kowalski, Antonino Rocca, Ricky Starr the ballerina wrestler wore ballerina shoes when he wrestled, the Kangaroos, Red Bastien lost every week, he was the official loser, he owned a bar in Passaic, NJ right around the corner from the Capitol Theater who had rock concerts. Let’s not forget the most hated woman of all time, “ The Fabulous Moolah”,
Tomorrow’s Jet Way feature will be a trip back to Roller Derby reminiscing about all time great Charlie O’Connell and one of the greatest sports teams ever “ The San Francisco Bay Area Bombers”
I can't remember you guys's ages, but I think we're all close to the same age. When I was a kid I watched wrestling on Saturday nights. I remember Johnny Weaver and his partner George Becker. I remember Haystack Calhoun. I think the bad guys were the Bolos. Do you guys remember them?
My mother's mother would stay with us sometimes, and she would get so upset and cry out, "He's gonna kill that man, he's gonna kill that man." I had to tell each time that it was all fake and staged, and that no one was really getting hurt,
I’m still in my teens, 77, actually.
There were brothers by the name of Chris and John Tolos.
Haystack was a legend.
If he was wrestling today, I’m sure the souvenir stand would have Haystack Horseshoe on a Four foot long chain for a mere $79.95
Jace Amaro. Gag a maggott. I still can't believe that anyone ever thought that he would make it in the NFL. His one great season was in a gimmicky offense and 90% of his receptions were within 2 yards of the LOS. He was awkward, stiff and clumsy.
Any discussion of Jets TEs also has to include Johnny Mitchell, Pete Lammons, Rich Caster, Jerome Barkum, Fred Baxter, Anthony Becht, and Chris Baker.
I couldn't remember Anthony Becht's name, so I decided to look back through Jets draft history. Looking at profootball reference.com, I was amazed to find that historically, the Jets have drafted a LOT of TEs. In all since 1963 (prior to '63 no TEs are listed as TEs, so I can't tell which of the Titans may have been TEs), the Jets have drafted TEs. Guess who their very first one was as a Jet in '63? Here's a hint, he was a HOF for the Baltimore Colts!!!! Dumb Jets were smart enough to draft him, but not smart enough to keep him. Incidentally, I saw that the Jets had also drafted Packers great Herb Adderley, but were dumb enough to let him walk as well. In the 1963 and 1964 drafts, the Jets drafted quite a few players who had 8-10 year careers in the NFL, but sadly, with a number of them their careers were elsewhere.
Between 1960 and 69, both the NFL and AFL had separate drafts.
The year the Jets drafted Matt Snell in the first round of the AFL draft, the Giants drafted him in the third round .
Namath, a first round AFL pick, Namath a first round NFL pick of the Cardinals. The Cards refused to match the Jets $425,000 contract.
Same year, Butkus drafted by Bears but also was a first round pick of the Broncos.
Broncs knew they had no shot in signing Butkus an Illini player. They made a conditional deal with Jets if the Jets signed Butkus,
Supposedly the Jets offered Butkus a ton but it was too late to sway Butkus from the hometown Bears.
Early sixties AFL had a hard time signing draft picks.
Then around 65, they started drafting a ton of black players from small schools the NFL didn’t even scout.
Then AL Davis as the AFL commissioner told the AFL owners, sign their f**king quarterbacks.
The AFL throw a ton of money at Roman Gabriel and John Brodie, the NFL put up the white flag, the start of the merger.
Excellent series about the start of the AFL
The Showtime TV series about the AFL is "Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League". It is a five-part, five-hour sports documentary miniseries that first aired on the Showtime network in 2009. The series chronicles the daring 1960s birth of the American Football League (AFL) and its eventual merger with the established NFL
It was on YouTube, I’m assuming it’s still there
Thanks, Bobber! Of course you're right! I had totally forgotten that when I saw that the Jets had drafted Mackey and Adderley. Both signed with the NFL team that drafted them rather than the Jets.
