Rookies Report For Duty 🫡

Edition #659

Good morning!

I was going to wait until Thursday to send this, but I’ve decided to send now as it’s ready.

It’s time to get back to business. The Jets rookies are reporting for duty today and the veterans will follow next week. It’s been a quiet off-season, so quiet that we spent weeks talking about Aaron Rodgers taking a vacation to Egypt, which as a history graduate, is firmly on my bucket list.

Now it’s time to get down to business. OTA’s are glorified walkthrough photo ops, now the real work starts and the Jets hope this journey will run through February 9th at Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana. We’ve seen a lot of false dawns as Jets fans, but I’m all about that positivity.

There was a report in The Athletic on Tuesday which stated the Jets talked to Arthur Smith about joining the team and being part of a new play-calling process, the much maligned Arthur Smith who was fired by the Falcons after they averaged 18.9 points per game last season, which was 26th in the league. I have to question the logic of improving an offence by adding someone who ran a terrible offence.

ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky to the Jets is a “done deal” based on the receiver program aired by Netflix - “I think Davante Adams plays for the Jets this season,” Orlovsky said Tuesday. “The reason why I say that is this: Have you watched Netflix, the ‘Receiver’ stuff, have you seen the frustration from Davante Adams? It’s not that much better of a situation (now.) The only reason it wouldn’t happen is if he would feel bad about leaving Antonio Pierce, their new head coach.”

I’ve never seen so much noise made from something filmed last year - then Adam Schefter shared this statement from Davante Adams’ agents Kenny Chapman and Frank Bauer regarding the recent trade talk surrounding their client: “This is baseless, unfounded speculation and Davante is expected to be with the Raiders as there has been absolutely no trade talk - period.”

By my count the Jets will welcome 23 rookies into the building today for tests, measurements and some initial fitness work. Some are highly rated, some you may never have heard on before. All of these players appear on the Jets official 90-man roster and all of these players are expected to attend camp.

One small note before we get into this. Malachi Corley remains unsigned. I’m not sure why there has been a holdup with that contract negotiation, but as of writing this on the 16th of July, there has been no confirmation that Corley has signed his rookie deal. It may happen today.

Apologies for the length of this one, but you can blame Bobber…it was his idea!

Braelon Allen - RB - Wisconsin - 4th Round Pick

Allen impressed in OTA’s and now he’ll be hoping to stake a claim to that RB2 spot behind Breece Hall. The youngest player in the draft and a big unit. Allen had 5.4 yards per attempt last year, 3.77 yards after contact per attempt, 49 missed tackles forced and 12 rushing touchdowns. He’s a nightmare to bring down and will punish anyone who gets in the way of him and the end-zone. Roster lock.

Shemar Bartholomew - CB - Georgia Southern - UDFA

It’s going to be an uphill climb if the 24-year-old wants to make the roster, based solely on the depth and how many CBs the Jets tend to carry. He’s got good size and has plenty of experience as an outside corner, allowed just 48.3% of passes into his coverage to be completed last year and racked up 9 pass defences.

Al Blades Jr. - CB - Duke - UDFA

Al Blades Jr. started his career with Miami but having struggled to see the field consistently in 2021 & 2022, he decided to transfer to Duke. There he broke out, not allowing a single touchdown into his coverage and holding opposing QBs to a 53.3% completion into his coverage. He doesn’t have elite athleticism of explosion for the NFL level and may struggle with the step up.

Jimmy Ciarlo - LB - Army - UDFA

I wrote a full piece on Ciarlo last month, so if you didn’t get a chance to read that, head there now. I’m a fan of Ciarlo and can see Brant Boyer banging the table for him. He’s a smart leader who fly’s around the field and tackles anything that’s moving, he shows + recognition and understanding of offensive concepts and he plays fast. He’s got real speed and while he’s undersized he has a lot of traits you can’t teach.

Brandon Codrington - CB - North Carolina Central - UDFA

Codrington tested really poorly in terms of his explosion and agility and his size is well under par for an NFL corner. He’s never recorded an interception in his college career but did allow 11 touchdowns on 68 receptions. Considering his less than ideal athletic profile and that he came in at 5’8 and under 180lbs, I’d be surprised if Codrington made it through the first round of cuts, but who knows.