That full color football is the best and most informative presentation of the AFL in its early years
I sure hope that Fitzpatrick is right about Glenn. Glenn indeed was awful last year, but he was in a no-win situation by being hired late so had limited options for his CS, with a roster in disarray, very little cap space, and terrible FA and draft classes, and imo such glaring needs at RT and TE, that he had little or no choice to draft those positions in the first two rounds. It didn't help that the one really experienced coach/coordinator that he hired (Wilks) had the exact opposite approach to D from what the Jets had played under Saleh and to what Glenn ran as a DC. That was a horrible decision that undermined his and the Jets' season.
Many Jets fans wanted him fired following the season and are just counting the days until he's gone. IMO that's not what is best for the Jets. If Glenn fails, then the Jets will be starting from scratch again. For starters, why should we trust Woody to make the right hire again? It could be another long, drawn-out process that results in another bad hire, where schemes change, and some of the players the Jets drafted or signed as FAs no longer fit. Many of the players like, if not love him and believe in him. The quickest way to getting back to the playoffs would be for Glenn to have learned from all of his mistakes last year, and develop into at least a good, if not very good HC. He isn't the most cerebral HC out there, and that may eventually prove to be his undoing, but I think he truly cares, cares about the players, the fans, the franchise and is trying and will try his best to make the Jets a winner. IMO he has at least some of the attributes and approaches that the best HCs have and is sincere. He was the first HC in a long time that paid attention to details and focused on fundamentals like tackling, blocking, and stopping dumb penalties last year.
I, for one, hope that he succeeds. The Jets are underdogs, Glenn is an underdog.
Great news on Sanders accuracy in cold weather! Thanks, David!
Reich better change his approach and use a lot more 12 personnel! If not, then the Jets wasted the #16 pick in the draft.
Great analysis on the TE position, David. I, for one, hope that Jelani Woods can beat out Ruckert for the #3 spot. Ruckert offers more as both a receiver and blocker and his size makes him invaluable in the Red Zone. The problem with him is staying healthy. I don't know if he bad luck previously, or just didn't work hard enough or smart enough to get his body in the right shape. If it's the latter, hopefully he learned his lesson, because his ceiling is MUCH higher than Ruckert's.
Reich seems to adjusts with his personnel. thoughout most of his time in Indy he was a little above average in his use of 11 personnel. It didn't spike to the top of the leauge until his last year there (and then again his only year in Carolina) when he lost Jack Doyle and didn't have much of a TE room to work with.
I hear a lot about Taylor’s drops…weren’t most of them early in his rookie year last year. Did it improve as the year progressed?
3 of this drops actually came in his three final games of the season.
1 in week 4
1 in week 7
1 in week 12
2 in week 14
WR Quentin Skinner has been waived injured
Too bad. I was rooting for him.
Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction order in his lawsuit against the NCAA on Monday in Texas state court, according to a written order obtained by The Athletic. The decision essentially overturns the NCAA ruling that made Sorsby permanently ineligible for gambling violations and clears a path for the fifth-year-senior to play for the Red Raiders in 2026.
I just read about 10 minutes ago that his petition had been denied. What else happened.
All the writers are saying he’s playing college football
The conversation piqued my curiosity. So I decided to do some research. Following is more trivia than you ever needed to know about Jets TEs.
Between 1963 (in the Titans years they must have listed TEs differently because I see no players designated as "TE" at pro-footballrefernce.com) and this year, the Jets have drafted 40 TEs. They've gone spells where they drafted a TE every year for several years, gone stretches of years where they didn't draft a TE, and had a number of years where they drafted 2 TEs.
They didn't draft a TE in 1964 or 1965, then didn't draft one in 77, 79-81, in '86-'87, '89-'92, '94, '96-'97, '99, 2001, 2003-2004, 2007, 2009-2013, 2015-2016, 2020-2021, and 2024.
Does anyone know who the first TE the Jets drafted in 1963? Here's a hint. He wound up being a HOF for the Baltimore Colts. Yep, it was JOHN MACKEY. The Jets were smart enough to draft him, but not smart enough to keep him.